Freeing the Spirit:
A Photographer’s Lens Speaks
Caption: Prayer and worship in the aftermath of hurricane Jeanne, Gonaives Haiti 2004. Photo: Ocean Morisset.
Ocean Morisset, the back-cover artist for African Voices Spring 2013 issue, is a Haitian-American self-taught (freelance) photographer specializing in Photojournalism and Documentary photography. A self-described “inconstant” photographer, Ocean also explores Fine Art photography and engages with a wide range of subjects in life, though his passion remains in telling stories with images. Ocean’s choice of subject matter reveals his humanitarianism, as he has a keen eye for the unnoticed and under-appreciated aspects of life, and presents them in a way that the viewer takes hold of the image for their own self-reflection. Ocean Morisset has exhibited internationally and has been published in two international photography books; Nude Photography, The Art and Craft by Pascal Baetens, published out of the UK, and Black No. 5 by Juergen Janssen, published out of South Africa. In May of 2011, Ocean self-published his first book of photography titled Musings. For more information on Ocean visit
www.oceanmorisset.com
Ocean Morisset’s career highlights include: 2001 - Ocean establishes the Fort Greene Photography Organization, a membership organization of photographer amateurs and professionals. 2003 - Ocean travels to Havana, Cuba to teach a two-week photography and arts workshop to Cuban youth under a grant secured by Cuban-American Photographer Nestor Hernandez. 2004 - Ocean travels to Gonaives, Haiti with the humanitarian organization Eritaj Foundation to deliver food aid and medical supplies to survivors of Hurricane Jeanne. While there, he photographs the resilience of the Haitian people, with special emphasis placed on the food-distribution efforts. The photo essay is called “The Aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne,” and was exhibited at musician Wyclef Jean’s launch of his Foundation, Yele Haiti. 2004 - Ocean begins documenting the Black Gay community with projects that include Mukuru: Black Gay Elders and Pride in the City, New York’s Black Gay Pride celebrations. The Black Male Nude project also begins this year. 2012 - Unit Photographer for the documentary film, You Are Not Alone directed by Stanley Bennett Clay.
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african Voices