Ruddy Roye Photography

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Ruddy Roye is a photographer who works across all mediums. But he has found an avid following on Instagram, where he has multiple feeds that attempt to chronicle the reality of black life in America.

He sees the recent high profile deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown as being rooted in law enforcement failing to recognise the humanity of black men. His photos seeks to change that perception.

As part of his work he has been chronicling the protests in New York City.

He spoke to the BBC about his work and the challenges of displaying his art on such a small screen.

Produced, filmed and edited by Colm O'Molloy
  • If more people used Instagram like this guy does, I think I'd check my feed every day.Capturing people and their essence using images is a challenging way to work, but this guy's got it down.  Meet Instagram humanist/activist Ruddy Roye. He has an interesting method of photo composition:    {quote}My work is about people, mostly. It's about how people live … and how people live in their environment. I'm Ruddy Roye, and I'm a photographer living in Brooklyn.    A picture for me starts with either a person or a place. If I find a place, I usually stop and wait for the person to come into the picture. If I see a person, I look for whatever texture I can use to embellish the picture. For me, the story begins with what's current, what's in the news.{quote} Almost 120,000 Instagram followers later, people are noticing.Here's some of his work, as shown in the New York Minute video : http://www.upworthy.com/if-more-people-used-instagram-like-this-guy-does-i-think-id-check-my-feed-every-day?g=2
  • PDN Video: Ruddy Roye on Instagram, Storytelling, and Risking the “Angry Black Man” Label

Photographer Ruddy Roye has attracted 116,000 Instagram followers despite–or perhaps because of–his gritty, difficult subject matter and the long captions he posts to help humanize his subjects. Using Instagram largely as a tool of social activism, Roye draws attention to racial and economic injustice primarily in New York City, and often in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he lives. “A lack of black images [and] black photographers has created this void for people like me,” says Roye, who was born and raised in Jamaica. “Instagram has allowed me a light that didn’t exist before.” In this video, he explains how he found his Instagram voice, and discusses the professional risks he is taking by refusing to look away and remain silent.
  • Ruddy Royle speaks at TEDYouth, Session 2, November 15, 2014, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.  Photo: Ryan Lash/TED
  • The 50 Greatest Street Photographers Right Nowby Jennifer WoodLocation: BrooklynA documentary photographer with more than a decade of experience, Jamaica-born Radcliffe {quote}Ruddy{quote} Roye views photography as a means to give a voice to underserved populations. Using both black and white and color photography, Roye's raw style is a perfect complement to his stated desire to {quote}tell the stories of the victories and ills [of grassroots people] by bringing their voices to matte fibre paper.{quote}http://ca.complex.com/style/2014/01/street-photographers/ruddy-roye
  • LightBox: How are you using Instagram now, and how has it become a part of your professional practice?Ruddy Roye: Today I use Instagram as a way of keeping sharp and current. It is my way of  staying visible and having a voice in a community that pays little attention to stories tailored from the African Diaspora’s perspective. I remember the days when I was knocking on doors and making calls to editors but to no avail, no one seemed interested in my personal projects. I do not really use Instagram as a means of declaration. It is simply the space that has allowed me to share my unique way of seeing. For me Instagram has become my amplifier. With it I am able to freely express my brand of photography without being told by the “gatekeepers” what to photograph.LightBox: What is the purpose of your feed? What does Instagram provide for you, professionally and creatively, that other platforms don’t?RR: The purpose of my feed is to express a feeling of invisibility that I have felt for most of my career. I have always felt irrelevant and voiceless. My Instagram feed is my way of talking about the issues that plague not just me but other members of my community. For me it is not so much giving voice to the issues – I don’t believe I am qualified – but rather an attempt to amplify some of the injustices I see in my community of Bedford-Stuyvesant [in Brooklyn, New York], the African American community and the diaspora.LightBox: Do you use any of Instagram’s filters or toning features?RR: I use a couple of filters. I think I have always felt that the digital platform was very malleable and allows for some degree of playing with and pushing. I like my colours saturated so I push the colours.LightBox: Which post inspired the most audience feedback and engagement through likes and comments? RR: I think the post where I took Gladys Castro to my family’s Thanksgiving Dinner garnered the most comments and interest. I think it was because people could identify with the idea of bringing work home, (I am smiling here) but seriously, a photographer once told me, about 13 years ago, that photography does not change anything. I have been trying to prove that photographer wrong ever since. Photography is a wonderful way of showing, of expressing, of seeing, it’s how we have always been gathering information and learning. Showing and learning goes hand in hand. Doing it just made sense.LightBox: When did you hit your stride with Instagram? Was there a moment where you crossed a threshold, and your perspective on the platform changed? RR: My mom has always told me to use any microphone put in front of me. And if I am ever lucky to get one, do not say anything stupid because it might be the only opportunity I will ever get to touch someone’s heart. Instagram came to me like that microphone. There was no one project. I started photographing the people I met when dropping off my boys to school. I think as I fell in love with showing these portraits and their stories, folks also fell in love with how familiar the stories were.LightBox: What other outlets did you have for showing/sharing work before Instagram?RR: Before my resources or outlets were few and far between. I depended on a few exhibitions, a few magazine jobs here and there, but the one constant was that I photographed almost everyday. Instagram allows me to share my photos so I no longer have to wait for someone to be interested in my personal work. Assignments are assignments but my personal work is not something I sit around hoping to get money for. If someone wants to buy a piece, of course I am willing to sell — but I won’t sit on the work because I am waiting for the monetizing of the platform. I am extremely happy that I can post an image that I feel burning in my veins for others to see and at the same time get a refill from seeing a friend’s post.LightBox: Do you envision Instagram ever loosing it’s appeal, and if so how would you replace it?RR: It’s inevitable in this fast moving technology for Instagram to lose its appeal eventually. In fact, the app Flipboard is already charting a course to nibble away at Instagram’s followers. It offers more than just a visual experience. You can browse all kinds of interests, like news, sports, fashion, shopping, all on a small screen. However, I think the people at Instagram keep coming up with innovative ways to keep their followers interested so we shall all see what happens in the future.read the rest of the story at: http://lightbox.time.com/2014/07/04/lightbox-follow-friday-ruddy-roye/#1
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