run-down & round up: GENTRIFICATION

A New Day in Old DC, Studio Lafoncette Photography

noticed i had many articles on the same topic happening in different parts of america saved and decided to share in  one fluid motion. a good film about this situation of gentrification is Flag Wars. 

Is Jus' ah Photo: Studio Lafoncette Photography . 

in washington dc:

• A Population Changes, Uneasily 
• A surprising look at 'Faces of Petworth' 
• Is Jus ah Photo

in new york:

• For new life, blacks in city head south
• Memories of Sugar Hill

KAISO! Part 7 (& de nex' half): Mas Women

Part 2 of the interview with photographer Leslie Robertson-Toney of Studio Lafoncette Photography on Mas Women 

Do you ever get from behind the camera? (during Carnival that is).

I occasionally party, however I find it hard to justify the expense of most of the new “all inclusive fetes” that are en vogue in Trinidad, so I’m not likely to be at most of those. I really like playing mas, but again, the price and quality of adult mas has been disappointing in recent years. I hope to be able to do that again soon. Playing mas is a big part of the carnival experience that feeds my soul - there is something spiritual about mas for me that I can't fully articulate, so it's difficult for me to miss that. The catch 22 is, if there’s good mas, I want to be behind the camera as much as I want to be in costume.

KAISO! Part 7 (& a half): Mas Women & Women Behind De Mas

Female Masquerader Carnival 2010, Leslie Robertson-Toney

                                        
Around this time last year the Washington DC based photographer, Leslie Robertson- Toney of Studio Lafoncette Photography, was gearing up for the Trinidad Carnival season armed with a heavy duty Nikon camera, tape-recorder and a list of interview questions. These items made up her research tools for a multi-media exhibit entitled, Mas Women & Women Behind de Mas: A Photo Exhibit, held in April of last year at the Emergence Community Arts Collective in Washington DC. The exhibit included audio, video and original photography that focused on female masqueraders, designers and band-leaders. The aim was to gauge the role of women in this art-form, to seek out their inspiration; moreover, to find out whom these women were. In turn, I am taking the opportunity to find out who Leslie is, what inspires her work and what she thinks about Carnival.