Dr Maya Angelou and Hip Hop Saves Lives

From the busy streets of New York to my Kampala touchdown, the journey has been long and liberating.  And as I sit here I feel the need to first reflect on my leaving the city that never sleeps.

I think I have to start with my family.  Some old and some new who have made this trip worth every breathing moment. Mushana, women working under one sun, I met Angela through a friend Babaluku Coolbaba.  Angela and her husband John work double time to create and push Ugandan Art.  Her company helps to sustain a community of women and children in Uganda through art and bead work.  Taking raw materials and turning them into beautiful art pieces with the help of jewelers such as Trevor Hartman.  But what has been most capturing about meeting these people are their welcoming spirits and support in all endeavors, going above and beyond to make sure you are always in the right place at the right time, sharing contacts and networks openly in order to support the arts.  

My last night in New York I was privileged enough to attend, with my Mushana Family, a gathering of women at the Fairleigh Dickinson University to hear the prolific Maya Angelou speak and recite.  From the notes I have scribbled into the program I can feel the same gratitude to her as I did in those moments of listening.

From the moment she walks on stage I feel my heart stop beating, frozen in awe the room is filled with silence and she sits on the tiny platform with nothing but a seat and a microphone.  I only have two minutes to take any photograph with a flash, as the rest of the time it is not permitted. I almost feel like taking pictures might cause me to miss something crucial! And she sings, loud and inspirationally, it feels like I have goose pimples coming out from my bones.  The subject matter, jokes about her childhood, her grandmother, her abuse, and everyone’s ability to be a Rainbow in Somebody’s Cloud.  The woman is beautiful and elegant, making the crowd laugh and move with every word spoken.  I hope that all of you can hear a caption of her words as you are reading this from the link I have attached to the bottom of the blog.  I leave this experience with a deep sense of her words and an appreciation of my ‘Rainbows’ past present and the ones still to come. 

My evening moves quickly on to a second event.  Hip Hop Saves
Lives.  An organization that uses Hip Hop as a tool to support communities and causes through benefit shows and events.  Tonight’s activities aim is to fundraise for water pumps in Haiti and it is a blessing to see artist and friends step up in an effort to help their peers. There is a massive atmosphere of love and support in the room and the artists photographed bellow are just some of the performs.  However, being a Ugandan I must focus on showcasing our representative, Babaluku Coolbaba and his friend Okai from Negus.  Okai, originally from Haiti plays the Jemba with rhythm and passion alongside Babaluku.  The message is an empowerment of self and the want to put back into the community. Both artists present a perfect example of Luga Flow and although both speak different languages the message is still heard loud and clear.

New York JFK two-hour delay…..seven hour flight…..transit London Heathrow ten hours….London Heathrow eight hour flight to Entebbe….forty five minute drive to Kampala…..I am tired. But I can’t sleep trying to find the conclusion to my travels.  And wanting to  thank everyone who helped me on my trip to progress my projects and allowed me into the spirit of the work they do with young people globally please take a minute to check out the links below:

Bavubuka Foundation: Facebook  CDBaby  Website

Mushana: Website

Maya Angelou: Website

Sulu Nation: Facebook

The Smart Chicks: Simone Jacobson BiriBell Fashion LunchBoxTheory Tanekeya Word

Negus: Facebook Website

Noah G-Pop: Website

Toni Blackman: Artist and activist Website

Trinity Hip Hop Festival: Website

Hip Hop Saves Lives: Website

Also look out for my next shoot for Mushana and the Contemporary Tribe, until then Peace, Love and Blessings…

the quality of the video is not so great but the sound speaks for itself....if you cant see this follow the LINK 

 

Trinity Hip-Hop Festival 2010

“This is a Public Service Announcement.  Hip-Hop is locked up in prison and Hip-Hop is free. Hip-Hop is poor, and Hip-Hop is rich. Hip-Hop is art.  Rap costs money but Hip-Hop does not.  Hip-Hop is education.  Hip-Hop is law.  Hip-Hop is health care.  Hip-Hop is protest.  Not just when rappers show up at the protest to promote their new album.  Hip-Hop is protest even when rapper don’t show up, and its just heads from the block, standing together in the rain and the cold” (Hoch, 2002, taken from Words.Beats.Life “The Global Journal of Hip-Hop and Culture”)

This is the first quote which I think fully encapsulated the essence of the 5th Annual Trinity Hip-Hop Festival.  A collection of Artists and Fans congregating under one roof to celebrate the nature and unity of the global concept of Hip-Hop.

This weekend I spent time and traveled from New York to Connecticut to involve myself in this event.  Preparing myself to be educated on the true essence of Hip-Hop.  Along with my friends Angela from Mushana and Babaluku from the Bavubuka All Starz I looked to explore how this event could relate to a Ugandan Based Movement whilst miles away.  What I found was a collection of minds willing and wanting to explore every corner of Hip-Hop from around the Globe.  The encouragement of the mother tongue, and the acceptance of Hip-Hop as not singing and rapping for monetary gain but a tool which transforms and changes lives and even governing bodies through the presentation of truth and the community efforts of Social Change.

How did this event move me as an African Based Photographer? For a while I have been formulating and conceptualizing my Contemporary Tribe Project and as an African Based Photographer was looking to explore an event which claims to encourage, nurture and promote Global Hip-Hop.  After all these minds are the perfect representation of the Contemporary Tribe, collections of people who believe in the same concepts but are spread around the world pushing for their own revolutions whilst trying to collectively gain awareness of their indigenous struggles.
At face value the room is filled with a mass of Hip-Hop Artists and enthusiasts, but brushing past tables and conversations it becomes clear that this is not your average collection of human beings.  As you move through the first apparent tones in conversations is that of an introduction, networking from every angle.  Move forward to the noticing of dialects, Arabic, French, Wolof,  Spanish, Luganda, and Creole.  And finally to variation of subjects, from Hip-Hop to Cuba, Africa to America and the universal messages of social change, unity, community and smiles on the faces of the youth they represent.  This is one sect of the Contemporary Tribe.  A group of people from many walks of life each celebrating their cultures together under one medium Hip-Hop.

There was one particular spirit amongst these that blew me away.  That was of ‘The Reminders’ front lady Aja Black.  A Mother, Wife and the combination of her and her husband spreading inspirational messages through a Reggae and Hip-Hop fusion.  I photographed her as part of my collection after her performance, allowing her to formulate her own dots as a representation of her own indigenous spirit.

Moving on to KRS-ONE.  The writer of the Hip-Hop Bible and the founder of the Temple of Hip-Hop, and one of the first prolific Artists of the Hip-Hop generation.  The feeling in the room is one of excitement, awe and inspiration as he moves through classics and continues to spread the message of independence and community development.  But more so than this show of his musical talent I am struck by his teams willingness to give back to communities which look up to the Temple for strength and as a pillar of education.  They were kind enough to have copies signed for the Bavubuka Foundation.  Despite their busy schedules they are willing to move out of their way to bring together Hip-Hop globally through the acknowledgment of our Ugandan Youth and the struggle at home through encouragement and positive minds connecting through literature.  So Thank You.  





Check out more photographs and videos and relevant links:
KRS-ONE: http://www.youtube.com/user/roshankarmali#p/a/u/1/DdcEuDhnZUI
The Reminders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4NQjnnWeI
Shokanti:  http://www.myspace.com/shokantimusic
www.bavubuka.org
www.trinityhiphop.com
www.templeofhphop.com

Taking The First Bite...

As the beat of Kampala moves through the soil and up through the tarmac and potholes I am lifted.  Through space and time watching the dark lake beneath me move further into the distance.  And my mind begins to work overtime.  This journey through the sky brings a space and forum for my own mind to process itself and understand where it is going.  

I think I need the sunshine to write.  I left for New York on the 24^th of March and this is my first blog entry.  But through the cold my initial New York experience has been blessed with warm and friendly encounters that have made me reflect on life with a beautifully hot mindset.  

The people I have met so far have been nothing less than a blessing, with beautiful ideas, careers and motivation. The first of these people I wanted to tell people about was the ‘Mushana’ Family.  ‘Mushana’ meaning ‘Sun’ is a company who takes Ugandan beads and uses them to make fashionable jewelry; this jewelry goes on to help sustain the women making them in the village by providing a constant source of income.  Angela and her family have been the warmest most well spirited people I have met in a long time.

New York, the busiest place I have ever seen.  People walking at a constantly fast pace as if they are all late for something. It seems as if time is moving quicker here than anywhere else in the world and every turn is a photograph.  I wonder, through streets and streets trying to find the next place to stop and absorb my surroundings. I began my first day in New York with the Art Expo, an event organized with the aim of providing new and upcoming artists with a platform to put themselves out there to dealers and curators from all across the country.  This was an experience that allowed me to absorb and place myself into the contemporary New York art scene and mindset.  However, my initial experience did not enthrall and excite me as much as I had hoped that it would. Instead it seems as though the Expo, once renowned for showing the likes of Andy Warhol and Leroy Neiman seems to have become a mass of super commercial, easy on the eye artists who did not move me in any particular way.  What I did however learn was that this would be the perfect place to kit out a booth if I want to one day mass produce and sell images to hotels or large stores.  

The next stop of the day was the Art Institute, where a mass of talented young designers were having their work/portfolio’s reviewed.  This was a much more artistically expressive space.  It was a breath of fresh air to see New York’s young new talent fresh and ready to combat the fashion world and make links with potential designers I could barter images for designs with. 

The last two events of my first day were a gallery opening for Fund Art Now and a Gig for an upcoming artist Alice Smith.  I met both of these events with equal excitement.  Fund Art Now is where I had the pleasure of meeting Noah G Pop, a unique photographer who prints his images onto cloth to make funk fashion.  He has photographed the likes of Gil Scott, Erykah Budu, Jay-Z and Puff Daddy to name a few.

Moving on I have gone on to spend a bit of time with Noah, who on first encounters seems to be a very loud and in your face character, confident and not as approachable as the man I met for a walk through Central Park later.  This second meeting brought more clarity as to why he is such a likeable character.  In this moment of a long walk we meet a different side of Noah, a much more peaceful and complex man whose photographic career has not always surrounded itself with the celebrity and fashion world but started with the exploration of underwater photography. Noah also runs the Pulmonary Wellness and Rehabilitation Center, which is what makes him a great example of an Artist and human-being who gives back whole heartedly to his community. He pushes the boundaries of the mind, allowing us to understand that not ever celebrity photographer is cut-throat and cruel, as is the common understanding at times.

From our walk Noah invites me out to dinner with none other than Zelda Kaplan. For those who don’t know Zelda Kaplan is a 94-year-old socialite and party girl.  Well known for her travels to Africa and her love for indigenous culture and fashion, Zelda is also a the oldest most respected party girl n New York.  I remember first hearing about her when I was much younger and would play on the idea that I would know I was ‘it’ if I walked into a party and saw her there.  Whilst I am far from ‘it’ and not as accomplished as I hoped I would have been it was still an honoring feeling to eat and then go for drinks with her.  Her presence is very special and encouraging, and the lessons acquired through her are to really love life and appreciate every breath and movement that your life takes you into.

 

 

 

Biting the Bullet.

Today has been filled with emotion over two things, Truth and Love. Bursting out today I have smiled, laughed, cried, been inspired and felt totally expired. And all because of those two elements and the weight that they hold behind them. Truth, the truth about why we do what we do, what do we really strive for with our lives and what drives us? I have been taking pictures for other people for a while now and its fun, I get paid well and I enjoy my job, but wasn’t the whole reason I began my career to be a visual artist? Taking the elements of our social surroundings and pushing these things into the minds of people through art, beautiful photographs depicting a message, a theme, a hope, a source of empowerment.

And so today I went in search of my Truth, my element the place where I really shine, bit the bullet and started my next photography collection.  Assisted by GLORIA WAVAMUNNO with her beautiful dresses and artistic hand I began to photograph the Contemporary Tribe.   A collection based around my Truths, my Poetry and my Love.  Because that was my second emotional battle today, the journey and the true growth of love, how it evolves or goes through its rough patches but eventually how you can begin to believe that it can triumph.

I am not a big believer in the statement that “love can conquer all” but it is growing on me. Especially when you realize that it is impossible for love to exist or grow without the aid of compromise, compassion and understanding. Realizing what is worth fighting for and what simply isn’t. And this might all sound confusing to you but what I am trying to put across is that recently I have been doing what I love to survive, but not completely loving what it was I was doing.  But once you reconnect with the truth of why you are there in the first place, the mind expands and moves to a place where you know what you have to do to love what you do again.  For me it was taking a step back from getting paid and starting my newest collection of Art.

Now I won’t pretend like ideas just come to you, like love itself this concept grew and grew until it was embedded in my mind like I couldn’t shake it off. The idea of The Contemporary Tribe began with a girl, one Miss Gloria Wavamunno who decided that she would one night sport some tribal Zulu face paint.  This combination of dot formations and bare skin moved me like I had never seen her look so sexy.  And I wanted some.  Some of that essence, that confidence, that complete and utter tribal beauty.  So I began to research.  Hoping to look into the past and use it to find strength in my contemporary environments. I believe that: WOMEN NEED TO LOOK TO THE WOMEN BEFORE THEM, FEEL THEIR STRUGGLES AND BURDENS AND USE THAT SENSE OF SURVIVAL TO COMBAT CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS AND MINDSETS.  

Tribe. What is the tribe? Who is the tribe and how can we be a part of one? It is beautiful and liberating to be independent. To want for nothing from others, and to know that we are completely self sufficient.  However, a life without community and support is a lonely one. With no friends around us who are we but lone void vessels coexisting on one planet? And that is why we have tribes?

Traditionally, collective groups who are born and raised in the same community or area who have common threads which run through their lives.  Tribes are formed when people come together and decide to support one another, share beliefs and lifestyle choices. And over time, we have been colonized, modernized and reorganized. We have lost our tribal history in an attempt to liberate ourselves from some of its constraints but also we have lost some of its beauties, cultures and spirituality.

One of the most beautiful cultural elements of traditional tribes is the face paint.  From the Zulu’s to the Red Indians Tribes used face paint outwardly show their communities their, status, achievement, goals and intentions.  The paint connects them spiritually to the earth and their ancestors and draws on Mother Nature’s power to live their lives successfully. 

Thinking about all of this I begin to realize that in a strange way I am part of my own tribe.  And it’s not just within my direct living space, it is worldwide.  We are the tribe of Men and Women, New Bloods, African Bloods. We are ambitious Africans of mixed races and cultures who take pride in our heritage but at the same time strive to move mountains in our lives.  And I feel that we need to look to our ancestors before us…and take on some of their beautiful traditions and use them to empower us in our contemporary lives.  Reconnecting with the spirits of before to find strength, encouragement and beauty.  

This is what my whole project is about. Finding the beauty in our past, these beautiful face paints, combination's of dots which project a mindset, a confidence or a state of openly.  This project is about wearing your ‘African Roots’ openly and proudly. 

Dresses and makeup provided by Gloria Wavamunno

A Date with Mao

04.03.2010

My morning starts in a rush, like I’m gasping for air and I can’t seem to find
anything I need. I have a 9o’clock shoot with Norbert Mao the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate for the 2011 elections.  In terms of status he will have been to date my most famous subject.  Today, he wants a simple studio portrait, elegant, sophisticated and smart, something that will not make people think too much but look inviting. Fliers, Posters, that kind of thing.  Artistically I cannot lie; no one is pushing me to the fullest of my potential.  If it were up to me, I would go on the whole Obama tip, the man for the people. Presidential but connectible, touchable, get him in his suit with a massive bowl of Katogo…we can all relate to that right? Either way, this is an influential man in my presence whose millage could take me further in my career, or not, it’s a coin flip but let’s keep positive!   

Five and a half hours later and we are still waiting for Mr. Mao to make an appearance, lights are set, camera is charged and the only thing now is to place someone in front of them.  But every day brings a new lesson, ability, and education.  Today I am learning a certain level of patience and organization.  I have patiently been waiting whilst organizing my entire music collection on my computer and hard drive, we have the alphabetical, the play lists also in alphabetical order and titled in terms of my mood.  It has been a mission of sorts but the wait also allows the mind to begin to wonder whilst in the working frame of mind.  This is different to the creative state of mind.  When you’re in the mood to be ‘Creative’ the mind tells you that anything and everything is possible. Which in reality it is not.  That it why the ‘Work’ state of mind is useful. The mind fills itself with the logistics. The Why’s and How’s which are often forgotten when in the thick of being creative.  I realize that my contemporary tribe project is a workable and feasible one provided I fully explain and detail the theory behind it. But I think that is for my next blog entry as my subject has just arrived.

 

Five hours late, but he hasn’t stood me up which is a bonus.  In walks a shorter more friendly looking man than I had at first anticipated, equipped with a bright smile and a quick apology we are soon snapping away. And it is easy.  The only problem is that there is a constant smile and plenty of jokes to go around.  I am excited to meet and photograph a very relate able and pleasant character. 

Sitting in the office later there is no hesitation when asked my opinions on his campaign slogans or the design elements of his posters. I feel involved and that I think is the warmest aspect of Mao’s character.  People like him, he is approachable and welcoming.  I think the rally in Masaka will be a fun experience for me. And it will look good as part of my body of work.  I have never been to a political rally in Uganda so this is going to be a first and I hope to capture as much of it as I can on my camera.

I am excited, excited to enter a new place as I have never been to Masaka, excited to discover a whole new side of documentary photography, and excited to be where I am doing what I love.

Spoken Truth Birthday

3rd March 2010

Sitting at Java’s once again I have dedicated this blog to the reflection of my birthday.  It comes round once a year and it moves people to the point of a frenzy, you have to have a party to celebrate the day you were born.  I am not one such ndividual, each year I prefer to pick a select group of people to see in my new year, share my expectations and my gratitude to those who have stood next to me year after year unconditionally  forgiving me for my downfalls and congratulating my achievements. However this year I saw my 24^th birthday in with a new family, The Spoken Truth Family, and I have never felt so blessed as to have a group of talented young artists that I can truly call Family. 

So it was my Birthday on March 1^st.  Or should I rephrase it as my friend did as my ‘REBIRTH’ Day.  Why my Rebirth? Because it is the start of my new year, a year which I hope will be the start of many new opportunities and triumphs.  And the year I want to really push my Photography as Art, Exhibit my new collection of images and push myself as a photographer in East Africa to cross boundaries.  It is very rare to find people in Uganda/East Africa who are willing or want to explore African art in terms of Photography and in terms of the Contemporary not just the Traditional.

I started 24 with Spoken Truth, and event that really does move me.  All my friends and peers turned out to represent themselves through poetry, music, emceeing, and just generally to support.  The microphone was graced with the likes of Maurice Kirya, Angelica and Sister Achola, who all left us feeling inspired.  It’s my birthday and for the first time in a while I am surrounded by real organic talent in Kampala, the kind that moves, inspires and drives new ideas to the front of the mind. And throughout this whole evening all my friends and Fam are getting their face painted with different variations of dots, tribal dots, it was a beautiful element which helped me understand that my ongoing project could be met and understood by more people than I had at first anticipated.   

My evening is wrapped up with an interview by Laurel Jane May, a journalist for Edirisa magazine and radio. It was strange to be asked what inspires me, and hear the words coming out of my mouth, all of them true but not quite how I would have planned my answers…they came more from the gut of what I was feeling right then and there.  So I don’t know when that will be heading out into the world but it is pretty cool for me check them out: Edirisa

This is my Favorite spoken word piece which I recited...and I'll be putting a link up to videos on my facebook page:

I Am

I am mixed race, bi-racial, point five,

Half-cast, half-breed and Colored.

Any way you look at it,

His blood mixed with her blood

Mixed with their blood to make our blood.

And not all that blood runs through

My daughters tiny beautiful veins.

We are the new bloods, African Bloods,

We were colonized and re-organized,

And yet we still walk barefoot

In thick red soil.

I’ve got bi-racial hair,

Mixed race eyes, lips, hips

Thighs you can’t wait to jump into,

But cant admit to?

Well I’m about to switch that shit the fuck up!

You want to categorize us so that we can feel more,

Comfortable with our own kind.

But tell me, where are you going to find a

Part Indian, Part British, Part Ugandan,

Not to mention a hint of You,

To name a few.

Not White enough to be a Sugar Mummy

Not Black enough to be a Wife

Not Asian enough to be acceptable in your circles

But this poem is not a bid for your acceptance,

This poem is not an attempt to rally those ‘like’ me

Under one victimized umbrella of our parents consequences.

This poem is simply a testament of my Truth,

For  those who choose to be in it, for a minute.

My reality, all those tears for all those years

Over my individuality, not yet able to see the beauty

In my uniquity.

But I don’t want your sympathy,

I just want you to put back the pre-conceptions

Your forefathers gave you in your booklet at birth

Because my skin color is not a representation of my

Soul, my Aims, my Goals.

Because all my parents ever did was try something new,

Fall into each other, make Love to each other,

And celebrate the product of their beautiful connection

With the world.

Knowing that one day someone would feel pride

Whilst walking with her spirit.

So whether I’m a Freak, a Geek, a Rebel without a cause

I’m Free

Tell me baby

You want to try being with me? 

Video Links:
I Am
Haiti
Maurice Kirya