What Makes Lee Rubin-Jakober More Than a Photographer
Lee Rubin-Jakober was introduced to the art of photography at a very young age. Growing up with her family in central Massachusetts, it was her grandfather who gifted her with her very first Nikon film camera at the age of 12.
“Photography has led me to some unbelievable places around the world. It has created pathways of communication and, especially through Photographers Without Borders, has opened up doors to connect to communities and people I might not have met otherwise.”
Lee Rubin-Jakober for Winners Group Initiative
In September 2018, Rubin-Jakober travelled to Kiambu County, Kenya, with PWB to document the non-profit organization Winners Group Initiative (WGI). Here, she documented a community of women learning agriculture skills and entrepreneurship.
“A holistic approach helps the community members find purpose and meaning in life through humanitarian values. Also, there is a learning and self-actualization in individuals which combines their physical, social and economical growth,”
—Esther Njoki, local community development worker
The foundation of all projects at WGI is education, believing that empowering youth through education will lead to a more sustainable community. The staff have been working on a new library project, with the goal of inspiring an interest in learning that surpasses the regular school curriculum.
Images by Lee Rubin-Jakober for Winners Group Initiative
When WGI started five years ago, they set-up a micro-loan system for single mothers in the community. The loans empower women to set up their own businesses. Rose Wanjiku, a single mother of six, provides for her family by selling her cow’s milk to neighbours.
“I have a cow that I get milk from which is my only source of income. If I could be educated on the right breed and have support, then I could increase the milk production, which would increase my source of income,”
—Rose Wanjiku
Working with experts to provide training, WGI is hopeful that they can continue to improve the local farming production and boost the local economy while still preserving their land.
Lee’s project with Winners Group Initiative was featured in PWB Print Magazine Issue #12.
Lee Rubin-Jakober for Winners Group Initiative
Rubin-Jakober currently lives in Vienna, Austria, and last year was on assignment with Alpine Peace Crossing (APC), a local organization that provides support to refugees. The organization leads supporters on the peace walk, an 18.4 km trek through the Alps, that follows the escape route taken by the first group of a few thousand Jewish settlers in 1947.
Lee Rubin-Jakober for Alpine Peace Crossing
APC is an Austrian association -based in Krimml (Salzburg) and Vienna -focused on social and refugee aid, the Peace Migration, and the Krimml Peace Dialogue.
Participants and staff are reminded of their privilege as they ascend up the mountainside, knowing that at the end of their climb, they will celebrate with their team and return safely to the familiar comfort of their own homes. Refugees do not have the luxury of ease, comfort, or the notion of safety. They are not even guaranteed that when they reach their end destination they will be safe. They travel out of necessity – not free will.
Lee Rubin-Jakober for Alpine Peace Crossing
Thank you Lee for continuing to tell stories that amplify voices of grassroots communities.
“I am more than a photographer. I am a storyteller, a person who bears witness to the world as it presents itself to me. I am someone who seeks truth and light.”
—Lee Rubin-Jakober
Want to become more than a photographer?