Centralight

When a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, Iron Mountain senior Libby March felt the impact and knew she had to do something. "I became obsessed with the whole situation, feeling this nagging tug toward Haiti," says March. Seven months later, the photojournalism student was documenting her 10-day mission trip with Heart Cry International to My Heart's Home orphanage in Port- au-Prince, just 15 miles from where the earthquake's epicenter had hit. The resulting photo story, "Orphaned in Haiti," composed much of the portfolio that earned March College Photographer of the Year honors from the Michigan Press Photographers Association. . . . While March says she's "epically jazzed" about the award, the honor paled in comparison to the life-changing nature of the trip and the photos themselves. "These images are imperative – to show what's being done, to inspire compassion and to remind us of what really matters," March says. "Photographs don't impact everyone, but if, as a photojournalist, I can stir empathy in just a few people, I've done what I went to do." And the impact of March's photos reaches beyond March herself. After her story ran in CM Life, CMU's student newspaper, director and co-founder of HCI Carla Ives told March about a donor in Florida who was giving personalized backpacks to every child at the orphanage. "For a kid who only owns the clothes on his or her back and the food they eat, ownership of something so individual is pretty fantastic," March says. "I can't tell you what it brought me to hear about the backpack angel. It's little things like that that make me love the work." After her experiences in Haiti, March encourages other photographers and students to follow their hearts like she did. "All I can say is if there's the vaguest pull in you to start a project about issues you're passionate about, do it. Do it now and do it with everything you've got," says March. "The bottom line is that the pictures you put yourself into are the pictures that matter. Move. Shoot. Care." centralight summer '11 11

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