A WINDOW SEAT TO HAITI
If you’re wondering, “What am I even missing in Haiti?”—the answer is simple: You’re missing this.
I recently had the chance to spend five days in Haiti, and let me tell you: there’s a lot more to this country than you’ve been led to believe. Haiti doesn’t do “easy” or “predictable.” It doesn’t hand you a soft, tidy view of life. But what it does hand you is real. And real has a way of making you feel something that’s impossible to ignore.
Sure, we only had five days to photograph, explore, and slowly begin to understand this country—supervised, of course, because no one was about to let us wander off and get lost in the magic. But even in that brief window, we saw so much. And yet, it didn’t feel like nearly enough.
What I learned is this: Haiti is a place that demands more than a quick snapshot or a catchy travel headline. It’s layered—loud, raw, messy, and full of life. The landscapes will blow you away, but it’s the people—their resilience, their humor, their warmth—that’s where the true beauty lies.
The views around Port-au-Prince are wild, vibrant, and full of possibility. Not a perfect portrait, but a real one. Haiti is far from perfect, but in its imperfections, there’s something that can’t be denied—there’s a hell of a lot of potential here. And this place? It’s alive. It’s humming with possibility.
We all need to turn our eyes to Haiti and see it for what it really is. Not through the lens of the news cycle or fear, but through the lens of humanity—its raw, messy, and beautiful humanity. Because there’s an incredible, diverse culture here that the world doesn’t fully understand but desperately needs to.
I’m not saying Haiti needs saving. It doesn’t. It needs us to see it, learn from it, and appreciate what’s already here. This place has a lot to offer, and it’s waiting for more of us to come and witness it, firsthand.
Shot alongside the Barbancourt Rhum team and creative agency @d.pe.creative, this isn’t the end of my journey with Haiti—it’s just the beginning.
Welcome to Haiti.
- Max
