Overview:
Wild Haiti 2025, a two-week exhibition introduced by photographer René Durocher, invitations guests to rediscover Haiti’s pure richness by way of his digicam. Mixing artwork, science and environmental consciousness, the exhibition is each a poetic enchantment and a name to protect wildlife.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haitian photographer and naturalist René Durocher has unveiled Wild Haiti 2025, an immersive exhibition celebrating the nation’s breathtaking biodiversity. The occasion provided an immersive journey by way of Haiti’s biodiversity, utilizing pictures and sound to encourage consciousness and motion for nature preservation.
Hosted on the Haiti-Brazil Cultural Middle in Pétion-Ville from Oct. 3 to 16, the present featured 52 large-format photographic panels, video projections and pure soundscapes that carry Haiti’s wildlife to city life by way of high quality pictures.
The exhibition showcased greater than 180 animal species, together with the Kanson Wouj or “purple underpants”—Haiti’s nationwide chook and vibrant image of magnificence and resistance— alongside snakes, frogs and parrots. Every picture captures each the fragility and resilience of the nation’s ecosystems, urging guests to reconnect with nature.
“It’s superb to see the variety of Haitian wildlife showcased this fashion. I realized issues I didn’t even learn about our personal nation,” mentioned Victoria Collin, one of many many guests.
“Biodiversity is an important treasure. Preserving it is going to permit younger folks to be taught from it and be impressed by it. My group and I are absolutely dedicated to serving to everybody perceive, worth, and share this pure wealth.”
René Durocher, photographer
Supported by UNIBANK, the French Institute of Haiti (IFH), the Interministerial Committee for Land Planning (CIAT), the Nationwide Company for Protected Areas (ANAP) and the Youth and Biodiversity Initiative (IJB), Wild Haiti 2025 aimed to boost environmental consciousness and encourage youthful generations to guard their shared pure heritage.
“Biodiversity is an important treasure,” mentioned René Durocher. “Preserving it is going to permit younger folks to be taught from it and be impressed by it. My group and I are absolutely dedicated to serving to everybody perceive, worth, and share this pure wealth.”
A photographer rooted in science, artwork and ecology, and an artist past the lens
Born in Haiti 58 years in the past, Durocher grew up surrounded by nature. His father taught him the right way to observe and take care of animals, planting the seeds for a lifelong fascination with wildlife. Although he studied industrial and home electrical energy, his ardour in the end led him to pictures — a medium by way of which he might merge artwork and environmental science.
A former science instructor, Durocher labored as a graphic designer, photographer, and videographer earlier than dedicating himself fully to documenting nature. His profession pivot got here within the mid-2000s, whereas working with the Seguin Basis on a documentary that fused animal remark with pictures.
Largely self-taught, Durocher developed right into a subject naturalist, mixing science, artwork, and environmental training. For greater than a decade, he has led ecological workshops throughout Haiti, uniting scientists and native farmers to debate conservation and sustainability.
“The mixture of images, video, and sound makes the expertise actually charming. You nearly really feel such as you’re within the coronary heart of nature.”
Frantz Louis, photographer
“My purpose is to make folks see nature in another way — to comprehend that each species issues and deserves to exist,” he mentioned.
Past his pictures, Durocher can also be an environmental advocate. He based Eko Haïti, a venture selling eco-friendly stoves comprised of natural gas, and companions with Wastek S.A., a Haitian firm that transforms agricultural waste into clean-burning briquettes.
He additionally took half in catastrophe reduction and reconstruction efforts after the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew, experiences that bolstered his perception that “defending nature means defending human life and dignity.”
Durocher’s pictures, taken over three a long time, doc Haiti’s mountain ranges and guarded areas, from La Visite Nationwide Park and Citadelle Nationwide Park to the forests of the South and Grand’Anse areas. Every picture tells the story of coexistence between folks and their atmosphere.
“My work will not be solely inventive; it’s religious,” he mentioned. “Every photograph is an act of respect — a reminder that we’re a part of one thing a lot bigger than ourselves.”
A dwelling archive of Haiti’s biodiversity
Durocher’s portfolio serves as a visible archive of Haiti’s endemic species. He authored The Birds of Haiti (2014) and Haiti’s Herpetofauna (2015), mixing scientific precision with inventive expression.
In 2015, he exhibited his biodiversity work in partnership with the Swiss Embassy in Haiti, Université Quisqueya (UniQ), and Fondasyon Konesans Libète (FOKAL), later taking Wild Haiti / Macaya to the Lunaret Zoo in Montpellier, France. Two years later, he printed Wild Haiti with the French Institute of Haiti.
“It’s superb to see the variety of Haitian wildlife showcased this fashion. I realized issues I didn’t even learn about our personal nation.”
Victoria Collin, customer
With Wild Haiti 2025, Durocher extends that legacy — a retrospective and ecological manifesto without delay. His pictures stand as each a poetic tribute and a name to motion, urging Haitians to rethink their relationship with the atmosphere.
The exhibition remained open to the general public for 2 weeks, ending on Thursday, Oct. 16 on the Haiti-Brazil Cultural Middle in Pétion-Ville, about six miles from the center of Port-au-Prince. College students, households and nature lovers alike have been invited to expertise this sensory journey — a heartfelt celebration of Haiti’s dwelling and pure heritage.
“The mixture of images, video and sound makes the expertise actually charming,” mentioned Frantz Louis, a photographer and instructor. “You nearly really feel such as you’re within the coronary heart of nature, and it conjures up you to guard the environment.”