NICARAGUA: STORYTELLING

IN the summer of 2017, I spent three months taking photos, capturing video and telling the stories of the people in Masaya, Nicaragua.

I was working as the media intern for a non-profit organization called “Students International” at the time. My role was to take part in each of the different work sites each day (medical, education, social work, micro finance, appropriate technology & agriculture) and find small moments that told the stories of the things going on there. The lives that were being changed, the empowerment that occurred and the harsh realities that many of the people there faced. It was at this point in my life that I learned the most about how to tell a compelling story. When it was appropriate to take pictures or shoot video, and when to shut the camera off. When to be present with the people surrounding you and what parts of the story weren’t mine to tell. But as you might have guessed, it was the smallest moments, the most minimal of things that painted the picture of what was really going on in our small slice of Nicaragua. Parties and baseball games, stray dogs and cats, greenery and boldly colored buildings.

GIMME A HAND

I can’t express how many soccer games I took part in Nicaragua. Some of the fiercest competition I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of. Not that anybody wanted the semi-uncoordinated photographer on their team. They were kind enough to let me play at all. The boy in the photo had taken my place as goalie once it had been proven that my performance was unsatisfactory. He kindly took my spot for me.

I couldn’t help but record this moment. Two local girls stopping by the schoolhouse to grab a drink of water from a nearby spicket.

These girls were best friends that I met at the local public school. They wanted a photograph together. Most kids I met had never seen a photo of themselves and got a real kick out of it.