meet Netchem

in 2009 when i took a trip back home, i stopped at a show i heard about online of work by artist/photographer nakeya b. i had met nakeya online going to the show was my first time meeting her in person. also meeting nakeya for the first time was emerging artist and photographer netchem hairston. nakeya briefly introduced us, but through keeping up with nakeya i began keeping up with netchem. mutual respect for each others' photography as well as desire to grow as working artists, has built a very positive relationship between netchem and i. now when i go home to visit Jersey, i always try to go over to Brooklyn to connect with netchem. last time we got to roam around, build, and capture some images. (she was craving a soy cheeseburger, but when her favorite place was PACKED! she dragged me through three neighborhoods before we settled on a great burrito spot. lol)



there are certain activities that lend themselves to getting to know people better, and walking around and shooting with new people is definitely one of them. of the things that i love about netchem here are three.

1. she's a lot bigger person and personality than her small frame reveals.
2. like me, she loves to eat and not gain weight.
3. she's a soldier: she shared some negative experiences in her life, with no sense of bitterness or complaint. she wants to be better, and just keeps her eyes focused on being that.



and since i'm done talking, check out netchem for yourself.

FUSE rooftop cookout in BKLYN

The Band Called FUSE had a rooftop cookout before the release party of their brand new album "Suckerpunch Gospel" at SOUTHPAW (NYC) yesterday. For now, dig this live version of "Texas North, 5AM" performed at 92Y at Red Clay's Rugged Soul release party on 3/4/11. and here's a few pics i snapped while at the cookout.

wandering in brooklyn pt. 3

wandering in brooklyln pt. 2

http://www.rrobots.com/

supreme visuals.

wandering in brooklyn pt. 1

welcome to new york.

also if you're ever in DUMBO...

walking around in Brooklyn, my attention was grabbed by some really awesome artwork posted in a storefront window. so i walked into the gallery and "OH SNAP! guess what i saw!"

(except from http://www.leaguetreatment.org)
LAND, the League Artists Natural Design, located at 67 Front Street, enables emotionally disturbed, neurologically and developmentally disabled adults to develop and showcase their artistic talents. LAND is the newest project of The League Treatment Center, a non-profit agency that has been working with mentally disabled adults and children for over 50 years. Currently, it hosts arts classes in a variety of other venues.

“Too often the focus is on disability, now we are focusing on abilities,” says Hannah Achtenberg Kinn, executive director of the center.
“Many of our clients have been doing absolutely fantastic work that was not being recognized,” Carol Kasmin, director of Strategic Planning at the center, said. “We needed a venue to display their work, and this is what we came up with.”
“Before this, no one ever appreciated the work our clients did. This gives them a sense of dignity, a sense of self worth that they have never experienced before. Now they are seeing their work being admired, and they are feeling excited for the opportunity to be a part of the community.”
“Everyone responds to color, design, and beauty. How wonderful not only to be surrounded by it, but to have created it.”

Street art in BROOKLYN (DUMBO neighborhood)

"DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in New York borough of Brooklyn. It is located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges." Apparently this is where Mos Def lives, and so this was my first stop in NYC. unfortunately, i could not kidnap the Mighty Mos or Kweli, but while i was in dumbo i saw some awesome artwork.