Chery shared a first-person account of his career and the risks he faced covering his homeland’s turmoil, including being shot while on assignment.
Haitian photojournalist Dieu-Nalio Chery, whose work has documented decades of political unrest, social struggle, and human rights issues in Haiti, has shared a first-person account of his career and the risks he faced covering his homeland’s turmoil, including being shot while on assignment.
Chery, now based in Michigan and a staff photographer at the University of Michigan, discussed his early years growing up in Haiti and developing his passion for photography in Port-au-Prince, where he began learning the craft at his uncle’s photo studio in the capital. He taught himself the technical and artistic skills that would shape his long career documenting life in Haiti’s most difficult moments. He chronicled his growth for the Global Citizen.
His work across more than two decades has focused on capturing the realities of life marked by poverty, violence, natural disaster, and political upheaval. Chery has photographed protests, illegal arrests, corruption, homelessness, earthquakes, and hurricanes, producing images widely used by international news outlets and human rights organizations.
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While now based in Michigan, Chery continues to advocate for press freedom and the importance of visual storytelling in contexts where civic space is constrained and journalists face grave risk. His work underscores the vital role photojournalism plays in documenting struggles and resilience in societies confronting profound challenges.
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Source: Black Enterprise
