“When I first saw Dieu Nalio Chery’s work on Haiti's unrest the pictures were so hard-hitting it blew my mind. [...] He is not only a brilliant photographer, but also a courageous one. Talents like him deserve more exposure.” - Ritayan Mukherjee, India, independent photographer, and
6x6 nominator.
Dieu Nalio Chery is a photojournalist from Haiti. He started as a commercial and freelance photographer and decided to pursue a career in photojournalism and join Associated Press in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In the past few years, Dieu Nalio Chery has mostly been working on breaking news focusing on human rights issues.
Haiti: Nation on the Brink
Haiti: Nation on the Brink documents the violent demonstrations over fuel shortages, inflation, and allegations of government corruption in Haiti in 2019. Barricades in flames, lootings and overturned cars marked the political and social unrest in the streets of Port-au-Prince, where protesters demanded the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse. The photographer was wounded on assignment in September 2019, when a senator fired a pistol during a confrontation with opposition protesters outside of Haiti’s Senate.
A police officer points at armed residents during a protest to demand the resignation of Haiti's president Jovenel Moise on the 216th anniversary of the Battle of Vertieres in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 18 November 2019. The Battle of Vertieres was the last major battle for Haitian independence from the French.
A protester yells anti-government slogans in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 9 June 2019. Protesters denouncing corruption paralyzed much of the capital as they demanded the removal of President Jovenel Moïse.
A moto-taxi driver takes two women past a burning barricade set up by people protesting fuel shortages in Petion-ville, Haiti, on 15 September 2019.
A demonstrator sits on the coffin containing the body of a protester who was killed during previous protests in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 4 March 2019.
Haiti Deadly Lockups
Haiti Deadly Lockups chronicles the collapsing conditions of Haiti’s penal system, one of the world’s most congested with 454 percent occupancy level according to a ranking by the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Overcrowding, malnutrition, and infectious diseases have led to an upsurge of inmate deaths in Haiti’s prisons over the last years.
“Straight up: This is hell. Getting locked up in Haiti will drive you crazy if it doesn’t kill you first,” said Vangeliste Bazile, a homicide suspect who is among the about 80 percent of those incarcerated who have not been convicted of a crime but are held in prolonged pretrial detention.
Families line up with food for their incarcerated relatives in front of the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 13 February 2017. Prison authorities say they try their best to meet inmates' needs, but repeatedly receive insufficient funds from the state to buy food and cooking fuel. Some inmates are provided meals by visiting relatives and others are permitted by guards to meet with contacts bringing in food, cigarettes and other supplies.
Prisoners watch TV in their crowded cell inside the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 13 February 2017. Sentenced convicts and the far greater numbers of suspects still awaiting trial put together what little money they can gather to buy small TVs and radios for their shared cells.
Prisoners hanging from cell bars at the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 13 February 2017.
Prisoners play dominoes, checkers, and card games during recreation time inside the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 13 February 2017. Inmates — some waiting up to eight years to see a judge — try to keep their sanity by maintaining a daily routine.
