portrait Archives - Jake Lyell

Post Tagged with: "portrait"

Celebrating International Women’s Day

March 7, 2020

I produced this dance-inducing video for the marking of International Women’s Day by ChildFund at an advocacy event in Washington, DC, promoting the Girls LEAD Act – a bill that recognizes and promotes girls’ civic and political leadership as a priority for U.S. foreign assistance efforts. Following a “call for entries” to ChildFund’s 23 offices around the world, I chose the most thought-provoking soundbites to incorporate with some existing high-intensity dance footage. Herein, also, are some shots celebrating women and girls from recent assignments in Morocco, India, Nepal and Uganda.

Faces of Drought

May 1, 2017

Last month I traveled to far northern Kenya to document the grueling impact of the current drought on children and families for ChildFund. Most of the stories I captured were of extreme need – stories that I hope will stir hearts and open pocketbooks in order to bring relief to those attempting to endure the current food crisis.

Indian Summer

June 5, 2013

While on my way to some rural areas of Maharashtra state, I took a moment to see how some of Mumbai’s 21 million residents spend their afternoon. I’ve made it to India at the height of summer, but I much prefer the 100°F+ dry heat of June to the extreme humidity to come in July and August, which has rendered my lenses useless in the past. India is both the extraordinary and the execrable, and sadly I’ve grown much too acclimated to the latter. The level of poverty seen here brings about a feeling of hopelessness. But as I’ll show from a couple of video pieces I’m creating now, even at unlikely odds, the battle is winnable.

Off-Duty Shots

November 16, 2012

I find that most photographers fall into one of two categories: those that carry their camera around everywhere they go, and those whose camera is packed safely away in the cupboard when not on assignment. I generally fall into the category of the latter. When I’m on assignment I’m in the zone. Creating interesting photographs of everyday subject matter consumes a great deal of energy, so most of the time I use it sparingly. Most of the time, that is. Time spent with good friends in one of my favorite corners on the planet, the Soroti area of Uganda, calls for an impromptu breakout of the camera. My friends Boas and Annet make for most of the subject matter herein, save for John Simon Okiror, below, who died a few days after this photo was taken.

Faces of Drought

September 14, 2011

A more somber side of Kenya’s drought in the Turkana Region compared to my last entry… and a bit of the relief effort by ChildFund. Some more of my video work on the crisis:

48 Hours in Vintage Harar

April 28, 2011

It’s hard to believe it had been five years since I’d been to Ethiopia, not counting the many hours of down time spent making a connection in Addis Ababa’s airport. Recently I arrived a couple days early for a ChildFund assignment in this Horn of Africa country so that I might explore an ancient city in Ethiopia’s exotic East. Harar’s meandering old town is other-worldly, a step back in time along the caravan routes of the middle ages. Indeed, if it weren’t for Coca Cola’s stubborn presence inside the city walls it may sometimes be difficult to decipher which decade, or even century, you were losing your way in. Most Ethiopians don’t mind having their photograph taken. It was my original intention to shoot only portraits for these two days I’d set aside. However, I was quickly enveloped in the atmosphere of the town and the eye candy was too[…]