On Storycatching: An Update from Rwanda
Monday, July 6, 2009 by Shutter Sisters 
Jen sends us a post from Rwanda where she's scouting out stories and preparing to return with Stephanie for the August launch of Picture Hope. This is Devota, the housegirl who cooks and cleans for Odette's daughters. She is exactly the kind of young woman who Jen would like to see directly benefit from her photo and her story. Read on.
I'm trying my hand at actually talking and writing and being in Rwanda at the same time, no small feat let me tell you. The last time I was here I was rendered speechless early on and spent most of my days in a state of bliss while this or that person led me by the hand and went on and on in a language I didn't yet know.
This time I have a vocabulary any respectable two year old could be proud of and my listening comprehension is much better. I can make out, for instance, what one guy on the street said when I took out my camera. If you're going to take my picture, you should pay me some money. Just because the Rwandanese are some of the most hospitable, generous, loving populations in Africa, does not mean they are fools; they know, living in one of the most densely populated countries in Africa with very little besides tea and the gorillas to keep them going, that they themselves are their greatest natural resource. If you like what you see, then respect the gift I'm giving you. Value it. Put your money where your mouth is. This is reasoning we as Americans live by. Why shouldn't people here operate the exact same way? Especially when we come here clicking away like we're on a people safari and leave no discernible contribution in our wake?
I put my camera away and walk the rest of the dusty way back to the little house where I'm staying, sober and wondering what it would mean for me to be truly fair as Stephanie and I travel the world with Picture Hope. Is there a way to build a partnership between the subject and the photographer, so that we share the benefits of the stories we tell together? How can we collaborate so that the stories we create reflect the truth of the experience? What would happen to world news in general if the story tellers and story catchers equally shared the power over what stories are told and how?
Getting to the real story isn't easy—no matter where you find yourself in the listening/telling equation. It takes time to make sense of what happened. It takes more time to find someone who really wants to hear what you want to say, someone who won't ask too many questions before you get the whole thing out from start to finish. When time is short and the story still needs telling or if you're worried the listener can't really hear you, you'll tell the short version. I am an orphan. My father left us. I survived the genocide. You tell the story that has a category, especially if that's the quickest way to a payoff, and save the real story for another day, another person. Someone who can hear everything that went right along the way or the thing that hurt much more than the big thing, or that tiny act of courage that made you who you are today.
Story catchers sell ourselves short, too. Go for the easy shot; capture the quick summary. We need something to tell, something to show, so we race to our finish line, too, without always taking the time to make sure we're revealing the truth of the matter. We worry, just like story tellers do, that no one will have patience for the messiness that's inevitable when you hold the truth up to the lens and try to capture the beauty in all its complexities.
I hope to hear the real stories while I'm here in Rwanda. Better yet, Stephanie and I are looking for a real way to tell them when we return to launch Picture Hope in August—a way that makes sense out of the collaboration between listener and teller. A way that honors the ways that stories are the resources of our very lives, whether you're the girl in the picture or the girl behind the camera. This is our focus as we continue to Picture Hope and more than anything else, we'd love this community's input about how we might honor and respect the people and subjects we meet along the way.
Reader Comments (15)
Honesty will build the Trust you need. Patience will allow you to really hear their stories.
Such an exciting project!!!
Honestly, I wasn't sure how your first visit to Rwanda would go. You were so excited and motivated to empower the young girls you came in contact with. I was praying and hoping beyond hope that you would see ... really see ... that you may need them more than they need you. Do you know what I mean? Reading about how Rwanda burst open your heart made my heart smile.
YOU are what can make this project a wonderful thing. Just be you. Do what you do best. That is enough.
I trust you both so much
I wonder if you were able to find the balance between the photographer and those whose stories you wanted to tell? I think it's very noble of you to regard them as partners and not just subjects. Often enough, people in situations of difficulty have been milked for their stories, exploited really, by journalists