When Amy sent me yet another empowering email, I created a screen full of my images of coffee farming women for her because she is a champion for the wellbeing of women. Looking at all the images together made me want to have these women close to me whenever I open my computer. They remind me to be brave. I need reminders to be brave because a shrinking life is not the kind I want, as Amy is always reminding me. Maybe I am not alone and you need that reminder to.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to give birth in a developing nation like Burundi, this may pull back the curtains for you a bit. It has been a longstanding dream of mine to photograph a birth in Burundi, and while I didn’t get to do that, I was able to spend time with a minutes-old-baby and his mother Claudine.
Last week our small (and growing) LMCP team had some amazing victories. We have been pushing hard for many months to export our farmer’s Burundi coffee. It has been a loooooong road here in Burundi, my people. The road included acquiring 29 stamps and signatures on documents from 14 banks and governement offices.
When Tharcis (Tar-cease) Ntahonkuriye wandered into my makeshift studio space in the coffee hills, this 76 year old mostly toothless coffee farmer won me over instantly.
This Cape Town shoot is in honor of a woman who loved and crafted beautiful things and taught me the value of doing the same. My beautiful Grandma. Photographed for the love of art, this was pure vida and it’s all for her. On the day of her funeral…
It was an amazing day at the LMCP washing station last week because we were able to pay all our Burundi coffee farmers months before they anticipated it. The whole LMCP team was at the washing station and not only did we manage to pay all the farmers, but we captured 22 of their stories.
