Leah Gordon. KANAVAL

Im writing about Leah in my dissertation, you must have a look, the photographs are disturbing but it is this fact which makes us all consider that very thing in our humanity which makes us view them as so, the masks here do more than hide, they in fact reveal the rich histories of Haiti which is thoroughly celebrated.

When thinking about these photographs it is useful to think about the work of Diane Arbus and how she felt towards the subjects she worked with, who in society were outcasts and labelled as ‘freaks’. These are not moments stolen from time, a camera pushed in the face by a tourist, they are moments in which Leah uses her old rolleicord camera to invite participation away from the busk of the crowd and creates the atmosphere of an old studio portrait being taken. Highlighting the power which photography holds in taking us from spectators alongside Leah into the shoes of ‘the other’ in front of the lens. For a moment we become them.