SIT Study Abroad alum works as Photojournalist in South America
Thursday, November 8, 2007
By: Chantal Sheehan

David Rochkind traveled to Bolivia and Ecuador with SIT, an experience that sparked his passion in photography and journalism

Living on the US / Mexico border. Rochkind's photography focuses on social justice and human rights issues.

SIT Study Abroad alum and freelance photojournalist David Rochkind lives in South America and travels the region looking for stories on social justice issues and human rights concerns. His most recent projects include a story in northern Argentina on poverty among indigenous populations and coverage of the devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Peru in August of this year.

David traveled to Ecuador and then to Bolivia with SIT Study Abroad in 2000 and 2001. He was heading for an international career after college and he wanted to gain skills in another language and in another culture. David explains, “I chose SIT specifically because of the Independent Study Project (ISP) portion of the program. I wanted to have an opportunity to work on photo and video projects and I knew that the SIT programs were open to that as part of the curriculum.”

As an undergraduate, David was studying sociology and contemplating photojournalism as a career. He recalls, “I thought the Culture and Development programs were the perfect fit to combine my interest in sociology with my passion [for] photojournalism.”  You can view David's work that combines these passions on his website http://www.davidrochkind.com/.

In discussing what impact and influence the study abroad programs have had on David’s life, he states emphatically, “Both the Ecuador and Bolivia programs essentially formed the base for my career as a photographer.  Without my experiences in Latin America with SIT I would not have been comfortable moving in and learning about another culture [enough] to move to Venezuela.  Many of the skills I learned with SIT are essentially the same skills I use as a journalist: understanding and relating to foreign cultures, living in different communities, interviewing people in a variety of languages etc.  In addition, my ISP photo projects formed the majority of the portfolio I showed to get my first job.”

David also notes that his time in Ecuador and Bolivia opened his eyes to global social issues and how we interact with them. “It is difficult to imagine, much less understand, poverty and development without experiencing it first hand. SIT gave me that experience and helped developed an interest that still forms the basis of my work and how I relate to the world around me,” says Rochkind.

“It’s not easy to really capture the meaning of fair trade coffee while sitting in a café in the US. But if you spend a few days picking coffee with a farmer in Ecuador and he explains that he sells a hundred pounds of beans for the same price as a few cups you begin to understand the importance.  I have become much more aware of my actions and how they could affect people thousands of miles away.  Many of the experiences with SIT are like microcosms of my life now.  Essentially every story I do is like one huge drop-off (an orientation exercise used in SIT Study abroad programs whereby students are dropped-off in unfamiliar locations and given a task to discover a particularity of their new environment).  Every project I work on is like one big ISP.”

The following photos demonstrate the type of stories David pursues. The first is of the town of La Oroya in Peru. He describes the city as one of the most polluted on the planet. “Located 180 km from Lima, high in the Peruvian Andes, it has been home to a metal smelting plant since 1922; the plant is currently owned by the US-based Doe Run Corporation. The plant processes heavy metals such as lead, copper and zinc, and emits toxic gases into the air that pollute the environment and sicken many of the 35,000 inhabitants. Studies have shown that the majority of children in La Oroya have lead poisoning; it is not uncommon for children to have quantities of lead in their blood up to 5 times the international standard.  Children and adults alike suffer from headaches, body aches and fatigue and cancer is found in higher than average numbers.”

The second photo is of a woman in La Oroya; I will let that extremely arresting image simply speak for itself.

David's ability to bring social issues to light through his art demonstrates the power of citizen journalism and cross-cultural exchange.  World Learning continues to offer programs for thousands of students to explore global issues and awaken their passions and creativity in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world.