My Work

I am a filmmaker, and photographer, living in Seattle WA. I build websites too, like this one. Several years ago, I learned about the need for safe drinking water in the developing world. Until that moment, I had no idea that more than 5 million people die each year from preventable, water-related diseases, and that millions of women and children spend hours each day walking to get filthy drinking water.

I made a commitment to do something, first by volunteering my skills as a web designer, then by studying documentary film production at the University of Washington, and finally by dedicating myself to going out into the field and reporting first-hand the story of the world water crisis. I’ve had the privilege of working with several organizations and companies who are striving to solve the world water crisis, namely Water1st International, Ethos Water and Water Aid. I’ve traveled to some of the poorest corners of the planet, and surprisingly, I’ve been enriched in ways I never could have anticipated.

Film

In my travels I’ve learned a lot about filmmaking they don’t teach in school – like how to get your gear through customs in faraway countries, and how to keep your equipment charged when there’s no electricity to be found. And I’ve learned a lot about myself, too. I’ll admit that I was outside my comfort zone the first time I ventured into the slums of Dhaka City, Bangladesh to film the living conditions of people there.

One third of Dhaka’s 14 million residents live in slums, most of them without any source of safe water or sanitation. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I felt a little scared. One afternoon, early into my first trip to Dhaka’s slums, I found myself separated from my group. I’d lagged behind to film some children swimming in a poluted river and was suddenly lost in a maze of shanties, shacks and alleyways. Two small children were just ahead of me and one of them motioned for me to follow her. She was no more than 10 years old and spoke no English, but I decided she was my best hope for finding my way out. We walked together for about a mile, without speaking – only motioning a few gestures back and forth, she leading the way, me following, sometimes pausing to film. We made at least a dozen turns, none of which looked familiar to me. Eventually we caught up with our group; they hadn’t noticed I was even missing, but I know I would have never found them on my own. That was when I fell in love with Dhaka.

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Some more of my recent films are here:

Photo

One of my primary projects has been working with Marla Smith-Nilson of Water1st International. I built and maintain their website, as well as take the photographs and video which appears on their site. Recently I set up a blog on their site called The WaterLog, which will provide a way for their field staff to communicate with donors when they are traveling to water project sites around the world.

I traveled with Ethos Water to Kenya and Ethiopia, and several of my photographs of water projects from that trip, as well as a subsequent trip to Bangladesh, have appeared in the Ethos Water displays in Starbucks stores all around the USA. A lot of my photos appear on Ethos website as well. I’m very pleased to help tell Ethos Water tell their story through photos and film.

My work with Ethos Water, a bottled water company owned by Starbucks Coffee Company which puts the profits of their water product into providing access to safe water in the developing world, has led me to do some other interesting work for Starbucks regarding their philanthropic support of literacy and city parks.

Web

The great thing about being a filmmaker and photographer today is that we have the web as our publishing platform. I’ve been building websites for more than ten years, but I’ve never been as excited about the state of the online universe as right now. More people, companies and organizations are using the web to reach out to huge audiences with their blogs, their films, and their photographs. You can too.

A few sites I’ve built recently:

Christopher Brown

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