A Random Moment with Davi Russo

 

Davi Russo, photographer and director

"I'm usually the one asking the questions," I said at some point during our conversation at the bar. After exchanging a comment about the song that was playing and commiserating over both being a dying breed—native New Yorkers—we drank and talked about art, photography, sex and beauty ideals. We saw each other again at his exhibit and book release, "Turns" at Munch Gallery. Returning to the restaurant where we first met, it was my turn to ask the questions.

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I’m Davi Russo and I work as a photographer and director and I make pictures. I guess I like to think of myself as someone that is a maker of things.

How long have you been a photographer?

Well, my mother gave me photography but in like a natural way. When I was 7 years old, she gave me my first camera – she gave me actually 2 cameras – she gave me an old Kodak 110 camera, the film looks like a little telephone, and she gave me a Polaroid 600 series camera. My job was to kinda be the family photographer because my father was incarcerated around that time and so my mother realized that we’d be sending photographs to him through the mail. I think she was very smart about understanding that if she gave me this assigned role it was probably an ego boost for me as a young man, you know, and it gave me something good to do. I’m sure that my father adored having those pictures sent … so that’s how I was introduced to photography. It wasn’t like I studied it or something like that.

A Random Moment with Nimesh Gandhi

Nimesh Gandhi, singer/songwriter, actor

Only a few minutes after meeting him I knew I wanted to interview him. He expressed humility, a willingness to learn and shared part of his process all in our 5 to 10 minute chat. I was encouraged by a friend to hang around and listen to his set at the Nuyorican Poets Café that night, and I'm glad I did. His vocals and the band backing him that evening really effected me with its rich sound. At his gig at LIC Bar on June 27, he granted me this interview despite his usual "pregame" rituals.

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My name is Nimesh Gandhi, I am a singer/songwriter and I also do some acting. I’ve recently created an act around my last name—Gandhi. My ancestors, my parents are from outside of Bombay, so that’s my origins, and I was raised in Indiana (laughs) From India to Indiana. My New York story is – I focus on singing and songwriting and working with a lot of quality rock and jazz musicians.

How long have you been a singer/songwriter?

I’ve been developing as a singer/songwriter for over 9, 10 years and it began to mature in the work with the producer, William Moses. His and my work together put me on the map as a singer/songwriter. Before that I was experimenting with guitar and my voice; I would play with bands and I would not really focus on my voice. He helped me shift to a focus on my voice and a focus on storytelling. All of what I had been working on up until I met him in 2005 was developing stories, songs, and by the time he and I got together, we realized all the material together.

A Random Moment with Tom Hatton

Tom Hatton, musican, songwriter

I met "Sir Hatton" by way of "France". I frequented Les Enfants Terribles, a lot, in 2010. Tom was the gracious bartender with the piercing eyes who wore his Oxfords unbuttoned to the third button. I'd known him as an actor. I learned of his other artistic endeavor, music, when I ran into him at a friend's gig recently. I met up with him the following week before his own gig for this interview.

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Hi, I’m Tom Hatton and I play in the band, Gandhi – rhythm guitar, harmonica and background vocals.

When did you get involved in music?

I’ve been playing casually since I was about 15. But really in terms of performing, I started when I met Nimo – Nimesh Gandhi – we’re close friends so we started playing together and now we’re performing on a fairly regular basis.

A Random Moment with Tiffany McGuire

Tiffany McGuire, plus size fashion blogger

I'm fascinated at times at our Monica and Rachel relationship. I do not have the passion for the fashion I "fall into" that she has. But I've definitely learned a lot about fashion and sewing from her. The physical vision boards from her Katharine Gibbs days have been replaced by virtual ones on Pinterest. And she's recently taken the plunge into blogging her trials and tribulations as a Glamazon and sewing her own clothes. And her clothes are wearing her (I learned that term from her too).

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My name is Tiffany McGuire. I am a seamstress, if you wanna call it that, and a selfish sewer, you can definitely call it that, and a newfound fashion blogger for the plus-size diva – that would be me. I’m still in my developmental stage, I’m still learning. I’m like the only person who actually sews and runs a fashion blog for plus-size women- it’s a whole new element. I think it will give me an edge up.

Do you have any idea when you got into fashion? Was there a “moment” or an “era”?

Yup. I always said as soon as I start making any kind of money, I was gonna change my look. So that has to be my earliest memory of it cause god knows the first 3 years of high school were disastrous. They were life-changers. And looking back I’m the extreme opposite of it—I mean my face looks the same, I’m probably around the same size but no one recognizes me. Ever. I’m that different.

Your look is that different…

I wore granny square sweaters and mid-calf skirts, opaque tights and old lady shoes. Come on. Totally different.

A Random Moment with Vid Son Doz

Vid Son Doz, painter, sculptor, art explorer

I eyed him curiously at the Artists Wanted "Cosmic Architecture" opening reception in late May 2012. When we finally spoke, he introduced himself as being from a rainforest in Puerto Rico. It wasn't the wine, I had heard correctly. This past Monday, June 18, 2012, his work was among the many showcased at Art Takes Times Square. It's only fitting that after a tremendous thunder and lightning storm, which produced hail and snow, we'd meet again.

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I have lots of names. My sister, lately’s been calling me Videous Termite but I’m Vid Son Doz which is short for David Peterson Albandoz, but I shortened it, I like that everything happens in threes and the last letters of my name became Vid. My friends call me Vid. I sign my work Vid Son Doz—that’s my artist name. It’s important to me that we share our art, that we share our experience. That’s why I’m here.

So what’s your title? What do you call yourself?

I’m an artist—painter, sculptor. I am more like an art explorer. I mean I have lots of variety of art.

Inspiration struck! Vid Son Doz paints the latest in his Vegetative Translunary collection 

A Random Moment with Glendaliz Camacho

Glendaliz Camacho, writer

I asked her to sit next to me in our 6^th grade computer/typing class and a friendship was born. That led to many novel-length notes passed back and forth during class (even if she doesn’t remember the details). Our paths diverged and converged a few years ago and she’s still writing. Perhaps a writer is born. I stopped by her office (the day job) at SHARE on Friday afternoon.

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Well, my name is Glendaliz Camacho. I’m a writer, also an editor and a translator. I’ve worked in publishing, years ago, and magazine article writing and right now I’m working on fiction; on short fiction and a novel.

I’m sure there’s that one story that you haven’t shared. Which story is that? And why haven’t you shared it?

I don’t know that I only have one story that I haven’t shared. I think there’s a couple. I think they marinate in my brain for quite some time and then when I’m ready then I can kinda start working on it. Like even the story that I’m working on right now, it’s something that I’ve had in my head for a while that came outta a passing comment that my Dad made about my great-grandparents. So this one factoid that he gave me about them got me thinking but it took a long time. So that would be the story that I haven’t been able to tell, haven’t told. But I think I have a couple of them like that, usually if they’re not about myself and my more scandalous times, then they’re about family or something.

A Random Moment with Habib Idris

Habib Idris, painter

In keeping with the random yet the synchronicity of life, I ran into an old college friend in SoHo on Wednesday. I knew he painted but wasn’t aware of the extent of his work. I was also witness to the effect his creations have on people; a mother and daughter walked by and were instantly drawn to one of his mannequin pieces—art admired, art sold. He was gracious enough to let me interview him right there on the spot.

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Introduce yourself and tell us what it is you do; what’s your craft?

Habib Idris, from Ghana. My craft is paint. I paint. I draw. It’s therapy for me. To get my mind off a lot of things I paint. I don’t consider myself an artist… You can say I’m an artist but it’s more of a hobby or something that relaxes me than for money. But in this economy, you gotta do whatever you can to make money, right? And I’m using what I can. I’m blessed to have a gift where I can paint or create something so I use that to make a little money for now.

A Random Moment with Rubén González

Ruben Gonzalez, singer/songwriter

We first met last year at a show we both participated in at Word Up! Books in Washington Heights. He sang before intermission, I read after. I attended one of his jam sessions in September. On June 19, 2012, we met before his show at the Nuyorican Poets Café. We popped into the Snack Dragon Taco Shack and were greeted by the aroma of steak on the grill, soulful beats and sipped homemade Raspberry Limeade as we discussed his career, creative process and his panty-dropping music that he sings from his testicles in his neck.

 

At the taco shack

Alright, introduce yourself and tell us what you do

My name is Rubén González and I do a bunch of things, mostly related to music. I’m a singer/songwriter. I’m also an instrumentalist; I play bass, guitar. I’m also a teaching artist in New York City Public Schools working with early childhood but also I arrange and direct a couple of percussion orchestras for 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders in Brooklyn. That program has been going on for years and years and it’s grown and it allows me to see music in a different way, arrange for little hands, for little brains—it’s a lot of fun—at PS 130, the one that I’m thinking of, the most important program, on Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn. The principal is very supportive, we’ve got all kinds of instruments, so I teach there and I arrange for them and introduce them to music. Being a teaching artist gives me the opportunity to introduce young kids to music the way I feel it, the way I would like to have been introduced [to it].

Wedding Bells

Last month, I witnessed the union of Charleen Bruno and Toney Ivey -- capturing the ceremony and mingling amongst family and friends afterwards.

More photographers, and the couples who hire them, are leaning towards creative wedding photography. Right up my alley. My eye is drawn to connections between people and my images do a great job capturing moments that would otherwise go unnoticed. I'm available to shoot weddings and engagements. 'Tis the wedding season!

Black, White and Grey

 

Not shying away from race, we sat in an Italian gelateria and openly discussed black and white. He's from the Midwest and feels at home when he visits NY. He's accepted here for being himself, regardless of his skin color or race that he identifies with.

He broke it down for me. Where he's from there's only black and white. Racially, but also where you live and how you act. The white people who act "black" are called "wiggers". The black people who act white are "Uncle Toms". I was familiar with the terminology although I don't hear them much in my circle. "So you're either black or white, but you, you're grey."

There are stereotypes and generalizations that persist; certain actions, behaviors and mannerisms are assigned to certain groups of people. Certain beliefs and ideologies are considered "normal" for one group and not the other. In his city of 297,000 he's considered weird because of his style of dress and lifestyle. His take? I'd be considered weird too.



In a world of black and white, I'm grey. That's one of the best compliments I've ever received.

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Been There, Done French

I was talking to a guy about travel. Naturally, Paris came up in the conversation. I told him it would've been great if I had visited Paris in my 20's but that I was also glad to be going now as a full-fledged adult. I'd have a better handle on the language, and what to expect from the locals (namely the men). I won't be seduced, instead I'd choose the man I want and then let him think he seduced me.


The guy I was speaking with isn't from NY so I asked him if he'd heard of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case (DSK is now counter-suing the hotel maid he is accused of sexually assaulting). He had vague knowledge of the case and I explained to him what I'd learned, while researching the DSK scandal, about the sexual entitlement French men seem to exhibit -- the séducteur. How much of that is actually "fah real", he asked.


Let me share the story I shared with him.

Random Musings on Partialism

Guy A:

It was all about me for the first 30 minutes or so. No complaints there. Then he asked if I wanted to "do more" or "keep going". Sure, I thought. I was attracted to him and still in the mood. I returned the oral favor; he stopped me and commented on my skill level. Ok, we get to it and early on he asked me to squeeze his nipples. All right. Tweak tweak. But when I moved my hands he demanded that I squeeze his nipples again. What does Abigail do? She hooks up with him 2 more times after that.

Talk to me about Shame

A solo performance by Juilan Goldhagen

A few weeks ago, I attended the solo performance, Talk to me about Shame, by Julian Goldhagen. He's a great storyteller; he brought us to speed on not wanting to go to a friend's birthday party, losing his virginity and never having sex with that sex again and copping a squat on an African mountaintop for the ultimate release. Goldhagen's vulnerability and courage are magnetic. 

 

Race Relations in Motor City (Bar)

Last night, I ended up at Motor City Bar. I like that the vibe there is never pretentious, it's a great mix of clientele and it'll be the setting for my upcoming photo shoot (see: Graffiti Butt)

I had conversations with interesting men at the bar -- maybe because we didn't know one another we were more direct, more quickly. The underlying theme of our conversations: race.

"So whereabouts in Brooklyn are you from?"

I answered his question but later it hit me -- I didn't tell this man I was from Brooklyn. I asked how he knew I was "from Brooklyn" and he said he's been in NY for 25 years and has learned to "just tell". Moments before that, I tried to pinpoint the origin of his brogue. I guessed Ireland, he's Scottish.

"Don't Pet the 'Fro" T-shirts Are Here

The babies have been born...

I've launched the "Don't Pet the 'Fro" T-shirts. I've gone through quite a few samples and I will continue to perfect and tweak the design (all while not allowing my inner perfectionist to slow the process). Visit my Wazala shop to order your t-shirt or as a gift!


A black V-neck was my original vision and I've made that happen! I've been wearing mine around the house and while running errands around my neighborhood... a lot. I'm sure you'll love yours too! It also seems to be the best seller. They're available in Ladies S to XXL and they run true to size. For reference, I'm wearing a Medium.

Don't Pet the 'Fro V-neck Black (Medium)

My First Obscene Phone Call

It was about 6:30am. My phone rang and through blurry eyes I saw it was from a Restricted number. Because I receive some international calls that show up that way I accepted the call but didn't say anything. What I heard were sex sounds. Sounded muffled and I thought "another pocket dial". I hung up and rolled back over to sleep.


My phone rang again. Restricted number. Now I was annoyed and on guard. I accepted the call, put the call on speaker and still didn't say anything. This was a deliberate call. The male participant's moans and sex talk directed at his female partner were spoken into the phone as though he were wearing an earpiece or Bluetooth. I couldn't recognize his voice. I was searching my brain to figure out who would do this--did the guy on the phone sound like an ex?


After about 4 minutes they finished and then the man said, "Hello." I didn't respond. I still couldn't place the voice and was extra pissed now because that was confirmation that the call was intentional. He said "hello" a few more times, waiting each time for me to respond while his labored breathing steadied and he let out one more "Shit..." at how good his nut was.

Dine and Dash?

So here's what happened:

Saturday night, a friend and I went out to dinner. I'd been craving a meal and wine from this establishment for a long time.

We were seated promptly. We made emphatically enthusiastic decisions on what we wanted to chew and what wine to sip. It was a toss up between two appetizers – a meat or a cheese. The waitress recommended the cheese. Smiles all around.

Wine was sipped slowly.

Appetizer appetized.

Entrees served at 10:20pm. I took a photo. It’s timestamped.

Fast forward about 20 minutes later. Our plates were cleared. And we still had a little bit of wine to finish. About 10 more minutes passed and I noticed our waitress leaving. She didn’t head out for a smoke, she was gone. Her shift was over. She didn’t close out her tabs. She didn’t bring our check. She didn’t say a word. The other waitresses walked by our table repeatedly. They filled water glasses of other diners and brought them dessert menus. 

Gallery Crawl

Photo by: Mia Berg

I attended the evening reception of Mia Berg's WOMAN : CAMERA at Gallery 151 on Thursday evening. The nudity, self-portraits and Spencer Tunick got me through the door. After studying the images and the exchange of opinions, my friend and I headed to Chelsea for an impromptu gallery crawl.

The Day I Became a Woman

I knew this day would come, but already? In December, I got a referral from my doctor for a mammogram. Today was the day. I went to the Rita J. Kaplan Breast Imaging Center at Bellevue Hospital.


After I walked the busy corridors of the main floor of the hospital, I made it to the Third floor, West Wing. The walls are painted a light pink with floral wall border. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the hospital I had seen. After checking in at the desk and receiving my ID wrist tag, I took a seat in the main waiting room.


Visibly, I was by far the youngest woman in there. 58, 67, 70 -- those were the years of birth I overheard. I wondered if the demographic of the waiting room would change as more younger women are diagnosed with breast cancer. I shook my head at the soap opera chosen to entertain us. I was thankful when that was interrupted by the President's press conference.


After another mispronunciation of my name, I was handed a gown and directed to the pink dressing rooms. "Waist up."

Back On (Where's) George's Money Trail

I finally spent my "Fishbone - Where's George" dollar bill yesterday. I'd had other opportunities to -- once the item I was purchasing cost less than I anticipated and once I just couldn't part with "Fishbone George" so I handed over a different legal tender.

To purchase a brownie and petit four at Betty Bakery, I released "Fishbone George". Minutes later, along Atlantic Avenue I stopped to buy some Shea Butter. I was going to buy just one tub of it, but the second proprietor of the shop told me "3 for 10." Had I not bought the 2 extra tubs of Shea butter, I wouldn't have gotten the second bill. One of the bills I got as my change had ink on it that caught my eye -- IN GOD WE TRUST -- circled in red. For a split second I thought it was a Where's George?® bill. It wasn't until I got home and was organizing my change that I noticed I did indeed receive another bill.

There's meaning to this. It's a sign. But what?

"To follow the $ somehow", TastyKeish text me.

"Hell ya. That I can do."

Side Note:  When I first showed TK the Fishbone bill she informed me that she interviewed a member of Fishbone at SXSW last year. The day I tracked Fishbone George, I got that message about the virus study and also learned the Fishbone on the bill was a reference to the same band.

Synchronicity.



So now I track this bill... it's been in Minnesota, Delaware and now New York. Where to next?

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