March 11, 2010
This morning my bed started shaking again — not violently like it did on the night of the 8.8, but shaking quite a bit nonetheless. I got up in a flash and stood in the doorway — not that I think anything will save me if the house comes crashing down. I did it more for a sense of just having some kind of control and being able to do something.
The shaking in this aftershock didn’t feel at all like The Big On. It felt more like the way The Big One started — an almost gentle sort of rocking the house back and forth. The scariest part about it for me was the noise. The earth made the same dull roaring noise I heard the other night. At first you think it’s just your brain making noise and blocking out your thought. And then you realize — no, that sound is coming from the bowels of our planet.
That’s something that you shakes you. It doesn’t shake you in the physical way an earthquake or an aftershock does, but in a way that shakes everything you ever knew — The Earth is solid ground to stand on. And then, I’m not sure if anyone goes there immediately after feeling the floor ripple underneath them, but when I hear that noise of the Earth moving, all I do is try to imagine what the plates below us look like when they’re adjusting themselves. In a sense, to be able to rationalize the shaking and think about exactly where it’s coming from, and why, makes me feel better.
I am no longer afraid of earthquakes or aftershocks. Strangely enough, all this shaking had the opposite effect on me. Before I had never felt an earthquake and only (comparatively) very small tremors. My fear of the unknown was what made me panic when I’d think about an earthquake hitting. Cold fear would creep up my spine and I’d literally have to fight back shudders every time people in Chile would tell me that they were “due,” for a big one any day now. They were right.
And now I’ve lived through a big one — which is a statement that sounds much more dramatic than it really is. My house didn’t fall. My car wasn’t swept away by the ocean. All I had to do was sit tight and not have a heart attack for three minutes while the Earth took me for a ride. I’m happy to be where we’re living now, with Seba’s parents, because this house withstood the ‘quake of ‘85 — now looking back, coming in at a measly 7.8, seems like NADA — especially after we just had a 7.2 aftershock this morning. But anyway, if this house withstood ‘85 and now ‘10, I am not worried it’s going to fall in an aftershock. The only thing about these large aftershocks that scare me is when I think about what damage they are doing to the people who’s houses had already fallen, or were on the brink of falling.
So this morning, when a 7.2 moved the Earth beneath my feet, and then kept rocking us again and again and again and again until finally we were hit with another strong one of 6.6 — I stood in the doorway because I needed something to do. I picked up Papi who was flipping out at my feet — not because of the aftershock, but because of a cat in the treet (who was fllipping out because of the aftershock). As I stood there in the doorway, Seba came out into the other doorway and smiled at me with no trace of fear in his face, holding Papi in my arms — I thought, “If by some freak of nature, this house really does fall on my head, I could think of worse ways to go. If it’s my time, it’s my time.”
And then the ground was still again, the roaring stopped and I headed to edit some photos, take a shower and meet someone for lunch. Life goes on.
March 10, 2010
Before we get into the bulk of this post, 2 quick things. 1. I know I just did three photo days in a row. I normally don’t do that for the sake of people who read the blog for the words, not the pictures. But I had to get caught up on sessions we shot last week since I spent all of last week posting earthquake stuff. 2. The blog text has been a little wonky lately, so hopefully it’s back to normal.
On with the post…
Keith is Emily’s father, and he’s getting married to the lovely and elegant (in a very Kristin Scott Thomas sort of way) Jane in just a few short weeks! I fully realize that his gorgeous daughter’s wedding, plus a hot semi-naked girl in Santiago is a difficult act to follow but I adore how these pictures turned out. Photo session at any age = awesome.
I have to say, while 20-something year olds tend to be a bit shy in front of the camera, Keith and Jane were totally unselfconscious. It was wonderful. Seba and I had fun laughing with them and grabbing a few shots in between 
Seba always takes the best silhouette pictures. And isn’t it amazing how different a photo of the same moment can look from two different angles?!? Above^ is mine and below is Seba’s. Seba for the win!
Shooting in front of these little people on the wall was Keith’s idea and I love how it turned out. Hmmm, maybe I should hire him to location scout for me 
This is by far my favorite picture of them. They look so happy and natural together — just the way it should be. So adorable!
March 9, 2010
Outdoor boudoir session. Beautiful light. Hot/brave girl. End of story.
May I present to you…Ms. Chile Earthquake 2010!
Ok being serious now — isn’t she gorgeous?!?
This might have been the first photo of the day that I took, and she was really nervous at first — but I love how this picture came out!
This is a little diddy I like to call “Naked in Santiago,” or alternatively, “C. has a ridiculous body.”
Hot girls in Santiago hang out in their lingerie on hills all the time. That’s how we roll in Chile.
So fricken gorgeous.
My brave subject absolutely slays me in this picture. STUNNING.
March 7, 2010
Emily and Rodolfo are some of our best friends in the whole wide world. Anyone who reads this blog already knows how much I love them, so I really don’t feel like I need to say much more about this absolutely AMAZING wedding.
These two are so good looking and so happy that they are an absolute feast for the eyes. While we were taking pictures outside, someone actually asked if they were models or a real couple. Enjoy ☺
Sydney, one of the bridesmaids, found her way into a lot of interesting compositions in my photos. I think it’s because she’s really small and cute, haha!
Emily is adorable. She wrote Rodolfo a little message on the mirror before leaving the house that morning!
All the groom getting ready pictures are Seba’s. He totally rocked it, I’m so proud of him!
I know Emily really loves images that have a classic feel to them. I think this is probably the most classically beautiful photo I have ever shot. I LOVE it. Oddly enough, I actually like the way the earthquake wall repairs look too. I don’t think Emily and Rodolfo will ever forget that they got married exactly one week after.
While I was busy taking classic images of the brides, Seba was busy taking non-classic images of the groom and his men.
Another classic photo. Emily looks incredible.
They are so beautiful together. Not just because they are ridiculously physically good-looking, but because they have such good hearts. It was an absolute honor to be at their wedding as a friend, bridesmaid and photographer.
Aaaaaand this is one time where it was actually easy to choose a favorite! I am in love with this shot. Everything about it screams Emily and Rodolfo to me — elegant, but unpretentious, beautiful and fun. J’ADORE!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 6, 2010
I was really impressed with the response to the photo print fundraiser for Chile. I never cease to be amazed by how generous my family is, how kind my friends, and what huge hearts the readers of this blog have. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, from Chile. Here’s a video of me donating the amount we raised so far, and we should have some more donations coming in over the next couple of days (if you’ve bought an Etsy print, and haven’t Paypaled the money yet, as soon as I receive payment I will ship your photo and then add that amount to the donation. If you already paid, your photo has been ordered and you should have it within two weeks!). As long as people continue buying prints and this country continues to need help, I will continue donating the money.
As you can tell, between being smack in the middle of full on wedding season, one of my best friends getting married this weekend, shipping out prints for the earthquake fundraiser and taking video footage of Santiago, I haven’t had much time to sleep. I’m slightly incoherent in the video, but you get the point — we raised a lot of money in less than three days and I’m really happy. Goodnight.
March 5, 2010
Hi guys. Just wanted to say a quick thank you as I run out the door for Emily’s rehearsal.
We have raised almost enough money to build one entire Techo para Chile house (similar to Habitat for Humanity). I am feel so blessed to know such generous people, who generally care about helping fellow man kind.
If you’d like to donate through me, please go ahead and buy yourself a nice little print — 100% of the proceeds go to the earthquake victims. If you would rather just donate money through paypal, use my email address: kylehepp@gmail.com and I will deposit directly to the Telethon. And if you would rather help in some other way, you’ll find links in my past three posts about where and how you can help. Just help. Chile needs you.
March 4, 2010
My friend Lucho Plaza’s dad is the Alcalde (Mayor) of the comuna (neighborhood) of Cerro Navia here in Santiago. Cerro Navia isn’t the poorest comuna in the city, but I’m not going to beat around the bush — it’s pretty poor. I told Lucho about the video project I am trying to do for some big non-Chilean charities, so his dad gave us permission to walk around and talk to the people who had been hit by the earthquake. Driving in absolutely shocked me. In Estacion Central, there are still small neat and orderly piles of rubble lining the streets, and every one or two blocks you’ll find a house that’s roped off with “danger” warnings because it’s on the verge of collapse, or you’ll see a house that has no roof. In Cerro Navia, every other house is nearly destroyed.
Lucho is an architect and had been to the comuna the day before. He is volunteering his services to go around door to door and basically give people advice on which walls are still strong enough to keep holding up their houses and which ones need to be completely rebuilt from scratch. And then he authorizes the permits they need from the municipality to do the re-construction, or in many cases, the demolition.
We walked around for a couple of hours. He told people how much of their house to knock down. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Because I was with Lucho and another guy from the municipality, people thought we could help them. Everyone needed something — help from the social assistant, rebuilding their houses, food, or just a space to cook it in — and there was so little we could do. The worst was when we met people whose life — their house and all their earthly possessions — is now nothing more than a pile of rubble. And they’d ask, “How am I supposed to re-build? Where will I get the money for that? Everything I have is gone.”
Watch the videos. The first is a house that survived the actual earthquake, but then caught fire immediately afterward when a spark from a telephone pole nearby landed on it. The second is a family of 8 whose entire house collapsed. Today they started knocking down the rest of the remaining structure so that the government can come put up “viviendas,” or a type of temporary makeshift housing. I believe they said that the viviendas would be around 2×4 meters. They’re made of two by fours and look pretty not sturdy to me, especially with these strong aftershocks that we’ve been feeling. But then again, this family is currently living in a couple of tents. Something is better than nothing.
More Earthquake Damage in Chile from Kyle Hepp on Vimeo.
Earthquake damage in Chile from Kyle Hepp on Vimeo.
After seeing these videos, I urge you — donate now. You don’t have to do it through me, but do it in any way that you can. Because if you are sitting here reading this blog post, trust me, you’re better off than 100% of the people that I talked to today, by far.
If you do want to donate through me, I added pictures of Chile to my Etsy store. 100% of all proceeds will be donated to the Telethon on Friday that’s raising money for the victims, to help rebuild the parts of the country that have been devastated. For those of you in Europe/Australia/anywhere else, if you’d like, I will sell you the high resolution digital image for the same price as the prints. I know that is generally frowned upon in the photography world, but if it helps raise money for the cause, I really don’t care if someone makes 10,000 copies of a boat in Chiloe.
Donate or help in any way that you moves you. Just do it. Fellow human beings are suffering, they need your help.
Also, if you are still looking for missing people, the expat community is doing there best to help find anyone they can over at the All Chile forums. And Gina has Red Cross international and national donation info up at her blog. So if you have donated yet, find a way to do so.
March 2, 2010
(video via Marmotitas)
Currently my inbox is overwhelmed with emails (sorry if I haven’t replied to you yet, I will this weekend!) asking about the Earthquake in Chile. There’s one repeating theme — people want to know how they can help. So I started a little Etsy shop selling prints of some of our travel photographs. 100% of the profit on any photograph purchased between now and 8pm EST Friday will be donated directly to the Telethon on Friday being held to benefit Earthquake victims and help rebuilding.
If you are in the U.S. can you order directly off my Etsy site. For now, European readers will have to donate on their own — I suggest Red Cross. And if you’re in Chile, I’m sure you’re already inundated with places you can help, but if not, check out Leigh’s blog list of where you can donate/volunteer.
If you’re a client and you’d like to purchase a print of one of your own wedding photos for the same price as listed on the Etsy stores, that can be arranged — please contact me directly. However, those photos will not be delivered until July when I come back from the U.S.
So if you are looking for a way to help, buy a pretty picture! And if there are any of my photos that you’ve seen and would rather buy a print of, let me know, and I’ll add it to the Etsy shop. Don’t forget to buy before Friday, 8pm EST.
I am currently trying to take some videos for a charity relief effort, but in the mean time I thought I’d share a couple of them here. Basically I just walked around Estacion Central today shooting the general state of the streets. I have been in Vitacura/Las Condes/Providencia since the earthquake, and I can tell you that they look nothing like this. For a little context, Estacion Central is not one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Santiago (though not the poorest either. Not by a long shot). And Vitacura/Las Condes/Providencia are all considered to be “barrios altos,” or wealthier neighborhoods (direct translation is “high neighborhoods because the way Santiago grew was that the richer you are, the higher up into the mountains you are).
Anyway. All the barrios altos that I’ve seen have barely shown signs of earthquake damage. I mean, you would really have to be looking for it to know that such a calamity just happened. I’m not sure if this is because construction is higher quality on the houses and buildings so nothing fell down, or if the neighborhood municipality has already came around and cleaned up all the rubble. It may be a combination of both. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against rich people. In fact, I very much aspire to be one of them some day. I’m just saying that Chile is one of most unequal countries in the world and this disaster has really highlighted the difference between the Haves and the Have Nots. AKA, the Haves still have houses and the Haves Nots…not so much.
Haiti = poor = destroyed. Concepcion (South of Chile) = not as poor as Haiti = destroyed, but not even closed to destroyed as Haiti. Santiago = not poor = not destroyed. Well, some of the poorer neighborhoods of the city were hit much harder, but still. Simple math. Poverty and inequality blow.
Earthquake in Chile: Damage from Kyle Hepp on Vimeo.
February 28, 2010
Yesterday, after all the earthquake madness happening all over Chile that I saw on TV, we stayed inside pretty much all day. At one point we ventured out to buy pop and water, but the only store that was open had a line around the block and the gas station, which was also open, but had nothing left — no beverages of any kind, and no food whatsoever, even though they only sell candy! On our street, there’s some kind of plumbing problem so there are rivers of water running on either sides of the sidewalk, but it’s not flooded or anything. By the looks of it, a couple of our neighbors lost their roofs, but the walls are still standing. Most of the places near us are mechanic shops or big warehouses, not residential, so we haven’t seen too many people to ask.
We had a wedding to attend last night so that was the first time we ventured out. I was surprised to see that the streets looked significantly — not Port Au Prince like. At all. In fact, if I hadn’t felt the 8.8 level earthquake less than 24 hours before, I wouldn’t have known anything happened. Sure, there were a few buildings that had rubble at their base from chunks of the facade that had fallen off, but we drove from our house, almost at the end of the red metro line, to metro Los Heroes before getting on the highway, and we didn’t see a single building that looked structurally damaged. I mean, obviously Santiago has areas that were hit very hard, but dude, this city was built to last.
The news has made things in Santiago look worse than they really are. Concepcion and further South where the epicenter hit is where the real damage is. But up here, life is shockingly normal. At the wedding last night, I would guess probably 120/160 people were in attendance because a lot of the major highways leading into Santiago are still blocked so people from out of town couldn’t get in. But it wasn’t like nobody came. The ceremony was moved to outdoors since the church they were going to have it at had crumbled enough of the structure to be unsafe. But the event center for the reception was totally intact. The real chaos is in the supermarkets where people are panicking and stocking up on everything.
But anyway. Speaking of normal. Here’s the latest family session we did. Aimee, Felipe, and Evan, are visiting from the U.S. Didn’t they pick the perfect moment?!? I guess the one benefit of the earthquake is that their flight is delayed since the airport is closed at the moment. Seba and I photographed their wedding in Chile last year, so we were happy to head out to Maitencillo and get some family portraits of them too! I think Aimee has done almost every single session that I have to offer. And Felipe’s mom found us the apartment that we’re going to buy. Best. Clients. EVER.
When Aimee and Felipe came down for the wedding, Evan was too little to come down, but now he’s a very mature 6 years old and he’s a world traveler so we finally got to meet him. I was a little nervous because 6 year old boys can be a total handful, but in the end, I couldn’t even believe how awesome Evan was in front of the camera. Aimee, you are seriously a supermom — it is rare to meet a kid like Evan that’s so well behaved and so much fun!
EWWWW, kissing is GROSS!!!!
Seba always captures the most amazing silhouettes.
Afterwards, Evan was rewarded for his good behavior with a plastic toy gun. I didn’t realize that it really is that easy to make a six year old boy that incredibly happy!
And just because I couldn’t decide on which one of these was my favorite from the session — I adore them all — I made this cool little doohicky so you can see each one
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- http://www.kylehepp.com/2010/03/72-aftershock-hits-santiago/ Pretty crazy big aftershocks today.
- @jenty, they said aftershocks will continue for the next couple of months - year
- @2ndcreative, haha, clearly I should've checked Twitter before trying to find the news from some other source. Thanks for the info!
- @matukoamini, yikes, just stressing me out!
- @jessicashepard, all is fine at least in my house!
- @gabriel, SI WEON. way more than enough.
