stefano giovannini’s journals

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Pre Passover/Pesach celebration in the Satmar section of Williamsburg. Religious jews burn leftover food that is forbidden during Passover. Mostly leavened bread and container.

Small fires scattered around the neighborhood. More people joined and threw boxes containing various items. I saw even brooms and toasters in the burning pyre.

Fire alarms went off and a truck of FDNY ladder 11 extinguished the flame. I had a good photo of that but the fireman realized that he was not wearing his helmet and might get in trouble if the picture ends up in a paper.

A man posed for me and told me I could take his picture standing in front of others.

Other hasids asked me if I had a card and a website.

The fire at some point was hot and the smoke was toxic. It dried my pants but my feet and socks remained soaked and made me smell like a chimney sweeper.

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Vodou celebration for Damballa (sometimes represented by St Patrick) in East Flatbush.

Many Vodou celebrations have been cancelled after the quake in Port au Prince. The woman that gave me a plate of rice and beans at the end of the ceremony told me with teary eyes that she had lost family and friends.

There were many young kids, especially the priest’s daughter being active part of the ceremony.

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Hard to shoot at some crowded press conference photo op. A ton of photographers and videographers nervous and jumpy carrying expensive  heavy cameras and a folding step stool.

My camera is not as fast as a Nikon D3, so it makes me think about how to get a shot that is not a photocopy of a photo op reality show.

At least I do not have to carry a ladder on my backpack and no heavy telephoto lenses as I just find it nicer to get close.

I do not know much about Beyoncé Knowles. She was here to let the media know about her cosmetology school that will possibly offer opportunities to people that have difficulties in finding a career path and having a satisfying life.

Beyoncé Knowles looked exactly how she appear on magazine covers. Perfect make up and fake eye lashes.

I am more attracted to more natural looks.

A reporter found ironic that she was giving this press conference at some addiction recovery program location, and her school was targeted to many recovering addicts while her partner Jay-Z songs are all about drugs.

Coney Island Avenue and Avenue K, Brooklyn NY

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Josef Ostrowicz was in the Warsaw ghetto for 2 years. after the war he was one of the founders of Israel. He has been married with Galina, originally from Russia, for 18 years. They speak Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Polish, Russian but almost no English. 5 years ago they moved to the USA, Benson Hurst Brooklyn. She said the services and support for the Holocaust survivors is much better in the USA than in Israel.

The 2 ladies became friends at the concentration camp, the person from the organization told me. She told me they would not let me take their picture, she could not take a photo of them herself. But when I asked they said yes and they even gave me their first / last name.

We ate some chicken and vegetables. I asked Joseph, the holocaust survivor if he only ate kosher and he said no with a smile. But I wonder if we got lost in translation.

I told his wife I love Borodinsky bread. She asked me why I like that. she said Kiev bread is a lot better and that I should learn Russian or Hebrew so we could have a conversation.

Last minute show after my quick but dense trip to Jamaica.

an instinctive edit.

Opening at Habana Outpost on Monday 29th of June. 6 to 9 pm

757 Fulton street in the Ft Greene section of Brooklyn NY.

pass it around

http://cafehabanablog.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113901361404&ref=nf

“A display of photos I took on my trips to Jacmel, Haiti and the West End of Jamaica.

In September I spent 2 weeks in the South East of Haiti. The town of Jacmel had been hit by 4 hurricanes. Food crops and many homes had been wrecked by storms and floods. I witnessed the daily life of different people. Daily struggle combined with dignity and passion.

This June I spent a week in the West end of Jamaica. The town of Negril with the contrast between the inclusive resorts with partying tourists and the peace of the countryside and the west end. I rented a bicycle and went over the mountains on the other side of the west end. I met people that shared food and stories. Windswept rocky coasts, goat trails and mountains with lush mango trees.

15 miles away from Negril, a different reality”

Prints will be for sale at affordable prices.

I will use part of the net profits to send some additional funds to Guerline Laguerre.  A single pregnant  Haitian woman I met on the beach in Jacmel.

I  raised money through Facebook fundraiser so she could pay for  a Cesarian section delivery as in Haiti health care is not free.

She now has a baby daughter she named Stefania and very little money for food.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43964902495

Another part of the sale will help me cover the costs to send photos back to all the nice people of Jamaica that showed me a bit of their lives. Many had no camera nor many photos of themselves. They loved the idea of having a good photo of themselves.