RUSSEL FREDERICK: THE ROYAL WE

Words by Carrie Stetler | Images by Russell Frederick

In Russell Frederick’s photos, everyday people become kings and queens.

Shot in black and white, which gives them a timeless look, his subjects are elegant, no matter how tough, and beautiful in the face of adversity. His portraits of Hurricane Katrina victims reflect the grace in their will to survive, no matter how great their suffering.

He feels the same way about people close to home. Since 1999, Frederick has been documenting the diverse residents of Bed-Stuy, capturing moments of intimacy, pride, and joy that are conspicuously absent from the media.

“For other photographers the focus was to just show the worst—an area of challenge,'' says Frederick, who grew up in Brooklyn and lives in Bushwick. "When I look at the typical images, I think, ‘how much does the person who is telling this story know the community, and how much time did they take to know the subject?'"

“Walking around the neighborhood, I’d observe all these wonderful things. And I felt like the only way people would ever believe me would be for me to have a record of it,’’ says Frederick, whose Bed-Stuy project is part of his work with a Harlem-based Black photography collective called Kumoinge (Workshop).

Frederick became a photographer in the mid-’90s after dropping out of both architectural and nursing school. He was self-taught until he took a course at the International Center of Photography. An early mentor of Frederick’s was photographer Eli Reed, author of Black in America and Magnum’s first black photographer.

Frederick also worked at Magnum, managing film and prints, and was a commercial photo editor at the Associated Press.

One of Frederick’s trademarks is his preference for film over digital technology. “Film has a feeling that digital lacks. There’s nothing perfect in life, and film has an imperfect beauty,'' says Frederick.

Although some of his favorite photographers, such as Cartier Bresson, also shot in black and white, Frederick isn't trying to be retro. “Black and white challenges us to view our subject differently,'' he says. "It can simplify the complex. So much of our life is already in color, but when you narrow things down, sometimes it's just black, white, and shades of gray.’’

Russell Frederick will be opening his solo exhibition, Black, in the fall. Learn more about his successful campaign to raise money for the show on kickstarter.com, where he is still accepting donations for a national tour.