{"id":4562,"date":"2017-12-22T07:14:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T12:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=4562"},"modified":"2018-01-05T02:07:26","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T07:07:26","slug":"haitian-valerie-anselme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2017\/12\/22\/haitian-valerie-anselme\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You Don\u2019t Look Haitian,\u2019 People Tell Valerie Anselme. Her Photos Show What Haitians Really Look Like."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnytime I say I\u2019m Haitian, I\u2019ve had people look at me and say, \u2018You don\u2019t look Haitian,’\u201d photographer Valerie Anselme<\/a> says. \u201cIt\u2019s not only happened to me, it\u2019s happened to other people I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old Boston native finds this a strange thing to hear\u2014as someone who grew up steeped in Haitian culture as the child of Haitians who moved to the United States from their native island in the 1980s \u201clooking for better opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the question would come up\u2014like when a Bunker Hill Community College classmate complimented her on her French pronunciation and she explained that she was Haitian-American and grew up singing French hymns in church. \u201cHe looks at me and he looked genuinely confused. He\u2019s like really? Inside of me, I\u2019m like, \u2018What\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now studying photography and graphic design at Bridgewater State University, Anselme decided to use her camera to plumb the question: What do Haitians look like? Since beginning her “Faces of Haiti Project”<\/a> (on Instagram<\/a>) in November, she\u2019s made portraits of more than 30 people. Her aim, she writes, “is to debunk the idea, mostly fed by media, that all Haitians look a ‘certain type of way’ and to show that we are diverse peoples.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m light skinned. A lot of time on social media or regular media when Haitians are portrayed, they\u2019re darker toned,\u201d Anselme says. \u201cI wanted to take pictures of different Haitians I know or didn\u2019t know. Haitians, we have a large variety of skin tones. It\u2019s not just one ideal look.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s diversity in Haiti,\u201d she notes. But there\u2019s prejudice from outside as well as inside the community. \u201cThat\u2019s prevalent in a lot of cultures. And you see it in the Haitian community. There\u2019s a lot of colorism in terms of you\u2019ll see some people preferring to have lighter skin than darker skin. Now people are embracing all colors. But there is that in the community, you\u2019ll see the colorism sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valerie<\/a>
Valerie Anselme’s “Faces of Haiti Project.” (Courtesy Valerie Anselme)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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