Deb Stavin - About

About

Over the past 20+ years I’ve traveled through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Vietnam, India, and Ghana. I love to drop down into the middle of daily life in places very different from my own home country, just to take a good, long look. 

At first glance, everything seems unfamiliar: the language, the foods, the clothes…but what soon emerges is the remarkable sameness that links us all. What country on earth doesn’t have giggling schoolgirls, cool teenagers, distinguished elders, colorful markets, and barbershops? People all over the world have jobs or worry about not having them, trade gossip around the water cooler (or the village water pump), and carry their groceries in plastic bags (or in baskets on their heads). We all try to make our guests feel welcome with a cup of fresh coffee (or yak-butter tea). We all want to be loved and treated with dignity and respect.

Before photographing people or their property I ask permission, and I don’t try to change a “no” to a “yes.” No means no! People and their lives are colorful, to be sure, but I resist the notion that people in foreign countries are ‘local color.’ I think genuine respect fosters peace in a powerful way, one person at a time, and I hope this comes across in my photographs.