Photojournalist Patrick Raycraft gave a talk at the UConn Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center (PRLACC) on Oct. 1. The talk was on the experiences of the Latin American and Spanish-speaking world through photographs as a career for Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month.
Alfred Guante, the director of PRLACC, introduced Raycraft. Guante gave a long list of his achievements in journalism, including publications that used his photography in their media. He was a staff photographer at the Hartford Courant for 30 years and is currently a lecturer of journalism at the University of Connecticut. Guante ended the introduction by describing Raycraft as “a wonderful person [and] a great friend.”
Raycraft began his talk by explaining the title of the slideshow in Spanish and English: “Fotografías de Latinoamérica lejanas y cercanas ~ aquí y allá,” or “Photographs of Latin America far and close ~ here and there.”
“I consider my work for the Hispanic, Latin American community in Hartford,” Raycraft said.
Before the internet, Raycraft spent his time reading “Sports Illustrated” and admired the photos in the magazine. He said it taught him “The power of storytelling and journalism.”
Raycraft studied abroad in Spain on a scholarship while in college , inspiring him to become a Spanish major and ultimately changing the trajectory of his life. He found it important to remind the audience of the differences between the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino.” “Hispanic means Spanish-speaking and Latino means originating from Latin America,” he said.
Raycraft then went to the Dominican Republic, where a host family let him stay in their home. The mother of the household was Guante’s aunt.
In the Dominican Republic, Raycraft kept a photo journal. This would become a persistent habit on his part to practice his photography skills and to preserve all the things he sees.
Photography wasn’t Raycraft’s only practice, though.
“It was only months into my service when I found out about a surgical team and they needed interpreters,” Raycraft said. He volunteered to translate for the team of English-speaking surgeons who worked in conjunction with the Dominican doctors. One result of this work was shown in a successful surgery to remove a child’s cleft lip.
Raycraft’s Dominican friend, Franscisco, also had a cleft lip and was a social outcast because of it. Raycraft referred him to the surgeons and the cleft lip was surgically removed. Years later, a more experienced Raycraft would eventually tell Francisco’s story in an article.
Raycraft then shifted the focus to his time in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. He continued the photo journal in those countries.
“I never took a course or anything [photography-based]; it was all experiential,” Raycraft said.
He noted how a photo he took of a mother and child was spun into a pessimistic portrayal of the lives of Latin American youth in a story. The editors also misattributed the photo to someone else instead of Raycraft.
“That wasn’t my intent, I just wanted a good photo,” he said.
After that article, however, Raycraft began to seriously consider photojournalism as a career, saying it had a big impact on him. He noted how he was a high school Spanish teacher at the time, but he eventually got a master’s degree in photography and went to Ecuador after to work.
In Ecuador, Raycraft’s photo of populist presidential candidate Abdalá Bucaram watching himself on a TV screen in a nice bedroom was co-opted for propaganda purposes. Raycraft recalled, “I did receive death threats. I was accused of being a spy.”
When Bucaram won the election, they took a photo together. Bucaram was later declared mentally unfit to govern and was impeached for many management reasons. Raycraft would later publish an op-ed on the whole fiasco.
Raycraft was then hired by the Hartford Courant, saying “I did my beat on the Latino community, something I love.” He would roam the streets of Hartford’s predominately Puerto Rican and Hispanic Frog Hollow, capturing the culture, history and experiences of the community there.
He then used the final moments of the talk in the interest of time and in spite of the amount of photos he wanted to share to focus on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, which the United States Navy used as a shooting range. Raycraft was sent there by the Hartford Courant to report on the conditions there, and he said that a bystander was murdered by a missile dropping by them.
Attendee and associate clinical professor with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction Sandra Quiñones said that Raycraft’s presentation reminded her of “different ways of being and knowing.” She continued, “It’s not about right and wrong.”
Another attendee asked about Raycraft’s experience in Haiti after the earthquake. He originally went there as a medical interpreter but after asking if he, a photojournalist, could take photos of the conditions to report and help preserve history, they allowed him.
Quiñones then asked about how Raycraft stays hopeful after everything he’s witnessed. He replied, “There are always hopeful people to meet.”
“I think that it’s easy to photograph and report when people are at their worst but looking for the stories that are helpful keep the fire alive,” Raycraft said.
In an interview with Raycraft about what he learned as a photojournalist, he said, “Those photographs portray the trust that people put on me.”
He recommended photographers to always send their photos back to their subjects, saying that you never know if you could make a friend that way.
Raycraft also addressed the declining amount of resources newspapers have as well as how competitive the journalism business is. He expressed his appreciation for journalism organizations, specifically the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association and the non-profit photography hub Word Press Photo.
He encourages aspiring photojournalists to see as many photos as possible in as many different places as possible as well as to take your own. He also stressed the importance of ethics in photojournalism.
“There’s no substitute for getting out there with a camera and asking people for their consent to take photos,” Raycraft said.