Haiti

Maggie Steber has spent more than thirty-five years working in Haiti, witnessing both moments of unbearable danger and moments of breathtaking beauty. Being in Haiti can feel like walking through a dream one day and a nightmare the next—its complexity defies easy explanation.

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Centuries ago, enslaved Africans rose up against their French masters, defeating Napoleon’s armies and establishing the world’s first Black republic. Since then, France and the United States have repeatedly exploited Haiti under the guise of aid, stripping away much of the wealth and stability that once defined the nation.

 

Steber has returned to Haiti again and again, seeking a deeper understanding of its people and their extraordinary courage. Like many photographers, she once focused on stories of poverty, violence, and disaster—images that often distort the country’s true spirit. Over time, she turned her lens toward Haiti’s beauty, its magical belief systems, and the resilience that shines through everyday life.

Through collaboration, she learned to let Haitians tell their own stories. “I love Haiti and its people,” she says. “I owe them more than I can ever repay.” Her book Dancing on Fire, published by Aperture in 1991, stands as a testament to that lifelong relationship.

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“Much more than simply a stunning series of exceptional photographs, Maggie Steber’s images provide as vivid a chronicle of the Haitian people’s magnificent and excruciating struggle for a better life as exists in any medium. It’s hard to imagine a more singular work of profoundly sympathetic documentation:  the death throes, the rebirth, the heartbeat of a people.”     

 - The late filmmaker, Jonathan Demme