In Port-au-Prince, the markets are more than spaces of exchange. They are the beating heart of the city, places where food, goods and stories converge. The Marché du Canapé-Vert and the Marché de Fer (Iron Market) stand as symbols of resilience as well as commerce. I photographed merchants from both locations.

The Marché de Fer, originally designed as a railway station in Cairo, was brought to Haiti in 1891 under President Florvil Hyppolite. Declared a historical heritage site, it has endured two major fires and, most notably, partial destruction in the 2010 earthquake that leveled large parts of Port-au-Prince and killed hundreds of thousands. Its reopening in 2011, just a year later, became a visible marker of recovery, signaling the determination to restore daily life in a city still reeling from catastrophe.

Inside these markets, the rhythm of survival and continuity is palpable. Vendors arrange produce in bright mosaics, children weave through crowded aisles. Some haggle over beans, rice or clothing. Even in the wake of disaster, the markets never ceased to function. They became crucial spaces of recovery, where families secured food, rebuilt livelihoods, and reaffirmed a sense of normalcy in a fractured city.

This series captures the life of the markets in those years immediately after the earthquake, highlighting the resilience of Port-au-Prince residents who sustained their communities through persistence and labor.