le family.

Check out new photos of our little family here. Thanks Jannelle!

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Every Nation, 24 hours and YOU.

Remember when I shared about "One Day on Earth" back in April? Well October is here and in just a few days it will be time to join thousands of inspired citizens all across the globe will record the human experience over a 24-hour period for the largest participatory media event in history! Visit the One Day site to register and contribute your voice!

Founded in 2008, ONE DAY ON EARTH is creating an online community, shared archive, and film. Together, we will showcase the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occur in one day. We invite you to join our international community of thousands of filmmakers, hundreds of schools, and dozens of non-profits, and contribute to this unique global mosaic. Through the One Day on Earth platform, we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates.

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Go, Do.

Lately I have been MIA in the blogosphere and for that I apologize. Thank you all for continuing to read, despite my faithfulness to this space. Steve and I have been visiting dear family and friends on the mainland, making stops in Michigan, Chicago, New Jersey, New York, Maryland (where we created the little stop-motion treasure below) and are currently in Memphis (yes, I realize that I have listed some places as states and some as cities).


Once we return to Kona (on Tuesday) I am sure that I will be able to devote more time to online communication. For now, sit back, relax, enjoy the music of Jonsi and some young souls running around being ridiculous (and if you are from the Annapolis area, keep an eye out for these pirate faces in the local paper!)

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diamonds in the rough

I had the awesome opportunity to photograph at a local women’s prison here in Mazar. An NGO in the area is working to raise support to better the conditions of the facility so I got to use my camera to help with that process. 

The assignment was to photograph the conditions of the facility. 

{"kitchen"}

 I didn’t think that I would even have the opportunity to photograph the [treasures] that make their home inside the prison walls. The [women] shyed away from the camera, avoiding it at all costs as if it would steal their soul. Hiding in corners and covering their faces with their headscarves.

the children were scared of the camera too.

 

what are children doing living inside of a prison? when a woman in afghanistan goes to jail, her young children become prisoners with her. if she has older children they are sent to an orphanage.

 there are no grassy patches to play in. no sandboxes, crayons or toys. there are [sparks of hope] in the eyes of these tiny people. they are diamonds in the rough.

my first twenty shots were of crying babies. who knows if they had ever seen a camera before. thank GOD for digital photography...as i began to show these two and three year old babies their portraits their crying subsided and i even got a few smiles out of them. 

when their mothers saw their children's faces on the LCD they began to warm up

 to me. Within a few minutes there was such a drastic change...they came alive. Before long their faces were unveiled and they were dragging me by the arm from one side of the courtyard to the other, fighting over who got to have their picture taken next. as soon as the shutter closed they would dive towards me to see their faces in the screen. 

 

as i began to look into their eyes, my heart was shattered as i empathized with the intense pain, anger and angst written on the faces of these broken women. such stony exterior masking delicate hope. diamonds in the rough. 

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Venturing Out.

"We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting, and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it? It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out. I want to repeat one word for you: Leave. Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."- Donald Miller



Over the next two years I will be traveling with a group of artists,photojournalists and missionaries through the Pacific, China, Cambodia, India, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Chad, Germany, and Venezuela capturing the beauty and culture of each nation and unmasking the desperate issues at hand (human trafficking, sexual slavery, female genital mutilation,gender discrimination and female suicide bombers to name a few). This project will then work towards developing and distributing communication tools to raise social awareness about these issues, hoping to make a dent, through print media, by educating and informing those who have little or no knowledge of the "voiceless".

I am so excited to be a part of this project. I could not do it without YOUR love and support. It means so much to know that I have such an awesome group of family and friends backing me as I venture out. THANK YOU to every single person who has contributed, both financially and prayerfully. I am overwhelmed with graditude and feel so blessed to have you in my life. Your continued support is needed.

From April until June 2008 I can be reached at this address in Hawaii:
Please send any mail "Airmail" (not "ground" or "surface")

Diane Byrnes
PhotogenX DTS
University of the Nations
75-5851 Kuakini Hwy Box 432
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
USA



www.voiceforthevoiceless.co.za
www.myspace.com/dianebyrnesphotography
diane.byrnes@gmail.com

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