HANCOCK - Two special presentations will be held this week featuring a photojournalist who lived and worked in Central America.
Graham Hunt, a photojournalist out of Colorado, will be in the Copper Country for the week and will present to the public on his experiences in Central America. The first presentation will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at the First United Methodist Church on Quincy Street in Hancock. A potluck will be held at 6 p.m. A second presentation will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Fisher Hall, room 329, on Michigan Technological University's campus.
"He's been living in Central America for four years," said Sue Ellen Kingsley, director of the Copper Country Guatemala Accompaniment Project.
Hunt recently spent a year accompanying witnesses in genocide cases against some of Guatemala's most notorious wartime military leaders, revealing the way in which the Guatemalan genocide served to clear the indigenous people from their resource-rich homelands, Kingsley said. Through his travels, he has documented resistance to mega-developments, creating mobile photography exhibits for use by leaders working to raise awareness of indigenous rights.
"He's been documenting the activities of an indigenous group," she said.
The idea was to educate indigenous communities about their rights, Kingsley said, specifically involving mining corporations. In his presentations, he will be showing a video and photos while talking about present-day work and the history of the area where he lived.
Throughout his work, Hunt kept a blog, which can be seen at nisgua.blogspot.com/2010/12/huitan-rejects-mining.html and nisgua.blogspot.com/2010/12/communities-present-results-of.html.
The Copper Country Guatemala Accompaniment Project is affiliated with the national organization which promotes solidarity with the people of Guatemala.