“…I was humbled by the grace, generosity, fortitude, and bravery of the hardworking men, women and children who allowed me into their lives, lives they did not choose and often cannot control. Through them my life was enriched. I hope you’ll look deeply into these photographs and let them change your life too.” – Renée C. Byer
To create her work for Living On A Dollar A Day (The Quantuck Lane Press; 2014), Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Renée C. Byer traveled to ten countries on four continents to illuminate the human faces of poverty. With support from The Forgotten International, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that works to alleviate poverty in the U.S. and worldwide, Byer sought out people who live on the brink of survival – on a dollar a day. Her searing and tender photographs along with the personal stories Byer gathered, give a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard.
While working on this project, Byer gained exceptional access to photograph, interview and follow her subjects, establishing trust so they would open up their lives to her. In the ten countries she traveled to – Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Liberia, Moldova, Peru, Romania and Thailand – Byer witnessed people suffering from the ravages of war, disease, child labor, forced prostitution, starvation, rape, homelessness, abandonment, blindness, and environmental toxins with little or no hope of help. The stories presented here are heartbreaking, but also reflect the extraordinary resilience of the participants. Balancing emotion and action, her pictures draw us toward the faces of these people, connecting us on a human level.
This report will be part of the screenings in Perpignan, during the Visa pour l’Image festival on September 3, 2014.
BOOK
Living On A Dollar A Day
The Lives and Faces of the world’s poor
by Thomas A. Nazario
Photographs: Renée C. Byer
ISBN: 978-1-59372-0556-8
Price: $49.95 US (Can. $52.50)
Clothbound: 348 pages/over 200 color photographs
Product Dimensions: 11.5” x 10” inches
