Previous Story One hand, one second: Sleek, chic COSYSPEED Streetomatic+ camera bag is built around speed
Back To News
Next Story Patent roundup: a conversation with Dave Etchells about recent sensor innovations

TIME Instagram photographer of the year Ruddy Roye looks at black America through his Leica

documentary instagram leica leica m leica q news photography photojournalism ruddy roye street photography time time instagram photographer of the year

by

posted Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 2:00 PM EDT

 
 

Photographer Ruddy Roye is TIME Magazine’s Instagram Photographer of 2016. Roye’s photojournalism and documentary photography has centered on the modern struggles of black people in America and he considers his work to be activism. He describes himself as a “photographer with a conscience” on his Instagram profile.

Roye’s Instagram profile has over 4,000 posts, many of which are portraits. His motivation for starting his Instagram profile was to “open my veins. I felt like I was hurting and I wanted to talk about my hurt,” he told TIME, “I started to look for stories that were my stories. It was easy to just sit down with somebody and talk about them being disenfranchised or being unable to feed their family. I found those stories to be real. They were my stories.”

Over the last four years, Roye has photographed people in his own neighborhood and across the country. He hopes that his images make people stop and think about the issues facing black people in America today. I have selected a handful of Roye’s images to feature below, but you should check out the TIME piece on his work and follow him on Instagram to see much more.

 

September 15, 2016 The Hustle Dave told me that he is a die hard Brooklynite. Having fallen on hard times, he has chosen to pump gas for anyone who takes pity on him, "for a small change" and sweeps the gas station situated at Bedford Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. He does this in order to earn money which he uses for food and toiletries. But how much is he really earning? Can he make a living off people's pity? A few weeks ago I was having an argument with fellow footballers after a game. They claimed that Bedstuy was filled with black businesses and black entrepreneurs, and that America is truly great. "GTFOH," I replied. A few barber shops, beauty salons, a rib shack, a hoard of can collectors, maybe two coffee houses... maybe. There are a few buffet style eateries with their heavy brown gravy doused soul foods, and their sugar filled red velvet cakes, a melon stand, oh hold on there is that one up on Atlantic Avenue, but it is not in Bedstuy so it doesn't count. Should we count these as entrepreneurship or are we really just hustling -- an attempt of making ends meet. Dave pumped my gas slowly then went back to sweeping the spacious and empty gas station like it was his everything. #bedstuyportrait #brooklynportrait #blackportraiture #brooklynphotography #streetphotography #streetportrait #makeportrait #makepotraits #leicaq

A photo posted by "Humanist/Activist." (@ruddyroye) on

 

August 5, 2016 BAMA Hopeful Six year old Jamal Marshall quietly stopped and allowed me to photograph him just outside the John Leflore school grounds. "What position do you like, running back, defensive back,corner or wide receiver," I asked him. "Quarterback," he answered shyly. Looking back at my question, I was actually stereotyping him by asking him the usual positions that black boys aspired to before seeing themselves in the league. It used to be the positions that got him on to the teams. The quarterback position was always traditionally given to the "white player." Over the past few years more black quarterbacks have trickled into the league since the days of Marlin Briscoe, who became the first modern black player to start in the NFL, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, and most recently Mike Vick and Cam Newton. I was pretty proud he said quarter back as I watched him walk away -- smiling. #mobileportrait #streetportrait #streetphotography #makeportraits #makeportrait #leicaq @leicacamerausa @leicaakademieusa #onassignment for @time #blackportraiture

A photo posted by "Humanist/Activist." (@ruddyroye) on

 

June 10, 2016 "Crossing that Bridge" Yesterday Assistant Chief of Police Gary Tittle tried to comfort this young man in front of the police station where a memorial was erected for people to come and grieve. Originally I had walked over the the Assistant Chief to make a portrait of him standing infront of the precinct with this single stalk of flower. However with the outpouring of people that kept approaching him to hug or offer their support, I decided to hang back and snap a portrait of him instead. I posted this picture on the @time instagram feed and was surprised at some of the comments. This one picture taught me so much about where we are and how far change is. Some of the comments claimed that this photo was a fake, staged or pandering to police propaganda. I guess it's easier to dismiss it, than to actually believe that in this photo are two human beings grieving. I am taking over the @time Instagram feed while documenting the events as they unfold here in Dallas Texas #dallasportrait #streetphotography #streetportrait #makeportraits #makeportrait #leica240 @leicaakademieusa @leicacamerausa

A photo posted by "Humanist/Activist." (@ruddyroye) on

If you’re curious what gear Ruddy Roye uses to capture his images, he spoke with Leica Camera Blog about many topics, including what he uses for equipment. Roye uses two Leica M cameras and a Leica Q. His lenses of choice for his Ms are 35mm and 50mm Summicron optics. His love affair with Leica started 15 years ago and he hasn’t looked back since. Of Leica equipment, Roye says, “Leica has always been about being comfortable with a camera, having confidence in the technology and being confident that what was going to be reproduced is what I had envisioned in my mind.”

 
Leica M (Typ 240)

What's next for Ruddy Roye? He has two new projects in mind to complete over the next four years, both of which are going to focus on the intimate relationship between being impoverished and committing crimes.

(Seen via Leica Camera Blog. Index image.)

Previous Story One hand, one second: Sleek, chic COSYSPEED Streetomatic+ camera bag is built around speed
Back To News
Next Story Patent roundup: a conversation with Dave Etchells about recent sensor innovations