# 7 - Water Photo a Day - Danger

Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. However, sometimes the water source is also a place of physical danger. Traditionally known as "the river of life" to many of the tribes that live along it's banks, the Zambezi River is the 4th largest river in Africa. These women and children are collecting water and washing dishes at the edge of the Zambezi River in Southern Zambia upstream from Victoria Falls. Although the water is fresh running water, it is also contaminated, however, water borne disease is not the only thing the inhabitants of this area need to worry about. Only a few months previous at this very spot, during the rainy season, a crocodile claimed a strong community member, wife and Grandmother. In this area along the Zambezi approximately 6 - 10 people lose their lives to crocodiles annually as they collect water. Mandia, Zambia 2009

Happiness!

2 independent films I worked on last year have just won a total of 5 Leo awards this past week! Big congrats to Bruce Sweeney on EXCITED which won for Best Direction in a feature length Drama, Best Feature Length Drama, Best Female Lead - Laara Sadiq, and Best Female Supporting Performance - Gabrielle Rose! Kelly Ruth Mercier won for Best Screenwriting on a short drama! So happy I was able to work on these productions, not a bad way to begin my still's career!






Laara Sadiq - 2010 Leo Best Female Lead in a Feature Length Drama "Excited"

Water Photo a Day # 6 - "Quality vs Supply"

It is "T" minus 5 days until the debut of "Waves of Change" the photo-documentary project intended to create awareness of the world water situation and to demonstrate the impact of improved water education on quality of life. In light of of this I am presenting a photo a day until the launch. The key message today is that access to water is not always enough. That water needs to be clean and safe to keep people healthy. The image in this post showcases that fact. Here a group of people gather beside a pipe from the Madurai City Corporation in the urban slum known as Sellur in Southern India. Every other day during a window of time they can collect water from the city. Unfortunately this is not safe, clean water and the chance for even further contamination is evident as it is only inches away from the sludge in the other water source, the Pandalgudi Canal. Madurai 2009

Number 5

Five million people, mostly children, die each year from water-borne illness...Every year, about 110000 children under the age of five die of water borne diseases in Bangladesh due to lack of sanitation...One in six African children dies before the age of five..."Water-borne diseases are claiming one child every three seconds"


Ennedy, a school teacher in a small community along the Zambezi river in Africa, tells us how her 18 month old daughter died from diarrhoea prior to using the bio-sand filter. Mandia, Zambia 2009

Water Photo A Day 4 - Women and Water

Women in the village of Karaikudi, the Chettinad region of Southern India, walk together early on a Sunday morning, to a water source where they will both collect water and have an early morning wash. There are 900 Million people in the world who have to walk more than 1 KM to get water. Often that water is not good quality. Karaikudi India 2009

CAWST presents "Waves of Change" a photo-documentary exhibit - June 10th Calgary City Hall 4 - 6 pm with guest host Mark Tewksbury

A young girl from the illegal settlement of George near Ndola, Zambia fills a small pail with water from the borehole well to make one of many trips into her hut to fill the bio-sand filter

Ndola 2009

Waves of Change - Photo a Day

9 more days! This photo is a part of the story of Jayalakshmi, an amazing soul from the heart of Sellur, an urban slum in Madurai, India.

Jayalakshmi, a Kalanjiam member through DHAN foundation, shows us how the nutrition is not lost when she drinks the water that the rice has been washed in, but only once that water has been cycled through the bio-sand filter. Prior to using the in home water filter, the rice water not only tasted sour, but would often result in some water bourne illness such as diarrhoea for someone in the family, that in turn would cause loss of critical work days and income.

water photo of the day

As today is a monumental day in terms of our working project "Waves of Change" I am planning to spotlight a new image every day up until the official launch of the "Waves of Change" exhibit next Thursday June 10th. Today was a dry run as 1/3 of the exhibit was installed at Nexen for Environmental Week. It is pretty amazing to see it all come to life after the work and planning and gave me the idea to countdown with a photo a day. The first image is one of women laboring in the tsu nami effected region of Nagapattinum near the Bay of Bengal in Southern India. Every year the Indian government promises to pay workers a minimum wage for a certain number of days for community work of this nature. Many of the women looked far beyond their years to be doing this type of work, but not that it is much different in comparison to seeing women working as flag holders in construction zones here at home, except for the hard physical work part! It was around 41 degrees in the middle of the day when I caught this image of the women in their saris carrying heavy containers to revitalize and clean out their community oorani (water storage tank).

Water Everywhere

As I sit here writing, Vancouver is being deluged with a major downpour, from a satelite photograph, it looked as though we were in the eye of a hurricane. It is lovely, lush and green, and from where I sit it is difficult to comprehend a life without the luxury of clean water from the tap, and hard to believe in this day and age in a world where continents are surrounded by water, and it seems to be everywhere, that there are so many people that don't live with this. But the reality of many around the world in regards to access to safe water is not much different now than when I began this H20 journey a last year. From the beginning, knowing what I was going to experience through documenting photographically these many lives, and then discovering the reality was an awakening itself. Now I will have the opportunity to expand on it even more, through "Waves of Change" the exhibit that is the culmination of last years work with Melanie, and our upcoming visit to Haiti. While continuing to revisit the imagery in editing and printing, I had an almost strange vantage point of continually living in my Zambia and India worlds. Both places had a way ofpulling me in and allowing me to connect with them, now I will look forward to the next chapter. Ohh, how I love a storm.

Vintage with Leah Gibson

Got together with Actress Leah Gibson (she of Twilight fame, and more!) Working with hair and makeup artist Leanne Chapman, and stylist Valeria we had a great time with fab results!

JUST CONFIRMED - Haiti in August

Just recieved an email, will be going to Haiti during the month of August to document people's lives in conjunction with clean water! This is to collect more imagery for CAWST and the Waves of Change project and we will be partnering with PAIDEH, an NGO operating in Haiti. Can't wait! Melanie and I will be working with Olivier Mills the CAWST technical adviser for Haiti. I am so excited and will start doing more research right away!

DHAN KARUNAI ILLAM

I have added a new gallery to the website, please check it out, portraits from the Karunai ILlam in Nilakottai, Tamil Nadu India. I had a magical few days spending time with 23 girls that amazed me. While working for CAWST in India through their partner The DHAN Foundation, I was introduced to Jean Watson, and 85 year old New Zealander that formed the orphanage in 1987. What the Illam provides goes much further than housing, clothing, educating and feeding nearly 50 children and their caretakers, it fosters a sense of belonging, and graciousness. I fell in love with all of them. Please check it out, under galleries > DHAN KARUNAI ILLAM on my website at www.catecameron.com

!! Make Waves of Change !!

After months of planning and work, Water Stories has officially been titled "Make Waves of Change". We even have an official website www.makewavesofchange.org This is primarily a sneak peak at what is to come, anyone can register to receive updates and keep abreast of where the exhibit will be after the debut June 8th at Calgary City Hall.

The Situation

It has been a wonderful beginning to 2010. Contacted by directer Terry Miles in early January to do still photography for his wonderful feature titled "A Night for Dying Tigers". The ensemble cast was amazing to work with and included Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, John Pyper-Ferguson, Lauren Lee-Smith, Kathleen Robertson, Tygh Runyan, Leah Gibson, and Sarah Lind and even more! Shooting wrapped Feb 5th.

Since then the Olympics have taken over! Currently working on booking headshots and pre-production on the upcoming "Make Waves of Change" exhibit, website and exhibit debut in Calgary on the 8th of June. For more info check out www.makewavesofchange.org

Also in the planning stage for Haiti in August. Originally planning to go in May, it has been pre-empted until August. This trip will be to collect more imagery for the Waves of Change Water Project in conjunction with CAWST.

Water Stories Update

Currently Melanie Jones and myself are in pre-production mode for the upcoming exhibits in Calgary beginning this June. After returning from India in early September I had over 13,000 images to post edit. We have had 2 production meetings with CAWST, STRUT and all those on the exhibit committee and will be meeting again end November. I am now in the midst of choosing the images and coming up with an exhibit blueprint that we will use for the exhibits in Calgary, the online website and galleries, as well as an eventual packaged traveling exhibit in slideshow format. We are lucky to be working with Strut creative in Calgary and with their support and that of the Exhibit Committee I am really excited about the project.

Coupled with that we are planning our field visit to Haiti in early 2010 to do some more documenting. This is all funded by CAWST, The Rotary Club, and CIDA...Stay tuned!

why do you want to...

The question comes up all the time. Why would you want to take pictures of the suffering, the impoverished, the dying, the poorest of the poor? Why do we do anything that we are not forced to do? We do it because we want to of course, and why do we want to? I can only speak for myself, but it is a compulsion. It is a feeling so strong that I wanted to follow it, that I knew I would be doing what I was here to do. A picture shows us many things, but in the context of what I have been doing, it shows us how someone lives, and no matter how difficult it may be to take the photo, to show it is important, and equally for others to observe it, because it is a truth. We only really know ourselves, both personally and as a race if we truly face ourselves and each other. So it is not because I am a voyeur, or that I want to make a living off of others' suffering, as I have been accused of, it is because I want to be aware of myself and my humanity; but really it's me, it's my life and it's my subjects' life.

"If you get in the Saddle, be ready for the ride"

Please follow me on my blog at the Calgary Herald - "Water Dispatches"

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/waterdispatches/default.aspx

you can click on The Calgary Herald icon to the right...thanks!!!

Go with the FLOW

In preparation for my job/journey I have been watching a few related documentaries. The other night Kim and I watched "FLOW" which was amazing as it highlighted not only the crucial circumstances leading to the world water shortage, but also the World Bank's involvement and their F*#%ed up way in controlling and robbing the poorest of the poor, both as countries and individuals. It also shon a spotlight on how much time people are forced to waste in order to get mediocre water in certain locations in Africa, India, and I am sure in many other places too. Can you imagine walking for 2 or 3 hours to a tap coming up out of the ground only to have to wait for many hours for it to work? Even then, this water probably needs to be filtered before it is safe. There are often cards they have to pay for to use to turn the taps on. Megga corporations that sell bottled water to the world, part of the water cartel, that also happen to be the same individuals in many cases that are the "world bank" say that the infrastructure to deliver the water costs money, and so they have to charge. No shit Sherlock, these are poor people that probably make as much in a year as you do in 5 minutes, guess what, if they had the money they would pay for the infrastructure, but they don't because they are "poor", and now you want to charge them what is a meagre amount to us, but what is 6 months of food for their family. It is actually quite sickening and stomach turning to see these guys trying to substantiate this robbery. I am looking forward to seeing for myself the actuallity of life in these areas, and to begin the documentation.

Next up to watch..."Blue Gold"

Oh, now I get it, or...why did the chicken cross the road?

No one ever promised this would be easy. So, I have at this point been to the Indian Consulate so many times that I think I may have personally funded a small village somewhere if I could have given them the funds it cost me for parking! So, I decided to bike it instead. I biked with Kim from East Van to the Consulate on Cordova and Howe to hit the changover from intake to pickup after the lunch break at !pm, to find out that only the phone line is closed for 1 hour, pickup isn't until 3pm! Rule number 1, check things over in greater detail. So a quick bike to English Bay along the newly primed seawall for a schwarma, and then back by 3pm. As I patiently await my turn I am refreshed by the fact that things are actually moving quite quickly given the number of people in the room with twisted little pieces of paper in their sweaty hands with their numbers on them.

Finally my number is up and I quickly assume my rightful position at window number 6 with paper chit in hand. Suddenly, a middle aged caucasian business man appears to be busting in line ahead of me - he wants to ask a question about his "business visa" he has just picked up! I stay calm by telling myself he must have waited months to get this, thats what they told me it would take. He asks the clerk about renewal protocol and then off he goes. After a couple of minutes I am handed my passport with its newly added Indian Tourist Visa. When I leave we meet each other on the elevator and I pose the question as to how long he had to wait to get his visa. My mind does a mental flip flop when he replies - "oh, only a day". Why, oh why could I not get mine??? What kind of strange conspiracy is this? Business Man offers to look at my documents and in about 5 seconds flat finds the problem. One letter from India is asking for a 6yr Visa, and the other is asking for a 6 month visa. I knew that was there but "assumed" (note the brazen italics) this would not make a difference.

"Anything over 5 years requires AIDs testing, and many other hoops to jump through, always best to have it all matching!" retorts Business Man, "I get these all the time, it only takes a day!"..... can you feel the seething glare from my eyes?

Now that I am over the relief of actually having some kind of paper work to enter into India, I wear the kind of grimace on my face that reeks of half baked rotten fish when I think of this. Why did they not tell me at the consulate the exact problem, they only kept saying "it is something in what you have written", and "we cannot approve these " types of visas" All along when they said "types" what they really meant was 6 yr business visa, opposed to 6 month business visa, not just business visa. It was a simply rectified issue that I could have changed, re-submitted and had the "business visa". Rule number 1, check things over in greater detail, and, remember that things are always "different" when you least expect it. I have a feeling I may run into more of this somewhere along the way in the next 2 months.

VISA SCHMISA

I guess it is a good thing to be thrown unexpectedly into left field. Just when I thought everything was going smoothly my business visa is denied at the Indian Consulate. I thought I was really on top of things by waiting until Melanie had sent hers in, to have it sent back because she needed more info. She sent the second lot in and hey-presto-VISA! Great, I simply toodle off to the Vancouver Indian High Commission, give them my life and it will be that simple only quicker because I can pick mine up the next day! Then I get the expected phone call but only to let me know that I have been....denied! The guy on the other end did not know why, only that it might take months!!!! He suggested I forget about the business visa, and come in and ask for a much cheaper tourist visa. It looks like it just depends on the day, the time of day, and who is looking at things, what they had for breakfast, and whether or not they simply feel like putting the stamp on it that day or not. To be continued....