#whenlivingisaprotest

[ruddyroye]

May 13, 2020 Rhythm Sometimes I imagine that there will be a day when I won’t need to speak out - well not so much - or stress my mind out with questions like, “how is it that I have to shout so loudly about the way white folks think or feel about the black experience?” I can’t speak for every black person, but for me, there is no break - there has been no respite. Today while driving around picking at the fringes of a story I am working on for @natgeo I find myself looking at black faces, covered under masks that further distorts the masks we put on each day as we head out into these white streets. I say white streets because these streets do not protect our bodies. The laws seem to twitch, shift and morph away from us when we are searching for a little truth. I kept my eyes peered on the rhythm of the sidewalks as I waited for an interview, for a word, a symbol or the sun light to dash its magic against the Brooklyn roadway and reveal or unveil its music. Sidebar - I am deeply into studying jazz music so this might be the reason for my fascination with rhythm. However, all these images above are images of me sitting and waiting for an interview or driving to my next appointment. They are mostly modulations, a switch in the key signature or maybe a C Major 7 sharp 11 chord configuration. They all belong in another score and not in the given assignment. I am still trying to understand how me and my sons fit into a country that does not protect our lives, culture and well being in the same way it protects the offsprings of the founding fathers. I was driving on Putnam Avenue in Bedstuy, when I passed Brent (second photo) and I reversed because he had that look. It is a look I recognized and know intimately. So I asked him why he was sitting there like that, “Because I feel alone. I lost my job and I have no idea when I will get another. I need some inspiration.” I know this bluesy sound anywhere - and so I pulled over. #whenlivingisaprotest #leicamonochrom @leicacamerausa @leicaakademieusa (at Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJXbPvF2Ef/?igshid=5lrkyh4mcxso

[ruddyroye]

March 6, 2020 Mississippi - Yes Ol Miss - you, You with your cratered culture and your marauded heritage, staggering across these bloodied estates in your majestic light. You with your perpetual blues and funeral hymns, sitting by a river bank to serenade the spirits who in her clutches, took flight in that forever twilight. You - You who like her, carry the weight and age of tales from the steep hills to “our” foreign sands. You whose trails have now been covered by forgetful green and cemented headstones - in this “foreign land.” You whose blood flows with the river - frothing - churning like the way hydrogen peroxide smothers a wound. I can hear your screams. Black genes, stitched inside the overlapping seams of water and land that slaps against rocks, billy clubs, water hoses, dogs, redlines and intentions. You who continue to flow downstream towards that end, only to find your rest where salt meets fresh and history and future blends. There... there you dump your haul of high infant mortality, amputated limbs, cancer and casualties - pregnant mothers, stare into the face of death only to see their end designed by their poverty - and there, there is where they are pushed into the sea of the afterlife. Oh Mississippi - #whenlivingisaprotest @leicaakademieusa @leicacamerausa (at Cotton House, Cleveland, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9aEUApFPon/?igshid=1sxco8xsqgj9j

[ruddyroye]

‪October 23,2019‬ ‪On becoming a Commoner‬ ‪Here is what I believe: ‬ ‪If there is no racism, ‬ ‪then your motive must be greed. ‬ ‪Racism is the ink that colours ‬ ‪the food, and the water‬ ‪on which you feed.‬ ‪Without it,‬ ‪you will find that the chasm‬ ‪between us is no wider ‬ ‪than the space between the colour and the liquid we bleed.‬ ‪Convincing a person that they are racist is like me trying ‬ ‪to show a photographer ‬ ‪that the colour or their lens‬ ‪is no different from the green piece of paper‬ ‪that shoots from the ATM vending ‬ ‪machines.‬ ‪I am exhausted.‬ ‪Tired of pointing out that ‬ ‪your light, accolades and wealth ‬ ‪is based on the cruel and evil exploits of your ancestor’s seed.‬ ‪Tired of shouting that if you are not black‬ ‪then there is no way‬ ‪you can see pass your blood soaked‬ ‪cotton seed inheritances.‬ ‪I don’t even take photographs‬ ‪anymore.‬ ‪Each click, ‬ ‪frames a set of eyes that flicker‬ ‪like pages of an anthology‬ ‪waiting for anyone to read.‬ ‪If there is no racism,‬ ‪then why are there so many firsts: ‬ ‪college integrator, ball player, mayor, and even one president?‬ ‪When will we stop celebrating the first person of colour?‬ ‪I vote we secede ‬ ‪find our own moola‬ ‪plant our own food, and click our own shutter, - reread!!!‬ ‪Because, ‬ ‪it’s not that you don’t ‬ ‪know you are being racist,‬ ‪It is that you like us at the bottom.‬ ‪I feel like you think ‬ ‪giving it back ‬ ‪might make you feel - ‬ ‪common.‬ #ruddypoem #whenlivingisaprotest #oggl #leicasl #leicanoctilux @leicacamerausa https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-THDJlJug/?igshid=1n71cgho6zf5y

[ruddyroye]

February 29, 2020 In Pursuit of Happiness Every year around this time instead of being filled with feelings of nationalism ( I still don’t have an American Passport) I am filled with angst of recurring dreams, recitations around recycled speeches, the “almost” that still eludes us, and that feeling of waste. Wasted running, hiding, whipping, bucking, swallowing of pride, lynching, and the spilling of blood. All of this because we still have a system of racism. Some might say why look at our strides from the point of a victim, “look at all the strides that African Americans have made since slavery” - and my answer to that is, I have never known anyone except Steven Segal who looks down the barrel of a gun and says, “We’re outgunned, and undermanned. But you know sumpin’? We’re gonna win. You know why? Superior attitude. Superior state of mind .” in his movie “Hard to Kill.” Over just the last decade, black lives have been easy to kill - so no this is not a stroll in victimology but rather a stretch in what is for some a reality. There are dates on calendars that to some, are more important that black history month. They mark the days where they lost loved ones to violence of all sorts. So each year that another black history month comes and goes, I think about things like how reassured and indifferent other people walk around in the comfort and splendor that was afforded to them by the continued expression of angst, the recurring nightmare, our recitations around recycled speeches, the “almosts” that still eludes us and that feeling of waste. Wasted running, hiding, whipping, bucking, swallowing of pride, lynching and the continued spilling of our blood. #whenlivingisaprotest #leicamonochrome @leicacamerausa (at Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9KnS_nlfXd/?igshid=1rfid7npv0c00

[ruddyroye]

August 27, 2018 Resist I think Matthew asks me to photograph @afropunk each year because I look for the conscience of the festival amongst all the beautiful people, music and expressions. I look for those people who attended the festival to use it as a platform for social justice. I have no agendas. I point my lens towards a conversation, or a quiet soul standing amongst a sea of dancing revelers. My focus is to the story in my head not the photograph. This weekend I wanted to hear from the attendees, and what they thought about the theme of Afropunk 2018, “Resist.” Jean (@jeanthehueman) walked up to me to introduce himself and to say that he had been following my work for a while. “You inspire me to do the work I do,” he said “Resist for me is to preserve your true self and identity, by any means necessary. I wore this shirt to honor Colin Kaepernick and all other freedom fighters who challenge white supremacy and oppression.” #whenlivingisaprotest #afropunk #fujifilmgfx50s #thepeopleresist @fujifilmx_us (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm_5gbsFmvG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ijev48l3z5ii

[ruddyroye]

July 28, 2017 Purgatory Coming back here is always different. The air that now blows over the island is extra hot, carrying with it tales of old rivalries. Manley vs Seaga, socialism vs capitalism, the people vs the country. The wind heats up still. It feels slow and dead. The last time I was in Jamaica ( two years ago) I was accosted by a group of young men while I was photographing in the Canterbury area, and was told that if I was going to shoot in the area I would have to fork over Ja$20,000 an hour, about US$200 at the time. I felt the devil's eyes watching me for the whole 60 minutes. I left after the first hour. The Tale continues. Two years later, Montego Bay boasts at least 2 shootings per day -- at least. Newspaper headlines are mostly about how bloody the Garrison (communities) are. The front pages are filled with a roll call of the latest victims. As a result I have been slow to shoot. I visited my usual beach to continue my series only to learn that "Water Bird," my assistant, was asleep on the beach when a man crept into his sleeping quarters and beheaded him. Since learning this, my heart has not felt the need to ingest this wind. Photographing has been slow. I spent three hours at a club last night talking about "how pointless" it is to help the homeless and destitute because "they don't want to work, and there are jobs for everyone in Jamaica if they want to work," a business owner said. "What kind of jobs are we talking about?" I asked. "Sweeping the streets," was the reply. All night I stayed up thinking about the answer. Whose ambition is it in Jamaica to sweep the streets? And, is that the image he has of poor people? -- Street Sweepers? This time my stay was too short. I need a week just to reorient myself to this "strange land." My thoughts do not belong here. The wind seems particularly preoccupied with the dead. #whenlivingisaprotest #montegobayportrait #fujifilmgxf50s @fujifilmx_us (at Downtown Mobay)

[ruddyroye]

June 13, 2017 Change is inevitable Hi Radcliffe, hope you're well! Read the piece in the Times then went back to check the photos. So wonderful to see it was your work. Such powerful stories. I wonder about your attitude towards the black gay/bi-sexual male before and after doing this work. This was not the first one I received. It seem that the combination of my homophobic beginnings in Jamaica and growing up in the church had caught up with me. People were curious. One never goes on a journey like this and not change. But my metamorphosis began years ago. It began when an ex told me that her friend who was gay was questioning his relationship with his Creator. Meeting Cedric, Jermerious, Timmy, Benjamin and Justin brought me inside a world where for the first time I was not an outsider. I was their friend, brother, father, and confidant. I was no longer a straight man trying to get a story. In their presence, I learnt their stories of courage, innovativeness, and honesty. I also saw their pain, hopelessness, depression and abandonment. For some, it was their secret, for others, it was the thing they had to explain to the ones they love. For others it was the truth they lived with everyday. Living with HIV in 2017 as a black man in Mississippi is not easy. Benjamin, Timmy and Jermerious came into my life and taught me things about myself that no other situation could. You have never felt invisibility, fear, invalidation, endurance, humanity and love like watching these young black men compose a life in some of the most insurmountable odds while living in Jackson Mississippi. Full story is in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine with a beautiful story by Linda Villarosa. #whenlivingisaprotest #mississippiportrait #fujifilm_us #fujifilmxt2 @fujifilmx_us #onassignment #newyorktimesmagazine @nytmag (at Jackson, Mississippi)

[ruddyroye]

November 20, 2018 Finding my place Promo aside, my “work” has always been about real people. This has never been a job for me. It is my blessing I think, to be feeding my family from the very thing I love to do. As a reggae artist/photographer I have found resonance living and working in the spaces I choose to turn my lens. I am also appreciative of all the institutions, and magazines that support what I do. I am especially grateful for all who text, call, email and leave comments of both inspiration and encouragement. Peace and blessings to all. @fujifilmx_us @fujifilm_global #whenlivingisaprotest X-Photographer @ruddyroye using the new portable GFX 50R to document the changing scenery in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A Brooklyn local, Ruddy utilizes the #GFX50R’s mirrorless medium format camera to capture authentic photographs of his subjects with stunning image quality. All video was captured with the FUJIFILM X-H1. Watch the full video at FUJIFILMYouTube.com and learn more about the GFX 50R at FUJIFILMGFX50R.com (at Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqaqWd9Hv-1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=32k8u6txr82t