EP 39 • Russell Frederick
About Russell
Russell Frederick is a Brooklyn-born photographer of Panamanian heritage who has been photographing almost twenty-five years. He is best known for his photographs of the African diaspora of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, a project he began in 1999.
His work has been exhibited vastly domestically and internationally in photo festivals (Photoville, Visa Pour L'image in Perpignan, France, and Addis Foto Fest in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ), museums, and arts institutions.
His documentary work and photojournalism has appeared in TV networks and newspapers from the New York Times, the Washington Post and Bloomberg News to the Amsterdam News, digital sites including NBC News, Slate, VICE, the Daily Beast, ESPN, and magazines from Numero, Ebony, the Root, to Der Spiegel and New York Magazine.
His photos are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Musee National du Mali in Bamako, Mali and many more.
SHOW NOTES:
Website: russellfrederick.com/
Where are you based?: Brooklyn, NY
Camera Brand: Mamiya RZ-67
Most Influential Photographer:
Roy DeCarava and Joseph Rodriguez
Favorite Lens:
80 mm lens. It’s wide enough to photograph someone full length at close range, plus make dynamic portraits and the sharpness of the glass magnifies the finest details magnificently.
In your opinion, what is the most/least diverse field of photography?:
Most diverse is conceptual, least diverse is set photography for films.
What do you consider the biggest hurdle for Black photographers today?
Funding for their projects and not equally prioritizing the business side of photography.
What is the quote that you live by?
"What I want for myself, is what I want for my brothas and sistas.''
