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(soothing music) - hello and welcome tothe i3 lecture series hosted by the masters indigital photography program at the school of visual arts. we are thrilled to havephotographer russell frederick as tonight's guest speaker. born in brooklyn andof panamanian descent, russell is best known forhis long-term documentation of the life in his neighborhoodof bedford-stuyvesant.
his many editorial clientsinclude the new york times, the daily beast, the wall street journal, nbc news, the associated press, the world photographyorganization magazine, photo district news, spiegel magazine, slate, new york magazine,ebony and the amsterdam news. among many other venues, hisphotographs have been exhibited at the brooklyn museum, the museum of contemporaryphotography in chicago,
the schomburg center forresearch in black culture, rush arts gallery, theinternational center of photography, addis photo festival in ethiopia, the goethe-institutghana, visa pour l'image, and the shanghaiinternational photo festival. russell is also a proudmember of kamoinge inc. i see a few familiar faces here tonight. welcome, kamoinge. it's an african-americanphotography collective
known for its 50 plus years documentation of african diaspora. beyond photographyrussell dedicates his time to mentoring at-risk young men with the kings againstviolence initiative, where he is the men's program director. so please help mewelcome russell frederick to our lecture series. (audience applauding)
- good evening, everybody. glad to see to you all, especially on this chilly night. i'm sure everybody would like to be home with the remote control in their hand, having some coffee or soup. glad you're here. so i'm gonna take you alljust on a little walk with me through the place thatwas my home for 18 years.
i was born in bushwick and my childhood and my adult years were actually spent in bed-stuy. i got my first apartmentin bedford-stuyvesant at the age of 19, and i livedthere until the age of 37. at the age of 19, bedford-stuyvesant, for those of you who don'tknow, maybe aren't familiar, it is the other blackmecca on the opposite side of the bridge that leads to harlem.
so everyone pretty much around the nation knows that is harlem to be the black mecca but bedford-stuyvesant also too has been rich in black culture. the list goes on and on. people like lina horne isfrom bedford-stuyvesant, earl grey is from bedford-stuyvesant, jackie gleason even livedin bedford-stuyvesant. that's right, the leader jackie gleason.
a lot of you know jay-z,rapper big daddy king, lenny kravitz. i can go on, and on, and on, and on. chris rock, everybody knows. but for me, just to give you a little bit more of background, bedford-stuyvesant is alwaysa place that never got, i think, a fair shake to the pioneers and the good peoplewho made the community.
often just portrayed for its challenges and never really seen, iwould say, for its virtues. so with some of thepictures you're about to see you're gonna see just myhonor to the people who made this community. i started documentingthe community in 1999. in 1997 was actually when i made my commitment to photography, so before this i was aarchitecture student.
always was, had artisticnature in me from childhood, but my family being frompanama and doing art work, they were like, art is ahobby, that is not a job. not a career. so going through the channels of life architecture school, found that way too tedious for my brain, left that alone and actuallygot introduced to nursing, my mom was a nurse, andreally enjoyed that,
but i found that environment way too stringent for me. and picked up a camera, actually in 1995, had no idea what i was doing, didn't know the differencebetween a f-stop and a bus stop. (russell and the audience laugh) and figured it out. in 1997 took an intro course at the internationalcenter of photography.
saved up my money, i read anarticle in timeout magazine about entering the black and white film, and i said, okay, i'm gonnajust see what this is about. on the first day of class an instructor by the name of bernard blake, he told me i would bea great photographer. i never looked back, couldn't afford to go to school, so i just went to barnes and nobles
like almost everyday, just looked through magazines,books, studying photos, taking pictures voraciously. and in 1999 i saw the writing on the wall about what's happeningin bed-stuy right now. everybody thought i was crazy at the time when i said that thiscommunity was gonna change. everyone, people in thecommunity were like, "russell, this is the biggestblack community in america.
"where all this people gonna go?" i said, watch. so i'm gonna introduceyou to some other people. enough talking, let's get to photos. i have quite a few to show you, but i can tell you prettymuch a story with each photo but i know we don't have a lot of time, but i'm gonna give you alittle bit of the background of some of the pictures.
photo over here was taken in 2006 or 2007, this is super nova slump. he is a rapper, communityactivist, author. also too retired national guardsman. he's also a dream directorat the future project. he is also two parts cherokee indian. he had that, the feathers in his hair are acknowledging or representinghis cherokee heritage. the bees were actually red and blue
signify unity, which meansthe blood in cribs gang. the egyptian tattoosyou see are pretty much his armage, you know,what to the ancestors. moving on, so on this day it was like 90-something degrees,supernova was feeling himself, he just came out the gym, and for the most parti pretty much had saw the advertisement onthe back by the subway. this actually,
for those who probably weren'tin the community at the time, or in new york at the time, this was ad for tv one. so tv one, an all-black television network i believe with time warner or cablevision, they started that thisyear, and this was their ad, i see black people. so, sometimes i just liketo play off the words because they can have,
add a little bit morebody to a photograph, and just waited for the rightmoment and there you go. this is maat petrova. she's actually from trinidad and tobago. she is a mother of three, she is also a fitness instructor, and she is also a life coach. she got her master'sdegree actually in 2013. lived in bed-stuy for over 15 years,
no longer lives in the community, now she is in atlanta. couldn't afford to stayin the community any more. easter sunday, bed-stuy, this is taken at the ame methodist church. this is over by tompkinsand dicador, i believe, so right after easter sunday church, ladies actually from south carolina, i just approached them, askedif i could take their picture,
they were waiting for acces a ride, and there goes the photo. this is three generations. this is a santadilla church actually on fulton street,close to bedford avenue. so, this is actually grandma,daughter and granddaughter right before service. this image in 2007, and i believe the church is still there.
this is reginald lewis, and on the left with very white beard. and his good friend of,i believe, 30 years. can't remember his name right now but this was actually taken at 2014 at the 25th anniversary ofthe spike lee block party. reginald davis and the other brother have lived in the communityfor over 40 years. this is shaun flowers.
literally, that's her name. she is from belize. shaun is actually an educator. she was actually waiting for a taxi, and took this image in 2011. she no longer lives in the community, she now lives in maryland. this is also sleive,originally from houston, texas. he is a photographer also too,
he is a comedian. did this image in 2010 on howard avenue. this is part of the series that i'm in an exhibit called the dandelion series. cleveland sampson. cleveland is actually from guyana, he is a carpenter and a actor. took this image in 2010 as well. chauncey street on the j train.
so, with my photos, again, everybody, is in trying to. well, i also started thisproject was when i told people where i lived, a lot of people said to me, "oh, you live in bed-stuy, "you must walk around with abulletproof vest and a helmet". and when people told me this, and this was like inthe early 2000s, '90s, i was pretty offended because i knew
just what was always shown in the papers, was just one perspective. so to counter that, again, i just felt like the truth will be told just through the photographs. this is salme herlima. she's actually from oakland, california. she is a dream director. did this image in 2009, i believe.
she's still here in brooklyn. this is nasademo deodi. he is actually from dominica. he is a artist, he is a jewelry maker, fashion designer, also carpenter. i know him and his wifemoved out of the community, but i believe they'reback in brooklyn now. nasademo and his wife, noomi, expecting their first child.
did this image actually last year, 2015, and they gave birth to a healthy baby boy. yes. this is joshua bealafiaand his wife, yaya. a lot of you may be familiar with her, she was a actress, she's a actress that was in the, what was the movie? the butler.
the butler, she starred in the butler. she was also on america's top model. and joshua bealafia is afilmmaker from the community. yaya and joshua expecting their first. did this image actually in 2014. this is ivory. did this image in 2006, 2007. ivory holding her goddaughter. it was a little hot,
and she actually justgot fed from the mother and ivory was just being a good godmother. this is jillo. jillo is from the community, he's lived in bed-stuy all of this life. he's a proud father of three. saw him walking down jefferson avenue. this is in 2007, he waswith his three kids. just picked up some ofhis children from daycare.
and his daughter started having a tantrum. there we goes. can't remember this young man's name, but did this image,this is on macon street. took this in 2009 buthe was with his father, and i remember him saying to his father, "daddy, i'm a king". this is supreme and tyshawn. did this image in 2005.
supreme is actually tyshawn'sactually stepfather, so they were going to bestepping out somewhere, i can't recall at the moment, but i was talking to supreme about just the project that i was doing, and really trying to honor the good people and show the world really who we were. and he said to me thati could photograph him, and he mentioned about theywere gonna be stepping out.
so he was teachingtyshawn how to tie a tie for the first time. and during this moment, supreme told me he loved being a stepdad 'cause a stepdad is a man who steps up to be a dad. this michael young. michael young was onhis way to sunday school with his father and his sister. chased them down, from theback i saw him walking,
i saw that hat and that suit was way too big for him from behind, so asked him if i couldtake his photograph. he said sure, his fathertook a family portrait, but in taking thispicture i asked michael, was this his first suit? and he said, "yes", andhe said his mom told him that he's gonna haveto grow into this suit. this is, oh gosh, i believeher name is natasha.
it was her sweet 16. it was at my studio. she was actually waiting for her date, her date was late, andshe was a bit nervous. this is angel and his girlfriend. so angel and his girlfriendwere having a playful argument about texting and answering the phone. his lady was saying, "when icall you, you don't answer, "but when i text you you text me back.
"what's the problem?" this was in actually 2011. and they broke up shortlyafter this picture. (audience laughing) i can't remember this young lady's name. actually, was walkingby, saw her on the steps, she was telling me about howshe was gonna have to move, and it was just a really stressful time. and this is the image.
did this on halsey street. this was around 2007. this is nunu. actually saw her walking downthe street with this t-shirt, asked her if i couldtake a picture of her. she said sure. a lot of times, when i photograph people, the vast majority of the time, i really try to give thema copy of the picture
so i will email themor ask for the address, tell them i can send them print, tell them it's free. i always speak to the people, i pretty much wanna learna story of everybody, and in honoring, you know, what everyone, i try to pretty much have aconversation with everybody. and just, you know what, hear this story about beford-stuyvesant.
so with this image over here nunu, when i sent her the photograph, she was extremely embarrassed. the young lady is actually her niece, and she thanked me forsending her the picture and she told me she threw out that shirt. these are some bloods. so, was walking down the street, this is on franklin avenue, 2006, 2007.
so saw the young men but had my camera, and few of them justasked me if they could, well, no, two guys asked ifi could take their picture, and i said sure, and when i said that sure to them all of these guys justjumped in line and just, you know what, posed. so this photograph, pretty important because a lot of youmay hear of the bloods,
and their reputation. so with that i think, in justwalking the streets with love, you pretty much when you walk with love, you walk with respect, people would treat you with that. if you walk the streets with fear then actually you know what will happen. now, in photographing these young men i asked about four of them,
what is it that made you join the gang? all of them said,"safety and brotherhood." and in speaking to all of them, most of them pretty muchhad single-parent homes, some of them weren't evenstaying with their mothers, they were staying withsome of these gentlemen, you know, in the gang. and they pretty much werejust as their family. this is cass.
cass actually is a rapper. cass, this was at a chinese restaurant on troop by halsey street. so i was waiting for some chinese food, cass approached me with his cd, and he pulled out his cd andasked me if i could buy it, and when i looked at the cdit had some scribble on it, and i said, bro, would you buy this cd if you saw this in a store?
and he said, "you'reright, bro, i wouldn't". and i said, so this iswhat we're going to do. i'll photograph you, yougive me the blessing to make, put the image in my book, andthen you got the album cover. deal. there he was. the police. this young man was just riding his bike, he actually jumped up on the sidewalk
to go to popeye's, since i heard him say he want to get some chicken. cops stopped him, arrested. this is councilman charles barron. there was an incident. this was at the bravo supermarket. a mentally ill man wellknow in the community, can't remember his name right now, he had a breakdown in the supermarket.
cops were called. this picture speaks for itself, i think you know what happened. charles barron was trying to reason, not much success. this is slim. slim actually, was shot in the head. people tried to break into his apartment, he got shot in the head twice.
this is his father by his bedside. his father lived in london. slim actually lived,moved out of virginia, and is actually havinga pretty decent life. and he is a born-again christian now. this friend of mine named al. this was taken in 2001, rikers island. so al's a good friend of mine, he was locked up unjustly.
so in jail for two weeks,him and his girlfriend had got into a argument,she called the police, and after further investigation the cops dropped the charges,but he being locked up two and a half weeks. he ended up losing both of his jobs, and actually fell behind onhis house, lost his house, and his life hasn't been the same since. he's currently trying to getlike a kidney transplant.
his life hasn't been the same since 2001. and, again, he was unjustly locked up. timothy stansbury, killed by the police. no weapon, no criminal record, in the louie armstrong housesover by milstein avenue close to lexington. he was coming home froma party in the projects, a police officer was onpatrol in the stairway, walking up the step,
timothy stansbury entered the building from the rooftop, the projectsare four stories tall, and they are all joined together. so a lot of people in development, they commute to differentbuildings though the rooftop, and when he entered, policeofficer was startled, shot him one time in the chest. he died, there was no trial, cop didn't even go to jail.
that story continues. this is, can't rememberthis gentleman's name, but this was a tribute to thegentleman timothy stansbury. his street name was drag, and this was a little tribute that the gentleman gave to him. this is dr. robert gore. he's an emergency room physician at kings county medical center.
he's also the executive director of the kings against violence initiative, which i'm a part of, i'mthe men's program director. the kings against violence initiative is a intervention program geared to help at-risk young menand women in high school who are at risk of droppingout, at risk for violence. dr. gore has prettymuch started the program because a lot of young men and women
that he was seeing in the emergency room who are actually victimsof a violent crime, they are at risk foranother violent crime. there's a 50% actually riskfor another violent crime to occur if someonecomes in shot or stabbed. so we try to work with alot of young men, women who are actually, you know, at risk, who may have some challengesat home, in school, some behavioral issues.
we try to just meet them where they are, as just life coaches. and we started the program in2011 with about six students, and now we have like almost 60 a week. genoa janni. genoa janni, this was taken actually at the former black panther office. did this in 2009. genoa is actually, i believe,
i'm not sure if she's stilla nyu adjunct professor, but i know she was. and she just... but, this storefront is obviously gone. woman actually is from gambia. can't remember her name right now, but this was at the tributeto the ancestors ceremony. can't remember her name right now but she lived in beford-stuyvesant,
so just took this image. the tribute to the ancestors,for those who aren't familiar, it is a armage to all of those who died in the middle passage comingto america from africa. and in coney island thesecond saturday in july, there is this ceremony, whichtakes place in coney island, right down by the water. drumming, very spiritual, it's been going on for, ibelieve, more than 30 years.
ramadan. so this is bedford and fulton. so this is admashid atacua. so, i also too, whendocumenting the community, i also just wanted to show the world a different image of islam. plenty of muslims live in the community, i'm not a muslim, but i'venever liked the portrayal of a lot of the muslim community.
really just to show the world how we all live together. and the men are outside praying at ramadan for the eve, becausethe mosque gets so full that they actually startpraying in the streets. so, muslim women in the community. i believe these women are from pakistan. so there was some activitydown the block with the police. and i knew i didn't have much time,
so i had to take the photograph, i knew that i couldn't reallyinteract with the women, just being and learning about islam that a lot of muslim womenaren't supposed to speak to man who is not a muslim, so i knew i had just a fewseconds to take the photograph, but it was an important image to take. and, there you have, showingthe difference in generations. all right, this is don valadie.
he's from trinidad and tobago. he's a fashion designer. he is everything thathe's wearing he made. his clothing line iscalled swag star nation. he did not make the yankee fitted. this is actually onfranklin avenue by dekalb. so it's a tribute, thespray-painted mural is a tribute to a hometown hero, notorious b.i.g. and for all of you who don't know him,
you need to get some of that music. this is akila walker. akila is from jamaica. jamaica the country, not jamaica, queens. all due respect. (russell and audience laughs) and she's a theology student. did this image on halsey by milstein. this is abba griffiths.
abba griffiths is a social worker, also too from jamaica. has her tribute to nefertiti in her ears. and she too no longer lives in brooklyn, moved out to new york, i believe in 2010. - [attendee] russell, can i ask you. - sure. - [attendee] you havethis amazing knowledge of the community and howevery so often you say,
this person does not livein the community anymore. how do you stay in touchor how do you keep track of everybody's. - whereabouts? i always try to, one, igive everyone my card, always walk with a business card. also, two, during these earlyyears before cellphones, really for me, i always walked around like a reporter's notebook,so i would keep notes,
would try to email people. my phone number has stayed the same, so with that a lot of peoplehad reached out to me, see me in passing, and with that i always tryto develop relationships. so in sending peoplecopies of the photographs i will keep in contact, butalways in meeting anyone, i always just make it mybusiness to learn who they are. so i really don't like to,
i call it take-out, justtake the pictures and run, i pretty much like to have, you know, some interactions because iwanna tell the story of people. i think it's, at least forme and the work that i do, i just think it's onlythe right thing to do. good enough on that?. - [attendee] yes, okay. - this is ian. ian is actually it guy.
so he was having a cigar break. did this image in 2014. he just finished shoveling some snow. this was on troop. this is alonso dale, he is from panama. alonso is one of the mostbest-dressed guys in bed-stuy. did this in 2010, that he's also part ofthe dandelion series. he's an event planner.
and he's also, he was aco-founder of the clothing line called the brooklyn circus. there's some the clean brothers over here. so about three of thesebrothers lived in bed-stuy, and a few of them also from harlem, this is also too part of dandelion series, which is just to show the world, i think, a whole other image of black men, and black men who were, you know,
bringing back style or who pretty much are carrying the samedignity and sophistication that a lot of us did backin the '40s and the '50s, before hip-hop. this is panama. he is actually frompanama, from colon, panama. he is a barber. lived in bedford-stuyvesant for 30 years, no longer lives in the community.
this is kingsley, he is from ghana. kingsley is, grew upin bedford-stuyvesant, he actually lives still in brooklyn. married, he's also a designer, he has a clothing line called privilege, and he's part of the dandelion series. did this image in 2010 on chauncey street. this is duke. did this on fulton street, 2003.
saw duke actually walking down the street, talking on the phone, and that cigarette did not fall, so. (russell and audience laugh) i stopped him, i said, hey, bro, you gotta let me take a photo. and he said, "you gottwo seconds, i gotta go." he said, "you're notpaying. are you paying? "if you're paying youcan take more pictures".
so this was it. this is uwa ahgedo. uwa is from the edo tribe, nigeria. she is a fashion professor, she is a professor at fit, and she's also used to be a model. she's wearing a ankara skirt, which is actually fromher tribe in nigeria. this is...
abdu, abdu sar. abdu is from senegal. abdu actually drives a taxi, and he actually was just, it was real fresh one day,saw him walking on the street, and stopped for aphotograph on halsey street. this was in 2010. this is shawn robertson. shawn is a communications engineer.
he was coming out of thevictorian bed and breakfast. saw him coming out, he was too clean, and i just stopped him, askedif i could take a picture, he told me i have five minutes, he was gonna send an emailand then he had to go. the victorian bed and breakfast actually has been on themarket for $6 million. it's a black woman who owned it. she bought the house actuallyin the '80s for $300,000.
this is pops. pops is a retired bus driver. did this is on fulton street,took this around 2007, 2008. pops is well known for greeting everybody. he sweeps, keeps the neighborhood clean. and this was pops's phone. if anybody wanted to use that payphone you had to see pops. this mr. thomas, he's from virginia.
he worked for the department of welfare for 25 years, retired. he's also a record producer. he's standing with his prideand joy, his 1974 cadillac. did this image last year. mr. thomas i think isthe only man in brooklyn still with the jheri curl, okay? can't remember thisbrother's name right here, but he pulled up to a light.
this is actually on fulton by breeward. saw him in the car, i came to the window, asked him if i could take a photo, he said, "brother, you have one minute. "when that light turns green, i gotta go". there goes the picture. this is mr. rodriguez. and mr. rodriguez in on the right. and i'm having a brain cramp right now
with the other brother in the back. but, mr. rodriguez is actuallya retired factory worker from puerto rico. the other brother's name,he is a retired porter actually from cuba. i can't remember his name. did this image in,actually, 2013, i believe. this is by gates avenue. so they had just met at thebodega for the first time,
they hadn't seen eachother in the winter time, and they were just comingout for a warm day. can't remember this brother's name. saw him walking down the street. i do remember that hewas coming from granada. stopped him, again did this image in 2007. very timely. the back of the t-shirt. and i do remember he's a caseworker for his organization,
also his occupation. this is t. t actually was a boxer. was struggling with addiction issues and actually did sometime on rikers island, got into a fight on rikers island, and someone hit him inthe eye with a padlock, and he was, his retina became deattached, he's been blind in his right eye,
and he's just tryingto make it day by day. jazz musicians. this is on nostrand avenue and hancock. so the saxophone playeractually lived in the building for 30 plus years. was from the community and played jazz pretty much to greetpeople in the summer time as they're walking on the streets around maybe 8:00 a.m. to around noon.
and as the community startto become more gentrified, landlord was actually threatening him about how he had to go, and then there were actually complaints about noise pollution fromsome of the newest neighbors, and they were told theyhad to get a permit to actually play jazz. so he stopped playing jazz, and eventually, you know what,
(mumbles) i found that he was pushed out. this is moe. moe is from bed-stuy. went to the air force four years, this was him returning from afghanistan. this is his house where he grew up at, and now moe works forcon medicine as a splicer doing well. did this image in 2003.
this was on fulton street close to marcy by restoration. so saw this woman coming down the street, i couldn't believe my eyes. i knew i didn't havemuch time to talk to her, took the photo, and actuallyher husband confronted me. asked me about what am i doing, and i said, good intentions, and i just doing a bookon the neighborhood.
and told him i could givehim a copy of the picture, and he said he didn't want one. and i said, well, i willlike to give you one, offered him my card, he said, "keep it". and he said, "as long asthis is positive it's okay", and he said, "as long asit's positive it's okay, "but next time don't photographmy wife unless you ask." brother, i believe hisname is mr. johnson. so mr. johnson worked fornbc for 20 plus years,
got laid off, worked in the cafeteria, couldn't find another job, and with him not beingable to find another job he's trying to make ends meet. worked six days a week, 14 hours a day, just actually gettingbottles and then take 'em to the supermarket to just get some money. window shopper. nostrand avenue, close betweenfulton street and herkimer.
did this image in 2011. it's actually my grandfather. did this image in 2007. getting ready for church. the call of the prayer. so, did this image around 2004. so for those of you know, i mean muslims, you know, they pray five times a day, and in the communitythere is pretty much like
a call to prayer which comes off to, what would you call that? it's not an alarm, butpretty much it's announcement on a loud speakerthroughout the community. and people, all the muslimswho're in the community they hear it, and theypretty much are given a pass from their employers tocome to the mosque and pray. this is the halal chinese restaurant. so, the sign says, no pork.
so, saw the ladies waiting for their order and just had to take it, 'cause i knew a lot ofpeople would not believe a chinese restaurant not selling pork. this is vicky and tony, actually together 20 plus years. this was their anniversary, wanted to take their pic,they wanted the picture taken, came to my studio.
sadly enough, vicky passedaway three years ago, and tony has not been the same. this is momma, that's her nickname, she's no my momma. this is on brewood place. so she, momma, is wellknow for her laughter, for being a strong woman, and we all know that'snot pepsi in that bag. he just came out ofhis apartment building,
this on nostrand avenue, he was on his way to a baby christening, and just told me that as longas i could take a good picture i could take his picture. this is ronnie. ronnie is a retired marine,she's also accountant. she also does jewelry and hair stylist. she did this image in 2009 at my studio. she no longer lives in brooklyn,
ronnie now lives in florida. this is big franco, this is on fulton street. big franco had just picked up his chain. he was real happy. this is stacey mohammad. stacey mohammad is afilmmaker and a writer, originally from new orleans. she moved to bedford-stuyvesant
because she was inspiredvery much by spike lee, and did this image in 2014. i believe, they movedout of bed-stuy as well. she now lives atlanta. and that's her dog ziggy. this is rachel. rachel's from haiti. she is a dancer, mother of two. i just finished photographing rachel
and she was just lookingat some of the photos, and this was actually the best picture. she was looking at thepictures in her bedroom. this was in 2009. rachel too no longerlives in the community, she lives in florida. this was in stuyvesant park, he was playing somemusic on his instrument. it's not a kora.
i forgot the name of the exact instrument but it's pretty muchlike a handheld piano. (faint statement from audience) thank you, thank you, thank you. and did this image in 2007. this is, again, abba griffiths. took a picture of her, she was actually, you see, getting some coconut, from a dominican guy who actually sells
a lot of fresh fruit from his hometown. this is on fulton street by bedford. did this in 2007. this is nigra sit. nigra sit is from theisland nation, haiti. she is a third generation seamstress. did this at her studioon nostrand avenue, 2009. she no longer has the studio, no longer lives in bed-stuy.
she is uptown in harlem right now. this is kepra. kepra originally from dallas, texas. this is at her place, actually on a deck. kepra is a mother of three, and she had wanted meto take a nude of her, and this was the photograph. did this in 2011. this kaxmi.
kaxmi is from haiti. kaxmi at the age of 15 wasdiagnosed with bone cancer and going through atreatment, she beat it. at 16 she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and in going through that treatment, the bone cancer came back, and doctors said that she hadto have her leg amputated. and getting her leg amputated kaxmi still graduated from high school one time.
and i took this picture in 2011. and six months after thisphotograph she graduated from city college, got her a degree in international studies. she was actually, shehas a prosthetic leg, walks with crutches. and right now, kaxmi isa model, making a living. god bless her. this is ronnie, rightbefore ronnie moved out,
the woman we saw in my studio in 2009. i did this image in 2011 or 2012. ronnie was expecting,and reached out to me, and asked if i could take this photograph right before she leftbrooklyn, and moved to florida. this is on green avenue. gail johnson from jamaica,expecting at my studio, was expecting her first child. gail also too did this image in 2009.
gail also too lives in florida. this is j'ouvert. for those of you who don't know that is the pre-festival tothe west indian day parade by eastern parkway. if you want a good party go to j'ouvert. these are some guys who justtrained and love themselves. this is on eastern parkway,west indian day parade. also another good reason togo to j'ouvert, all right?
eye candy, all right? this is emma, emma is from ghana. saw emma on fultonstreet and was trying to get a photograph of her. she was refusing, i hadto walk and convince her for three blocks until wefinally got to her door, and i said, just one picture, please, just one. and she said, "if you leave mealone, you have the picture."
this was the photograph,she loved the photo, i gave her a copy, shewas extremely happy, then wanted me tophotograph her some more. this is ruddy roye. a lot of you may be familiar with him, photographer, good friend,also kamoinge brethren. this is his firstborn son, messiah. this is in 2007. actually on the steps of our apartment,
we were neighbors for one year. ruddy's from jamaica. this over here is akima japa. akima is originally from florida, been in brooklyn for a good while now. she is a fashion designer,she has clothing line called harriet's alter ego. did this image in 2006 or 2007. that's her daughter, zinga.
i was photographing herand then zinga got hungry, i asked her if it was okay, and there goes the picture. this is tima, who is ahairstylist, and coco. tima is from brooklyn, coco, on the left, wasactually from trinidad. coco is a model, did this image in 2014 at the akwaaba mansion. this is king lion from jamaica.
he's a rastafarian and a vegan chef. and that's him with his proud daughter, queena manga, at 2014. these are some sick boys,actually from a gentleman who used to own a shop, by agentleman by the name of paul, who was actually from india. paul had five businesses in the community but with the changes coming to bed-stuy he no longer has his businesses.
i believe he has only one business, he pretty much sold a lotof traditional clothing from india, but business has changed, he said a lot of his customerspretty much have disappeared and he's had to downsize. kids being kids, somemuslim kids in the community right outside the mosque. this is on bedfordavenue and fulton street. this was easter sunday.
2004, 2005. i had my camera and he posed. here it is. grandfather with his grandchildren. around 2005. can't remember this woman'sname, this was palm sunday, at janes united methodist church on malcolm x boulevard and monroe street. trying to remember her name
but i know she was waiting for a taxi, but i know she passed away as well. this is mr. dabney montgomery. he was a actually a tuskihi heirman. so he is actually was in the neighborhood, and met mr. dabney montgomery. he's actually from harlem but when i met him he told me about, he had some time in bedford-stuyvesant
and he told about heliked me to photograph him with his medal of honor thathe got from george w. bush. and there goes the photo. this mr. and mrs. pritchet. mr. and mrs. pritchetthey have been married, this was their 50th wedding anniversary. they met at morgan state college. mr. pritchet was a chemistry instructor, and mrs. pritchet was one of his students.
scandal. they moved to bed-stuyvesant40 plus years ago, and this was their lastphotograph together. mr. pritchet died, i didtook this image in 2010. he passed away in 2012. and mrs. pritchet was aretired probationary officer for the city of new york. this is mr. and mrs. brooks,one of my favorite pictures. so, took this image around 2003.
so i saw mr. and mrs. brooks, they were about to cross the street, this was around fulton street,i believe around quincy. and approached mr. brooks, and just asked if icould take their photo. mrs. brooks told me, "no" before i could even finish speaking. and mr. brooks, i didn't give up and i said to mr. brooks, i said,
sir, i'm doing a book on the neighborhood, and i would really love ifi could take your photograph 'cause i'm honoring thepioneers of this community. and he said, "you're doing a book?" and i said, yes, sir. he said, "you're gonna do a book?" and i said, yes. and he said, "you can a take our photo." mrs. brooks cut her eyes, and mr. brooks
i think he said, "just straightenup, smile for the man." this was the photograph, i sentthem a copy of the picture. didn't hear no response,but three years later i got a call from their daughter asking me if i had anymorecopies of the photo. i said sure, sent them a copy. she told me that her dad had passed away, and this was their last photo together. and then mrs. brooks got onthe phone and said to me,
"you know what, young man? "i really wanna thank you for just pushing "to take that picture." she said, "i didn't feeli looked presentable, "that's why i didn'twant my picture taken, "but that picture is a nice memory "of what marriage is allabout, trusting your partner." and she said, "i'm soglad i trusted my husband, "that was our last photo."
she said, "i wish you thebest of luck with your book." and then when i sent the new picture i got a thank you card in the mail with $5 to buy a roll of film. and that's the last photo. hope you enjoyed bedford-stuyvesant. (audience clapping) - you guys, we have time for a brief q&a. i'll pass the mic around.
it doesn't amplify your voice,it won't make it louder, but it's important for thevideo, so please use it. - [attendee] thank you for sharing your work with us, i mean, great work. i'm from brooklyn, and i'vebeen living there for 43 years, and i've seen the neighborhood changed from when i grew up to now. i want to know, what isthe emotional cost to you for doing a project like this?
- the emotional cost? - [attendee] yeah. - boy. i can say there are, itpretty much fluctuates, i mean there are plentyof times where i just feel extremely proud on many levels. for one, just committing todo it, choosing to do it, as well as taking thetime to meet people, to... and i can't tell you how manypeople who i've photographed,
who was just so thankfulthat i even wanted to take a picture of them. so, the significance ofpretty much being, i think, the author of our ownstory meant a lot to me. but, it has also come with a lot of sadness, a lot of hurt, going to the communityand, as you could see, how many names, howmany people are missing and then businesses gone.
culture changing, people, you know what, just nervous about, are they gonna be able to stay? it has pretty much, i would say, buoyed me in some ways just knowing what's beenhappening, what is happening, to just keep on doing the work, keep on actually honoring the people, get the story, get the work out
to actually different audiences. because i think, you knowwhat, it's just important as the community is changing, and just for people tolearn this part of history. and for all the people who arejust moving into community. also to the international community who pretty much doesn't see, you know, a positive depiction of black america. it's super important for people, i think,
and even those of us who were here, to see, you know, positive images of ourselves. so, it is one positive reinforcement, it's honor, it's sadness, but, you know what,it's all done with love. and with that i really canjust give thanks, really, to all of those who'vetrusted me with their image. so, i mean, everybodywho has just given me
some of their time where i was just a young manwith just passion and a dream, and with good intentions. and for me this work is reallyabout the people, you know? so, in everyone in here seeing, you know, we're getting to learnmore about who is bed-stuy, who is made of bed-stuy, and all of these good peoplewho have been slandered. for me, i don't wanna take any credit,
i just ride the wave, and just pretty much make it my business to honor the community. i don't know if that's a goodenough answer, bro, but-- (russell laughs) great, okay, thank you. what's your name?- patrick. - patrick, glad you'rehere, patrick, thank you. - [attendee] hey, russell.
- hey, what's going on, bro? - [attendee] what's up? so, two small questions. the first is, how isyour panamanian ancestry informed your work. and from the standpoint of process, what have you learnedabout your own craft, about your own process, your own artistry through this whole journey?
- being panamanian in the community, being panamanian. there is so much i would say to it 'cause family from panama,also too with a lot of strong links to jamaica, barbados. and being an immigrant, and knowing the story of a lot of people ofimmigrant backgrounds, i've always felt, you know what,
it is just a purpose of minein picking up the camera, and actually a responsibilityto be sensitive to those who, i think, are often again, who don't maybe get a fair shake and how, or don't even get a chanceto even speak or feel, a little bit nervous to speak about where they may come from, and their destiny and their purpose. so, as a panamanian, my familycome into this country 1965,
me being first generation born here i felt that i had totake on, you know what, part of activism, and i would say thiswork is visual activism. you know what, at least for me, i hope it is for you, that someone from the community,i think, needed to tell. as opposed to thinking abouthow the story has been told from a lot of peoplewho've had good intentions
but just maybe havemissed the mark culturally because you know what, theculture just is not one that they have lived and they know. and in terms of my process, my process has pretty muchjust evolved according. so, from when i firstpicked the camera, again, not knowing what i was doing, not knowing any history about photography. but then, i could say
coming into kamoinge, i got a schooling like i couldn't have gotten anywhere else. so, between kamoinge andworking at the associated press, these were actually two training grounds that just gave me perspectivefrom many different levels. from one, with kamoinge, i would say is learning the importanceof honoring your people, of us being taking doingwork with compassion, taking time to actually develop a story,
to do it from a place of dignity. from the associated press,learning about storytelling, learning about editing, learning also to just howto get work out there. and then meeting justseveral people along the way, having some still time, and even when you arehaving one of those moments when you're in the valley, and you're in the valley,and you aren't sure
whether you should be doing this. you're not making no money, your girlfriend'stelling you to get a job. you know what, you aren't supported. but this is where your heart is, this is really your love. and when you find that sense of purpose and that sense of fulfillment, there is no substitute,there is no alternative.
and with that processright there of fulfillment, i go on, i get some inspiration, i get some encouragement, whether it may be from peers, whether it may be going to an exhibit, and just also to being asponge for information, always learning, nevergetting full of myself no matter how good i am, that you know, wherever there's goodthere's better, you know?
no matter where you may be. so, with that, you know what, gordon, is always thinking about howcan i tell a better story, how can i add on to the work. and, yeah, there you go, bro. good enough? we talk later. - [attendee] let me just say that you have a gift with the camera,
and you also have a giftof just making people feel good and wanna do good work. so we thank you for the inspiration. great work is always-- (russell makes a faint statement) i've always been interestedin how we as individuals visualize home, how we define home, and in light of how it changes, but also with respect tohow we change through time.
and i know that you'vespent some time in ethiopia, so spent some time away from home. and i'm wondering, how wasyour perspective changed? do you wanna tell different stories? what do you value about home now that you've spentsome time away from home? - great question, great question. so, for those of you who don't know, so brother jevaly over here.
i spent almost six months last year between ethiopia, south sudan. so in ethiopia, i wasteaching photography, i was doing some workshops,actually, with unesco. and pretty much just empowering, educating a lot of africans to be theauthors of their own story and showing them the value of doing work based on their community. and going there, and seeing for one just,
oh man, just humility, passion for life, determination and will, that you see people who have, i would say, they don't havethe same infrastructure, and access to resources that we do, and not the same liberties that we have, or freedom that they have of speech, and even to photograph, tomaking photographs over there is particularly tough,
particularly because ofimages that just came out of ethiopians during the famine. a lot of ethiopians areeve resistant to even their own people photographing them. so, in going over there, it humbled me even more to take time, to get to know people. it also made me just thinkabout just really how blessed,
and thankful i am for just all the people who trusted me with their image. it made me even more committedto the image and being there. in going there also too, it just lit a spark again about the importance of giving back, and developing others. and how in being from this community i have a responsibility tomake my community better,
and not just even through photography. so being in ethiopia andseeing how people are very much, particularly in addis. just seeing how there's just a love that is just really unspeakable. i mean, you just, oh man, it's somethingyou need to experience. it's one thing i say for everybody. and going there first time,
going to africa, and seeing lucy, learningabout my ancestry, and learning about pride again, it was another ingredientfor how i have to honor our community. good enough, jevaly? thank you, bro. - [attendee] all right. - thank you, bro
- [attendee] i know thatyou've had many mentors, and among those mentors was gordon parks. i would have loved to havebeen the fly on a wall when you had the opportunity to meet him. i was wondering if he hadany words of encouragement that may have influenced your life, and your style of shooting. - you just put all mybusiness out there, mark. yes, well, mr. parks,
one of the word of mr.parks in 2003, 2004, and had the privilege of meeting him, one of our kamoinge,our kamoinge president, adger cowans actually set up a interview, actually made the introduction, and he welcomed me, invited me to his home. boy, oh, boy, i felt likei met jesus, quite frankly. in meeting him, i can only say
just how thankful i was to have a opportunity to talk with him. and at that time when i met him i was working at the associated press. he asked me if i shotfor the associated press, and i told him, no, and hesaid, "what's their problem?" he just told me, you know what, i showedthem this same work, and he told me i was a fine photographer.
he said to me just to never give up. he said, "never give up, "no matter what may happen. "you know what? the industrydoes not define you. "let your work define you." that was some incredible advice, and he even gave me aletter of recommendation when i applied for a position,a photography position at ap that i did not get, just to let you know.
but he gave me a letter of recommendation. there you have it, mark. - [host] i wanna just add something to that question. we have john edwyn mason joining us for i3 lecture series, november 15, and he's gonna spend the entire lecture talking about the legacy of gordon parks. so, please join us again ina few weeks, november 15.
john edwyn is comingespecially to new york city to talk about gordon parks. he's writing what isprobably gonna be the book, the definitive book ongordon parks's legacy. so, we're really excited about that. i wanna thank russell frederick. that's all the time we have tonight, but what a great lecture. thank you.
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