“I Heart Rochester, How ‘Bout You?”
Use your voice to speak up for what’s important.
“In 2018, I was sitting on my couch one Sunday afternoon, feeling bored.”
In 2018, I was sitting on my couch one Sunday afternoon, feeling bored. I grabbed my keys and headed out, thinking maybe a ride would change my mood. I had been riding around for about 25 minutes when I found myself taking a turn down Scio Street in downtown Rochester. I was suddenly faced with this vivid and multi-colored mural by Shawn Dunwoody that simply read, “I Heart Rochester, How ‘Bout You?”
That was the day I fell in love with public art in Rochester.
I pulled out my phone and fired off a few frames. That mural was on the wall at City Blue Imaging, among so many other beautiful pieces, but, unfortunately, that space caught fire on Christmas Eve and was demolished on Christmas Day 2020. Hard to see a space that sparked my public art journey reduced to rubble, but I was inspired by one of the walls that remained that reads, “spread love.”
My photography story has two main chapters.
The first starts when I was 16 or 17. I started to work at a small community newspaper back home in Waterbury, Connecticut – The Waterbury Observer. They were moving into a new office in my neighborhood. I walked in while they were moving furniture and painting the space and asked if I could write, and the publisher said, “The deadline is next Tuesday.”
That’s where my passion for writing and visual arts began to flourish.
I would write and take photographs for the bi-weekly publication, as well as doing the page layout, graphic design, inputting press releases, answering the phone, and so much more. I still have a relationship with the paper all these years later. My mentor and the publisher, John Murray, is a brilliant photojournalist, and I continually learn a great deal from him. During those early days, it was all about developing film and making prints in the darkroom. That really was the only way. I learned a great deal, and a lot of skills transferred over to digital.
My second chapter started two years ago.
In January 2019 my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. He died later that month. We didn’t have an ideal relationship, but he was my father, and in this subtle way he always encouraged me to be the best version of me, sometimes by just saying, “Son, I want you to be a better man that I am.” A few days before he passed, we talked on FaceTime, and he asked, “Why aren’t you doing more creative things?” and I said I didn’t have the time. When he passed, I made time.
In August of 2019, a really good friend also passed away from cancer.
He was a father and left behind a wife, three children, and tons of family and friends. Even in his last days, he pushed to live life to the fullest. He fought hard.
These two events hit me hard and served as a wake-up call.
Life is short, do more of what you love, and make space and time for those that you care about. Being present with my family was something that was important. Photography was something that I loved. All along the way, my wife has supported and encouraged me to follow this passion.
Photography allowed me to focus.
Photographing and sharing public art created by others and their stories has become my happy place. When it’s just me, my camera, and an incredible piece of public art, that’s where I’m focused. My mind doesn’t wander. Sharing and building relationships has been a beautiful bonus.
There’s a whole new generation of activists within city limits.
Rochester, for example, is home to some of the most powerful activists in American history, most notably Frederick Douglass, who called the region home for more than 25 years. Inspiring to think that we are walking the same streets that he once did. There’s a whole new generation of activists within city limits, folks that continue to inspire and spark change.
“Am I next?”
A lot of things rocked us in 2020, but nothing that was new in terms of being a Black man in America and how that is often weaponized. When I think of George Floyd, it’s hard to not think of myself or to think of my brothers, uncles and cousins. When I think of Breonna Taylor, it’s hard not to see my daughter, sisters, aunts and nieces. Thinking back to Tamir Rice and even more recently Elijah McClain, it’s hard to not think of my sons and nephews. It’s really hard not to think, “Am I next”?
I carry that weight.
As folks took to the streets in protest, especially last summer, I found myself leaning into what I knew best: using photography as a way to process and communicate my own feelings and thoughts, as well as amplifying voices visually. Does this make me an activist? I don’t know. I do know we all have a part and place in the overall movement, and I hope that I’m playing my part by spreading and raising awareness and being an advocate and champion for change.
There’s so much power in protest art.
In the wake of George Floyd, I thought it was important to shift my focus from just photographing art by focusing my lens on protests and the protest art and how they shaped dialogue and changed physical spaces. Shawn Dunwoody said it best: When the speeches are over, and the protestors have gone home, and for those that can’t physically be there, spaces across the country and in Rochester have captured some powerful protest art to amplify voices.
Some incredible opportunities opened up last year.
I documented a series of portraits I took of Olivia Kim, Bradd Young, Brittany Williams, Sarah C. Rutherford, Dellarious, and Justin Suarez. I worked with WALL\THERAPY, documenting the work of Lucy Ray and Athesia Benjamin. I spent time with Shawn Dunwoody, documenting different projects he was working on around the community. Sarah Rutherford installed this beautiful piece for domestic violence awareness at the Time Square Building in downtown Rochester. I documented the FUA Krew in action while they worked on a tribute mural for Daniel Prude and a crew of visiting artists from California – Estee Cheng and Nikko Quinones – who painted a beautiful tribute mural to Daniel Prude at MLK Park.
And of course, the John Lewis mural.
I knew the John Lewis mural was coming to town for a month or so before the crew even touched down. They were trying to crowdsource $20,000 to complete the project, and I shared across my social media platforms and donated because I thought what they wanted to do was important. Just two days before Jared, Ephraim, Darius, and Dan arrived in Rochester to start work, Jared reached out to ask if I would consider documenting their process. I immediately said yes.
To me it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
This was the project I felt most of my work had been leading me to. I moved some stuff around at work and home to spend seven days on State Street as they worked on the 3,000-square-foot photo-realistic mural of the late Congressman, based on a 1963 photograph by Civil Rights chronicler, Danny Lyon. I had to be there.
John Lewis has a powerful story.
I remember going back to Mr. Lewis’ final message, just as the crew finished their work: “Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.” How can you not have chills. We’re lucky to have this brilliant wall in Rochester as a constant reminder of such an influential figure in American history and the Civil Rights movement. The view never gets old.
Rochester was supposed to be a two year stint.
It morphed into so much more. This is my wife’s hometown, and never did I think I would fall in love with it in the way that I have. That love has become a passion for sharing the parts of Rochester that are important to me and my family. Rochester has amazing people and so many great places, along with such a rich history. There’s also my own personal history and milestones here. My youngest son was born in Rochester. I was married in Rochester, right at the Memorial Art Gallery. I’ve also had some really cool opportunities because of Rochester. This is home.
I was introduced to Cameron Community Ministries through a friend.
Cameron is an Urban Outreach Community Center in the Lyell-Otis Neighborhood of Rochester, NY. They offer many programs including youth after-school and summer programs, a free hot meal program that serves lunch daily, an emergency food pantry, and a clothing house that serves community members in need of clothing and housewares (www.cameronministries.org).
I knew I wanted to be involved.
I wanted to help raise awareness and spread the word about their work in any way that I could. I volunteered to take photographs for their grand opening for the Teen Center space in 2019. After an ongoing relationship with the organization, I was invited to join their Board last year, which I happily accepted.
I’m really proud of Cameron, our staff, volunteers, board and supporters.
In 2020, through Cameron, 26,966 meals were served, 324 kids café meals served in our teen center, 2,044 kids café meals served in our youth program, 575 households were served through our food pantry, 350 Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets were distributed during the holiday, and our teen and youth programs have been a great resource during this new school year. This is just a small snapshot of what Cameron did in 2020, not to mention our clothing house, social worker outreach, and so much more. Their work in the community has a rich history that didn’t start during the pandemic, and they’ve long been an important resource and provider.
If I had the attention of everyone in Rochester, NY, I would say this:
Do more of what you love. Be sure to make time and space for those that mean the most to you, and let them know how you feel. And please use your voice to speak up for what’s important, especially right now. When we choose silence, the sound is deafening. To call out, speak up and hold someone, whether a group or our community accountable, isn’t devoid of love; it’s because of it. It’s that love and fight for a better space and place for all that will change the world. It’s what we deserve.
Reflections by: Quajay Donnell
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Rachel Ann Photography captures the images you see posted on the Love + Lead website.
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