hell's heaven

more photos

"I am in heaven(zanzibar) at the moment", I wrote to a friend the morning of September 10, 2011.

The day before, Tim asked me if I could upload a photo story by the weekend in preparation for the Open Show Retrospective to be held on October 20 at Rayko Center in San Francisco. One of my photos has been selected to be exhibited.

Truth be told, my story on Joseph was (and is) incomplete. I never got that shot of him with his family -they loved the camera and I could never get a candid shot or that "last" shot I had thought of with a view of the lake.
So I looked for a photo story in my next destination, Zanzibar. On the morning of 10th, I went to the hotel reception for help just like I had the day before. But this time I found one and it was hell.

MV Spice Islander I, capsized in the Indian Ocean off Zanzibar at around 1 AM that morning. 579 people were rescued, 189 are confirmed dead and as of today, scores are still missing.

I was one of the very few photographers at Nungwi Beach, where the ferry capsized and where the victims were brought to shore.

I was also one of the very few who made it into the tents where the victims were wrapped, numbered and their belongings were placed on top of them.

I was one of the three who was given 5 minutes to take pictures in the identification tent right before the friends and family were allowed in.

sometimes, I discovered, you don't need press credentials to get close to the action, you just need a little compassion, respect and guardian angels who help and comfort you, when you need it most.