Humans of Guyana – Moray House Trust

Activity: Photographic slideshow
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Thursday 18th June 2015

Ronald Nandlall and Brian Gomes [photo courtesy of Nikhil Ramkarran]

Five years ago a maverick photographer decided to create a catalogue of 10,000 New Yorkers. The project, ‘Humans of New York’, soon morphed into a series of portraits in the fullest sense of the word: a photograph accompanied by snippets of the person’s life history, thoughts, random musings. Brandon Stanton’s blog now attracts 8 million viewers on social media and has provided the material for a bestselling book. His portraits have struck a chord, offering, as he put it, ‘daily glimpses into the lives of strangers’.

On Thursday evening at Moray House Trust, two local photographers shared some of their photos and experiences in a similar undertaking, ‘Humans of Guyana’. Brian Gomes and Ronald Nandlall discussed the challenges posed by this particular form of street photography, namely approaching strangers for permission to take their photograph and to ask a bit about their lives.

The photographers shared some of their more memorable encounters with the audience: the young popsicle vendor who continues to battle against depression and drug addiction, the popular snow-cone vendor who rewards students who do well with a free snow-cone, and the sprightly octogenarian on the Soesdyke highway who, despite having the opportunity to emigrate, prefers to stay and make a daily pilgrimage to his farm to tend his crops.

Brian and Ronald expressed the hope that they would be able to secure funding to continue their journey around Guyana and compile more stories and portraits. The Humans of Guyana project has a Facebook page with over 8000 likes.