Carlos and Luis taking a few photographs of kids asking us what we are doing there

I was told about a gringo who had built a program for displaced families in the mountains surrounding Medellin, Colombia called Angeles de Medellin.  The friend said it was a great place to volunteer and maybe photograph.

Once I finally got in touch with Mark he invited me out to the mountain, where he has been working.  He explained that the area was very poor and there wasn’t much infrastructure there but the people were friendly and there would be no issues what-so-ever with my camera gear being out.  He said all I had to do when walking around the village was tell them I was with him and no one would bother me.

The name of the place is Regalo De Dios and it’s in Bello, Colombia (about 15 minutes outside of Medellin)

I invited a couple other photographers with me (Carlos and Luis who helped me with the Help-Portrait Project) but to be honest we had a goal for the day there.  Our goal was to look around, scout the area and see if it would be a good place to do a photo project for Christmas.  More to come on that later this week but it’s safe to say we’re on and it’s going to be great!

So we walked around a few hours taking pictures and talking with the locals.  Most of these people have nothing, seriously nothing.  House are made with scraps they can find, a covered roof made of tin is a luxury and running water is unheard of for most.  That being said, we found people so giddy happy and very open to talk.  I don’t remember not seeing a smile every time we walked by a new house.

Below was what I captured and will give you a glimpse of what I got to see that day.  These are all in Black & White but will post later photos in color and more about Mark.

This women was burning trash on the street.  She laughed when we photographed her because she couldn’t figure out why anyone would want her photo while she burned trash.  I think the photo says why!

The old lady was so proud of her AM/FM radio

A Paisa cowboy!

These kids were in a shanty house that was being used as a daycare

The kids really got a kick out of us stopping by and taking photos of them.  All giggles when we showed them the LCD screen afterwards!

A man has a typical Paisa meal on the street next to his house, two little girls playing with an umbrella on their porch and an old man stopped and let us take his portrait.  He only asked for a copy and will be printing him a copy for sure next time I go and visit. 

Help-Portrait Medellin newest project is:  Angeles de Medellin

• Date: 17-18 December, 2011
• Time: 9:00am-5:00pm
• Location: Regalo De Dios in Bello, Colombia.  Take the metro to the Santo Domingo stop, then take bus 055 – el pinar to “Regalo de Dios” ($1,000 COP) which takes about 15 minutes.
• Requirement: 20,000 COP per volunteer (to help pay for the prints, leftover funds will be donated to Angeles de Medellin)

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Para leer en español, haga clic aquí

People have been asking me when the next portrait project will be, after the last one we did, and this last weekend I settled on a NGO called Angeles de Medellin.  Please take a second and read about Marks work there and what it is all about (there are videos that explain it all as well in case you don’t feel like reading).  I will give you a short run-down if you are to lazy for even that.

Mark came to Medellin six years ago and started doing volunteer work on his own in the mountains surrounding the city.  When Mark first started helping in this community it was nothing and he had nothing.  He started first assisting displaced families that had become victims of violence because of the civil war between rebels and the Colombian military.  What started out as a few hundred people has now grown to a few thousand families that Mark has been actively assisting since he started the project.  In fact, when he started in this area it was controlled by FARC rebels and once Mark knew his life was threaten he didn’t leave but instead approached the FARC leader in the area to ask permission to stay and work.  That FARC leader is now in jail but Mark is still going!

One big thing that Mark does every year for the community is host a Christmas party.  It’s the most anticipated event of the year for the families, especially the children.  What Mark does is two parts; one is to provide staple items to the family that they can use.  Items like fruits, veggies, oil exc.  The second part is providing toys for kids two to 12 years old.  The toys Mark is able to get are at the lowest price-point and nothing special but for the kids that live in this area, this will more then likely be the only present they receive this holiday.  The local kids call Mark “The Father of The Mountain” and he doesn’t walk for very long without having at least 2-5 kids following him around while he makes his rounds visiting the families.

It’s truly amazing to see what Mark has built up in the mountains of Medellin and the many faces he has helped.  It is one of the safest communities I have been to and everyone had smiles when I got a tour of it last weekend.

So, that is Mark and a little of what he does.  Seriously, if you haven’t read the article I wrote about him and seen the videos, click here now!  So what we have decided to do is take family portraits on Saturday & Sunday from 0900-5:00pm of each family that comes to Mark’s office for the Christmas Party.  Mark will be giving kids presents and families food boxes.  This is what we will do:

• We will be taking a family photograph of each of those families that would like free print.  We will be using a backdrop and two strobe lights inside a building next to Marks office.
• Once we take their photograph we will go to a print lab and have a copy made for each family.
• The prints then will be given to Mark to hand out to the community as he sees fit.

We decided on this because a lot of these families arrived to this community with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  Some even might not have had a professional photo taken of themselves before.  A great photo can last forever people!  One thing I want say though is that we will have only one camera set-up for this project.  The idea is that hopefully if you are not helping with the family portraits then you would be helping Mark in any way possible (he needs a lot of help every year for this event) or taking candid street shots of everyone around the scene, documenting it and sharing with others in the Facebook Group.  The only photos that will be printed will be the family portraits, just to be clear.  This is will be a two day event, so if you can’t make it Saturday, hopefully you will be able to Sunday or vise-verse.

If you would like to join us, let us know by joining our Facebook Group page, the more the better!  If you know anyone in Medellin that might like to help, then please pass the word!  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Troy, through my contact form on this website.

Come help us this year in Medellin to give these kids and their family something special!

While hanging out in Medellin, Colombia I have been wanting to do some volunteer work, through photography, somehow someway but hadn’t really researched it out prior to coming.  Like all things I do, I just wing it and hope for the best.  A friend told me about a gringo helping displaced families in the mountains surrounding Medellin.  Once I heard that I started to do search on locating this man and seeing if there was something I could do to help.  I have spent one day with him so far and plan to do more in the near future.

Angeles de Medellin is a program started by Mark “Marcos” Kaseman to help victims of violence from Colombia’s civil war that are now displaced.  He started the program 6 years ago and it now consumes all his time .  I’ll let Mark tell you more about it below.

For email subscribers, click here to see the video that explains it all

“Hello, my name is Mark Kaseman and I am from Fairport, New York. I have lived in Medellin, Colombia since May of 2005. Since March 2006, I have worked with the poor and displaced children and families that live high in the mountains above the city of Medellin. My program is called ANGELES DE MEDELLIN.

Thanks to donations from loving people around the world, I am able to purchase food, clothing, medicine and school supplies for children and their families. All donations go directly to helping these families. I work out of my home in Medellin and have no staff. A wonderful Colombian lady named Sara Zuluaga Parodi, has volunteered in helping me for various events especially with translations since June of 2009.

I volunteer teach at a private school, Leon XIII, located in the mountains where I work. Five days a week, Monday through Friday, I travel an hour and a half from my home to assist in teaching classes in English and Computers. In March of 2010, Allen Chen, a generous American from Los Angeles, California, donated 5 computer systems to our school. Because of his gift over 250 children, ages 5 – 17, have now begun learning to type and use computers. 98% of the children in my school Leon XIII had never touched a keyboard in their lives before this March.

Every day that I work in the mountains, I marvel at the love and kindness that these children and their families have given to me. For the past 5 years I have been blessed with hundreds of new-found friends. These lovely people are poor but happy, caring and loving, humble and appreciate everything that I am able to do for them. Many homes are made of plastic sheeting wrapped around wooden poles with dirt floors. They are all displaced from Colombia’s 60 year civil war and civil violence in the city of Medellin itself. These families are innocent victims of gang violence and have had to flee their former homes or farms with just clothes and nothing else.

Because of the generosity of many “Angels,” I have been able to sponsor events and provide support thoughout the year. This past year, I purchased crutches for a 19-year-old girl named Viviana, who lives in abject poverty. She was born without one leg and is missing most of her fingers. Yet every day, she cooks and maintains her home for her 3 brothers while her mother works as a cleaning lady in the city. Viviana is my HERO! She smiles and is happy every time I see her. She is just one story of the many lives that I have been able to touch and make better because of friends learning about my program and helping me help her and her family.”

The work Mark has been doing is extraordinary, especially since he’s doing it all himself.  He was there when FARC Rebels actually had control of the area but he prevailed and kept his program going through it all.  Mark is the real deal and can’t say enough good things about him!  It’s people like him that I get to meet along the way, of my unreorganized travels, that make the world great and is “Why I Travel”

A girl sits in front of a computer station that Mark was able to get donated.  He said she comes in everyday to practice her English through games on the computer and can now type 40 words a minute!

Mark shows up Mon-Fri from 10:30-3:00 pm to open the learning center for the kids.  We got there right at 10:30 and he wanted to show us around the village first before opening the doors.  Mark took us around for 30 minutes pointing out the simple homes people had made with scrap material, explaining issues and introducing us to families.  Every five minutes though a child would ask him when he was going to open the learning center!

A little girl sits in front of the computer doing lessons that Mark has acquired for the center.

Mark making rounds in the neighborhood while talking with families about issues, ideas, to just saying hello.  Almost anywhere he walked he had a troop of at least 3-5 kids following him.

If you want to volunteer and make a difference while in Medellin, contact Mark as he is always open for support, either it be teaching English to help with future projects.

If you would like to know more about Mark and Angeles de Medellin, see below:

• Website: Angeles de Medellin
• To join his Facebook Group, where he is active weekly on posting content
• Email: m2750k@hotmail.com or Marcos@Angelesdemedellin.com
• Location: Regalo De Dios in Bello, Colombia.  Take the metro to the Santo Domingo stop, then take bus #050 to “Regalo de Dios” ($1,000 COP) which only takes about 15 minutes.

Another great video by Mikey from Lightenupandshoot.com.  He was the one who told me about Mark and his project (Thanks Mikey!)

Since being in Colombia I have been wanting to do a few photo projects.  Something that revolved around giving back and bringing a smile to someones face.  A friend told me about the Help-Portrait Project and that no one was doing it for Medellin this year.  I decided I would try and put something together.  I came up with a plan after talking with two other local photographers, here in Medellin, into helping me.  I even set up a Facebook Group in case you want to join the next event here in Medellin or to see more photos from the day.

The video below shows what someone did last year here in Medellin for the Help Portrait Project.

The concept was simple:

“Help Portrait Medellin is comprised of photographers and volunteers who want to come together and give free professional photographs back to the wonderful Paisa people of Medellín. We hit the streets armed with our camera gear to the barrios around Medellin. We photograph individuals willing to pose, then print them a copy of the photo that day. We return to the same location to handed them their very own portrait! A lot of people here have never had a professional photograph taken of themselves and this is a way for photographers, travelers and locals to give back to the community and share the love. The smiles given back in return will be your reward… that is PRICELESS!“

If you want to know what happened that day, play-by-play, you can read Katie’s version or check out Carlos website to see what he wrote on it.  Katie’s version nailed it spot on and I really can’t say much more then what she wrote.  I will say thank you for everyone that helped that day.  I didn’t get to meet everyone that showed up but most I did.  I was secretly hoping that at least 15 max would show but didn’t really think as many as 25+ would.  Again, thanks everyone who helped!

Facts On The Help Portrait Project:

• In total we had 25+ volunteers that showed up and helped
• We had three different set-ups for the photos
• We printed off a total of 65+ photos
• More then 70% of the people that helped were locals
• No donkeys were hurt during the event
• It rained on us but only after we were pretty much finished
• Two people didn’t like their free photo (one said she looked to old in it and the other we just figured the liquor wore off)
• We were an hour late getting the prints to the people because the photo lab took longer then they said they would
• We had $37,000 COP ($20.55 USD) leftover for the prints (the extra will go towards the next photo project)

The all white set up was my idea.  I took a tent and bought a few poles to make it.  Total costs for the large soft box was $20 USD!  You ca see how I built on my Facebook Fanpage.

Carlos took the above photos with his black & white set-up

Me talking with everyone before hand on what was going to happen

Carlos sets up his backdrop for his B&W portraits

A few of us putting together the light tent (the photos that had the white background)

Not sure what I was pointing at here but everyone seems ok with it

This kind of helps put into perspective of where we were shooting

The group got some great snaps of a local shoeshine vendor who was pretty charismatic!

Ok maybe we got to many photographers but it was a fun!

We picked this location because if it rained we’d still be able to shoot

Carlos taking a portrait with the light tent set-up behind the lady in the blue shirt

An old women stands in for a portrait while several others snap a few shots

Once we got the photos it was a mad rush to pass them all out

A little girl holds her print

This old women hated her photo because she said she looked old in it

Everyone in the group that helped!  Thank you everyone!!!!

… and since I took the group shot, here is one of me that Carlos took!

“Rivvver Ganges Gooood!”

The River Ganges in Varanasi, India is a place worth seeing and taking a boat ride is a must.  Most times boat rides in countries are lame I think and don’t really offer you much because you aren’t able to get off most times.  In Varanasi though the best way to see everything is by boat.  The other side of the banks of the river are sand and isn’t accessible to tourist, so booking your boat is the best practical way to see people along the banks.  This is how I was able to get this shot.

I walked around one morning trying to find the perfect boat captain, that had a unique face and a fair price for his boat.  This is was the man I found and he was a perfect for what I wanted.  He didn’t know much English and only kept pointing at things down the river every 2 minutes saying “Rivvver Ganges Gooood!” over and over again.  It cracked me up and made the ride even better I think!

A simple HDR photograph of an old house that a friend owns.  This grandfather use to live in it at one time but I believe after his death, it was later used as a storage shed/barn.  You can find a lot of old houses and barns around the area I live just by driving on the county back roads.  This is actually how I got started into photography.

I once got a free film camera from a bank when opening an account.  I decided to try out this $5 plastic camera and see what I could get with it, so I went to the store and bought a roll of film,  a 6-pack of beer and took off driving on gravel roads looking for things to photograph.  I found out I liked old barns and buildings and I ended up doing this a few times a week just playing around.  A few years later it would control my life!

Rural life in Hampi, India can be tough and you know this from the faces of the water buffaloes there, I think.  They always look so sad when walking around, kind of like big, nasty, sad dog or something.

I went into this village to see if I could get some portraits of the locals.  It was the first village of the day and I didn’t really go as planned but I did walk away with a great story and some good photographs.

One of the best things I did in Nepal was hiking near the city of Pokhara.  Yeah I know, anyone who has been there will say that.  Hell anyone who knows anything about Nepal will say hiking anywhere there must be magical because so many people talk about it.  Well when I went to Nepal it was the rainy season so doing the 17 day Annapurna Circuit (which is rated as one of the best hiking trails in the world and for good reason) was out of the question for me.  I needed something shorter and closer.

A local man came to my dilemma and offered to take me outside the city for a days and show me Nepalese rural life.  No running water, everything eaten would be locally grown and organic, people who still cook by open fire.  The only catch was that it was going to be a 5hr hike up hill.  Well I made the hike and the rewards were breathtaking in more then one way.

This women was walking back to her house from the fields below carrying grass for her livestock she had.  Everything is done by hand this part of the country and it must get tiresome having to get grass everyday for your milk cow but seeing these people in person working will be something I will never forget.  They always smiled and I thought it was crazy and great at the same time.  And for me I wouldn’t even walk a mile for a Marlboro!

2 Tons on 2 Wheels

When visiting Mumbai (Bombay), India I went to the Crawford Market, the oldest established market in Mumbai, built by the British when it colonized India.  This market has it all but it’s all the traffic of people, carts and vendors that make it so exciting I think.  One thing I hadn’t seen yet in India were all these long carts that men used to push cargo around.  I think I actually seen more carts then trucks hauling stuff, as the road was covered with guys heaving stuff up and down the streets.

I think those are ten mini-refrigerators these two guys are moving.  One thing the photo can’t tell you is all the traffic horns going off because of these guy blocking the road.  Well that and Indians don’t know how to drive more then a minute without honking their horns.  At times I think it’s Indian law that one must honk their horn every minute or be fined on the spot by local police (serious).  You can’t spend very long in India and not see every single humanly way possible to move things.  I could do a whole photo-essay just on this!

Who is the wisest of three you think?

Bhaktapur is an ancient city, about an hour bus ride away from Kathmandu, Nepal.  It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site, which means you have to pay money to get into this city as a tourist.  I hate places like that, esp when I found out it costs $15 USD just to enter.  I later found out that the ticket is good for a week and once I started walking around Bhaktapur I knew it was 100% worth the money.

Everything is old in this city!  The roads are made from clay bricks, the buildings look the same as they did 500 years ago but for me it was the people I found to be the most interesting thing I seen.  I was hoping to get a few portraits and one of the first people I photographed was this group of old men.  They were sitting along the street talking, laughing and carrying on.  When I walked by I thought one of them said something to me, so I stopped and looked back.  I guess they didn’t but we were all just staring at each other and it felt weird.  So I just held up my camera and said “Photo?”  to which they replied with a smile but not saying anything.  I snapped a few photos and showed them, to which they all laughed.  Maybe they thought they looked funny, maybe they thought my photography skills sucked or maybe they were all drunk, who knows?  Either way I didn’t care because the photo turned out great.

Here is another photo I took while there.