SOCIALLY DISTANT PORTRAIT SERIES: #24 Matthew Avedon by Milton Arellano

 Musician Matthew Avedon in his Brooklyn Quarantine

Photograph © Milton Arellano

Matthew Avedon and Charlie, Brooklyn Quarantine

Photograph © Milton Arellano

 Matthew Avedon and Charlie, Brooklyn Quarantine 

 Photograph © Milton Arellano

Matthew Avedon, Brooklyn Quarantine 

 Photograph © Milton Arellano

“Socially Distant Portraits” #24

Q + A With Matthew Avedon, Brooklyn

Photographer Milton Arellano is documenting fellow creatives and artists of NYC during these unfortunate days of the Covid-19 quarantine. #24 in this series is gypsy jazz guitarist and Ford model, Matthew Avedon.

"In the glory days, we'd sometimes go ride skateboards with friends. I heard that Matthew might have modeled a couple of times, but the true passion for @matthewavedon is his technically beautiful guitar playing and composition. Oh, and he loves to karate chop people or do something called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu while wearing a purple belt.  I'm hoping our Q + A brings some connection to us all! Thanks Matt!!" Check out all of Milton Arellano's Socially Distant Artist series on Instagram @miltonarellanophoto. 

Matthew Avedon, Brooklyn Quarantine 

 Photograph © Milton Arellano

Milton Arellano: What have you been working on? 

Matthew Avedon: I've just been working on my music like always. Practice, practice, practice and more practice. Trying to keep learning, writing etc. I've been freelance my entire adult life so I'm actually very used to setting my own schedule and remaining productive without a set structure. Setting daily small but achievable goals has been the way for me to keep focused and not get overwhelmed. 

Arellano: What (or who) are you finding comfort in? 

Avedon: I've been finding comfort in eating. A lot. I've gotten no comfort from my dog Charlie. He's a grouchy ass old man and is not pleased that I'm home so much in his space. We argue a lot.

Arellano: Describe your hopes for the coming months? 

Avedon: Besides the obvious health stuff, I'm really hoping that New York and the world bounces back from this much quicker and stronger than is being predicted. I want to get back to work and I want all my friends to get back to work, and I'm really hoping that the service industry (which I consider musician's to be part of) is able to get up and running again quickly. Not just for the work but for the personality and spirit of the city. 

Arellano: Your worries or fears? 

Avedon: I'm really worried that won't happen. I'm worried this will drag on through the summer and I'm worried that the country isn't going to find a smarter way to manage this than simply shutting everything down. I'm worried that we may in fact be living in a simulation with a major glitch and that our Galactic Lizard Overlords will shut us down and reboot the entire system rendering all my practicing obsolete. 

Arellano: Any thoughts, advice or intentions for others? 

Avedon: I remain optimistic that Klaatu will see fit to find mercy on our undeserving species and that Space Keanu will give us another chance.

Check out all of Milton Arellano's Socially Distant Artist series on Instagram @miltonarellanophoto

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Milton Arellano is a Brooklyn based photographer, working in the fashion industry for over 15 years, starting out as an assistant to many top fashion photographers in NYC, such as Pamela Hanson, Yelena Yemchuk, Carter Smith, Arthur Elgort, Alexi Lubomirski, and more.

The son of Bolivian immigrants, he’s spent years traveling to his motherland, shooting commercial and personal work, along with pursuing social development projects through skateboarding, which culminated in a huge skatepark build, sponsored by Levi’s and international NGOs.

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Matthew Avedon is a musician who devotes his life to his work. Until the recent quarantine you would find Matt playing his regular Saturday residency at the Club Room at the Soho Grand Hotel, Friday nights at St. Mazie Bar + Supper Club in Williamsburg, an impromptu solo guitar set in his regular Tuesday night Bar Velo gig, Jazz brunch at the Roxy Hotel on Sunday's and somewhere in NYC every other hour.  

Matthew recently teamed up with Ford Models Men's division. Born in the Year of the Dog, never let it be said said Matthew passed up even one can dog on the street without petting it.

KAMOINGE: "Breaking Point" at Photoville

'R.I.P. Mike Brown'

Photo by Radcliffe Roye

'American Seen'

Photo by Ming Murray Smith

'Negroes Unite'

Photo by Albert Fennar

Kamoinge at Photoville

Join the photographers of KAMOINGE Wednesday, September 21st from 4-10pm for the opening of their exhibit "Breaking Point" at Photoville in Brooklyn. The work showcasing will be forty-four photographs bringing into focus our pride, love and the state of emergency America has been in for almost sixty years.  
 

BREAKING POINT

Presented by Kamoinge / United Photo Industries

Curated by Russell Frederick

Featuring KAMOINGE Photographers: Eli Reed, Russell K. Frederick, Adger Cowans, Shawn Walker, Ming Murray Smith, Albert Fennar, Daniel Dawson, Radcilffe Roye, Salimah Ali, John Pinderhughes, A.D. Minter, Frank Stewart, Gerald Cyrus, Ray Francis, Lou Draper, Herb Randall, and June DeLairre Truesdale

"On November 4, 2008, a nation divided for centuries came together to make history by electing America’s first black president. This achievement has proven to be more symbolic than substantive. The United States is at a breaking point as people of good conscience and clearer consciousness demand real change, while others mobilize to maintain a power structure that continues to produce inequality, injustice, separation and xenophobia. The African diaspora has often not been represented fairly in media, with diversity on the rise in our infrastructures, mobile technology and social media platforms expanding, opportunities to author our stories are slowly starting to increase. As the world sees more unfiltered imagery change is being demanded. While committed to the image, Kamoinge has been inspired visually by jazz, soul, rhythm & blues, reggae and rap musicians to document or create fine art that reflects the African diaspora in a dignified manner. The work exhibited in ‘Breaking Point’ brings into focus our love and the state of emergency we are living in America for almost sixty years." KAMOINGE, Inc. was founded as a collective of African-American photographers seeking artistic equality and empowerment. It works as a forum in which members view, nurture, critique and challenge each other’s work in an honest and understanding atmosphere. 

www.photoville.com/breakingpoint

PHOTOVILLE RETURNS! September 10-20, 2015

PHOTOVILLE! 

Don't miss these events and everything in-between!

Opening Night, Sept 10: Stars of Rock-n-Roll Photography Clay Patrick McBride, Roberta Bayley, Adrian Boot, Dean Chalkey, Danny Clinch, Mick Rock +many more Curated by Janette Beckman, Julie Grahame and Amanda Gorence.

Closing Day, Sunday Sept 20: Panel "Under Fire: Black Photographers Creating Agency in a “Post-Racial” America" Featuring: Moderator Whitney Richardson, Devin Allen, Sheila Pree Bright, and Radcliffe 'Ruddy' Roye

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Over 60 incredible photography exhibitions, installations, indoors and outdoors, in shipping containers and on cubes....here are a few of my favorites:

RADCLIFFE 'RUDDY' ROY

RADCLIFFE ROYE : READ MORE HERE

JENNIFER McCLURE 

JENNIFER McCLURE : READ MORE HERE

NIGEL MORRIS 

NIGEL MORRIS : READ MORE HERE

DEBI CORNWALL : 
Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play

DEBI CORNWALL : READ MORE HERE

KATHRYN MUSSALLEM 

KATHRYN MUSSALLEN : READ MORE HERE

ZUN LEE

ZUN LEE : READ MORE HERE

 JANETTE BECKMANN : 
 Down + Dirty

JANETTE BECKMAN : READ MORE HERE

PHOTOVILLE

 

PHOTOVILLE is so large I can't even begin to describe all of the incredible photography exhibitions, installations, indoors and outdoors, in shipping containers and on cubes – you MUST view PHOTOVILLE's awesome website to begin to understand how you cannot miss this event. New Yorkers, New Jerseyans, Connecticutians and visiting Tourists, if you are near New York, check out Photoville September 10 through the 20th!

PHOTOVILLE

NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL: PhotoWorld 2014 Exhibition Invitation

Photograph © Martine Fougeron, Tête-à-Tête

NYPH, 2011

"New York Photo Festival presents PhotoWorld 2014, a wide-ranging exhibition invitational selecting the best new documentary, fine art, and motion and drone photography being produced today, determined by top photo and image professionals from The New Yorker, CNN, Fortune, National Geographic, International Center for Photography, Esquire, Foto Visura, LensCulture and L'Oeil de la Photographie."

"Finalists chosen will exhibit their work in an installation at POWERHOUSE Arena opening September 26 during the DUMBO Arts Festival. Grand prize winners also receive a one-hour consultation with one of the esteemed jurors. PhotoWorld 2014 is an unparalleled opportunity to jump start your career in Photography."

Jurors: Elizabeth Avedon, L'Oeil de la Photographie; Jim Casper, LensCulture; Neil Harris, Fortune; Elizabeth Griffin, Esquire; Whitney Johnson, The New Yorker; Elizabeth Krist, National Geographic; Adriana Letorney, FotoVisura; Graham Letorney, FotoVisura; Aline Smithson, Lenscratch.

Follow NYPH News for Juror Features here.

Details to Enter here

Extended Deadline: September 16th, 2014

Complete your uploads by 
Tuesday September 16, at midnight (pst).

Details to Enter here

Extended Deadline: September 16th, 2014

Complete your uploads by 
Tuesday September 16, at midnight (pst).

Dumbo - Brooklyn NY

SHELBY LEE ADAMS: Appalachian Portraits + Ear Heart Music's Aeolus Quartet Feb 18th

Girls in Onion Patch, 2004 

Photograph © Shelby Lee Adams

Peggy and Albert behind the Aeolus Quartet

Projected Photograph © Shelby Lee Adams

Composer Stephen Snowden wrote a 7 minute piece inspired by the photography of Shelby Lee Adams. The Aeolus Quartet will perform it along with 2 other pieces sequenced to Adams photographs projected behind the musicians. Shelby Lee Adams will be in attendance at this performance and will speak about his work. His new book, salt & truth, will be available for purchase and signing. Don't miss this unique evening!

Ear Heart Music presents
Aeolus Quartet – Appalachian Portraits
featuring the portrait photography of Shelby Lee Adams

February 18, 8:00pm at Roulette

Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave (at 3rd Ave.) in Brooklyn

 $15 general / $10 members, students, seniors

Close to the Atlantic terminal, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q + LIRR

Listen to the Aeolus Quartet * here
Inspired by Shelby Lee Adams Portraits

RADCLIFFE 'RUDDY' ROYE: Instagram Activist

 

January 10, 2014 Gabriel -- self proclaimed son of David.

Photograph © Ruddy Roye Instagram.com/ruddyroye

December 31, 2013 The Designer (Unfinished and Unedited) I believe by design I am a designer. Shiny as a petal that was stained from last mornings early rain: Polluted water, skipping on second hand smoke to fill the banks of the raging rivers, rising again like streaming steam, steeped in soilings, to fall again like a Congolese Sapeur on flavoured flowers. I am by design, a designer. Grounded as any root pushing pass dirt and the contaminated loot we pretend to be fodder We call it organic, stringing, and slinging, profane pharmaceuticals into the earth to fertilize our minds I am by design, a designer. Made by man reaching to be higher, but being developed by our local sponsors Acting like we are better than the four legged creatures we carry in our DNA like that man Adam or was it Noah? Watching the world from our hand as we click away blindly with our index finger, Our gaze firmly pointed at the other. Instagram.com/ruddyroye

November 19, 2013 Extract from The Four Seasons (Unfinished, Unedited) Fall And he carried a broken black bag, with his needs and things. A bag that carried no food or clothes, But was filled with his dreams and pills. It is his whole-- Filled with all his earthly possession. Clutching tight it's twisted secrets He uses it to deflect life's cruel weapons. It's is a traveled bag, A carried bag Through centuries and Cross terrains It has been a beaten bag A mistreated bag left to hang in the harsh sun and the pouring rain. I watched him, face blackened, hidden by frustration, he is Everyman invisible and worn. Slowly, I watch him run from the sun and straight into the shadow and pleats of his broken black bag. Instagram.com/ruddyroye

January 29, 2014 "Another Year" -- Happy Birthday, Mom. Every year time sifts each atom that magically shapes her cheeks. It bunches up her brows And tries to redraw the smile etched across her two molded peaks used to pull the universe in. It pulls her eyes forward and forces her to weep Changed in a blink, stopped with a click. She was someone's moon, The waning pregnant shape now wrinkled and barren Was what I first howled at. I wore my first crown sliding down her future while she laid on her back. These days I bemoan time spent chasing a liquid dream hugging this brittle basket of American pies and picket fences watching my dough slip through unraveling seams. I am missing all her seasons. She sits for my camera singing, about a day to come when she will again see her beginning. So I steal a page, and her cheeks flick forward to mimic the click of another year. Straining itself through the magical sift of atoms I see her age peeling away with the tears That drip in this basket called distance and absence drying up to flake away like her life captured in a stare. Instagram.com/ruddyroye

December 27, 2013 Cyclops -- Walking with my eight year old today and talking pictures. He was trying to convince me that he knew what ingredients should be in a good picture. It was a fantastic couple of miles worth of conversation. Instagram.com/ruddyroye

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Radcliffe 'Ruddy' Roye is a Brooklyn based documentary photographer specializing in editorial and environmental portraits and photo-journalism photography. "Radcliffe is inspired by the raw and gritty lives of grassroots people, especially those of his homeland of Jamaica. He strives to tell the stories of their victories and ills by bringing their voices to matte fiber paper." With over 64,000 Instagram followers, Roye has redefined the art of communicating through images and words.

RUDDY ROYE.com

The photographs on this website are a Must-See!

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 Radcliffe Roye, Tuesday March 11 7pm

SVA, 136 West 21st Street, room 418F, NYC

i3: Images, Ideas, Inspiration Lecture Series

presented by MPS Digital Photography 

Photograph © Ruddy Roye

As seen in "The Street Types of New York"exhibition

co-curated by Paul Moakley and Anthony LaSala
Alice Austen House Museum, 2013

Photograph © Ruddy Roye

As seen in "The Street Types of New York"exhibition

co-curated by Paul Moakley and Anthony LaSala
Alice Austen House Museum, 2013 

I first saw Roye's portraits in an exhibition last summer curated by Time Magazine Deputy Photo Editor Paul Moakley and Photo Editor Anthony LaSala. I was blown away by his work and very honored he recently accepted my invitation to talk to my School of Visual Arts BFA Photography program students.
 

Ruddy Roye gave my students an inspirational, moving and informative talk and presentation of his work. He generously shared his own life experiences and career path. Thank you so much, Ruddy Roye.

PHOTOVILLE: Pete Brook's Depository of Unwanted Photographs (TDOUP)

The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs 

Conceived by Pete Brook | Produced by United Photo Industries

The question “What is your best photo?” is not an unusual one. When asked to pick out a single image they absolutely treasure, people generally don’t hesitate. A snap of their children, a Polaroid of their parents, a formal pose from precious life event, or perhaps even a photograph with the prescribed artistic balance of composition, contrast and exposure; or dictated by emotional memory or technical concerns.

But what about the question, “What is your worst photo?” To put it another way, what photograph of yours is obsolete, worthless, old news or just plain bad? Which single photograph of yours would you like to officially state on the record as unwanted?

Photoville invites you to submit one of your photos to The Depository of Unwanted Photographs, a crowdsourced archive of images and stories. During Photoville, we will welcome walk-in submissions at The Depository Of Unwanted Photographs container which will be equipped with a scanner and computer to download, copy and catalogue your printed photographs and digital files. During Photoville, submissions will be rotated in and out of display for public viewing. When the festival ends, the Photoville team will compile the images and create a reference book of “Unwanted Photographs”.

DETAILS HERE!

Follow Pete on Instagram here

Pete Brook is a freelance writer and curator, lead-blogger for Wired Magazines Raw File, and author/editor of his own Prison Photography journal.

Officially TDOUP / I Broke Pete's Rule "No Dogs"

Having recently purged my iPhoto Library to gain GB's (except for a few "choice" published images) I didn't have much to submit to Pete's brilliant project except one of way too many photos of my dogs - officially declared TDOUP for breaking Pete's rule "No dog photographs".