The Haiti Earthquake +1

On this one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, I’m happy to turn to The Bag’s good friend, the wonderful photographer, Mario Tama. In New Orleans this year for “the fifth,” and now in Haiti for “the first,” Mario has been commemorating ritual anniversaries (and his extended commitment to particular stories) by returning to specific places and re-photographing scenes he had captured before.  (To see at least three set of these juxtapositions, take a look at this WSJ slideshow featuring work by Mario and his Getty colleague, Joe Raedle.)

I was specifically drawn to this combination, showing survivors bathing and washing clothes at a stream next to destroyed homes in Port-au-Prince.  The top photo was taken on February 9th, 2010 and the bottom image was taken just a few days ago, on January 8, 2011.  For me, the images quietly express the reality today of an event that so galvanized the world a year ago, which is: the general lack of difference, and the greater if clearer distance from humanity.

As always, I’m interested in your read.