Study Break: Aimee Corrigan, Ed.M.'11

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Program: Technology, Innovation, and Education
Tool for Change: A camera
Hometown: Duxbury, Mass.

In many ways, a little boy in Haiti reminded Aimee Corrigan, a photographer and filmmaker, of why she came to the Ed School. It was the end of summer, a few days before the fall semester was about to begin, and Corrigan was in a tent camp in Port-Au-Prince with the Life Is Good Kids Foundation. The NGO was training Haitian youth workers who were helping children who had survived the 2010 earthquake. “The conditions were beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” she says, now back in Cambridge where she is finishing her master’s in the Technology, Innovation, and Education Program. “It was 102 degrees, so hot that the tents were melting. Families were in short supply of all of their needs: food, water, and medicine.” Corrigan asked the boy, Jimmy, who was 12, if she could interview him about his experience. “He was extremely eager to do the interview and said he knew the perfect spot,” Corrigan says. “He brought me to a room full of broken desks, benches, and tables that was used as a classroom before the earthquake and it almost took my breath away.” January 12, the day of the earthquake, was still written on the blackboard. “Even though Jimmy is living in a tent and struggling for resources every day, he told me that more than anything else he wants a chance to go to school this year. Even before the quake, access to education was a challenge in Haiti because the nation does not have a universal public education system. Jimmy hoped that by telling his story, he might inspire people around the world to help kids in Haiti get the education they deserve.” Telling stories like Jimmy’s is why Corrigan has also traveled to Nigeria and Zimbabwe to take photos and be involved in documentary films. “My goal is to find stories of hope in places that are often portrayed as hopeless,” she says, “and to explore the power of new media in giving voice to those who are often not heard.”

You’re heading overseas and only have room for a still camera or a video camera. Which do you bring? I only need one camera these days: the revolutionary Canon 7D (or 5D). It shoots gorgeous HD video and stills. It’s perfect for overseas travel and low-impact documentation.

Ansel Adams: -overrated
-genius -just another photographer

Your favorite photographer: -Dorothea Lange
-Alfred Eisenstaedt
-Margaret Bourke-White
-other James Nachtwey and Lauren Greenfield, a Harvard alum. I’m most inspired by contemporary documentary photographers who embrace new technology in their quest to bring light to important social issues.

Biggest misconception about poor countries. All too often, poor countries are defined by suffering and disease, when in truth, they are also sources of great innovation and possibility. Media can change that misconception, and so I’m driven to bring focus to the individuals and innovations that spark hope.

If you made a film about the Ed School, it would be called: The Nexus. To capture how people from all around the world, from all walks of life, come together and center on one common goal: to improve opportunities for students.

Do you take photos or make photos? I don’t take photos, I make them. The difference is when you make something it can be a true collaboration. My best photos are the result of a strong collaborative connection between me, the people I’m photographing, and the team I’m working with.

Are you an artist who educates or an educator who uses art? Both!