City Soleil : Eager to Learn

• Photographer
  Urim Hong
• Agency / Studio
  Urimgraphy
• Prizes
  Gold in Editorial/Photo Essay, 1st place winner in Editorial, Gold in Portfolio/Personal, Gold in People/Children, 1st place winner in Portfolio

City Soleil is a shantytown where the people live in extreme poverty in Haiti. A city is experiencing extreme hunger, unemployment, formation of armed gangs, violations under violence.This is not their choice but what they are born with. However human can indeed adjust to their environment but one can nurture the courage to face it through learning. Saying no to their destined environment and learning continuously by dreaming for a better tomorrow, it was their passionate heart for learning that made it possible. This is the narratives of the children who prevail in hunger but in sincerity.

Urim Hong is a photographer who searches for light in the isolated world. After majoring in the humanities as well as pedagogy, he taught children for a decade and, in that process, found himself called to photography. He majored in photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Currently, he is leading a project for the children and orphans in Citi Soleil, a small village within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. He was selected as Editorial Photographer of the year at the 2018 IPA, 2019 MIFA and PDNedu Awards, 2020 IPA Documentary(Editorial) winner.