Behind the Glass Gallery August 2025
Special Intro
Rob and Richard @richardbcolon talk about the upcoming Community over Competition exhibit at Flower City Arts Center for the month of August.
2nd Part
Rob Bell @byrobbell and Quajay Donnell @qua.jay talk with our Aug 2025 artists
Michelle Ashlee-Meade @michele_ashlee_photography
Isaiah Trevon @flyguyzaya
Elizabeth Rossi @elizabethrossi.art
Mentioned in this episode:
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Mind of Magnus
Artist Magnus Champlin Interviews guests sharing the stories and life adventures with the goal of expanding minds.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Yo.
Speaker B:I feel like I haven't heard that intro in, like, months.
Speaker A:Months.
Speaker B:Well, we're back for our little hiatus.
Speaker B:We had a little break, a little month off.
Speaker B:Try to, you know, in a way, that's our summer break.
Speaker B:We do that here where we kind of, like, reassess where we've been at for the first, you know, six months, and then we keep it rolling with the next, you know, portion of our crew for the later half of the year.
Speaker B:And this is kind of like a small little intro interlude episode where at the same time, we actually have myself up at another great gallery in the city of Rochester, Flower City Arts Center.
Speaker B:So we're just going to quickly talk about that and, yeah, let you know to hopefully be there.
Speaker B:It'll be on August 1st from 6 to 9.
Speaker B:Flower City Art center on Monroe Avenue.
Speaker B:It's a very special project I've been kind of working on for a while.
Speaker B:I primarily showcase street photography.
Speaker B:I don't really shoot people in my photos, if you notice.
Speaker B:It's just a weird thing that I do.
Speaker B:I feel like.
Speaker B:I mean, I guess it's not weird because that's my art form.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah, it's not weird.
Speaker C:So it's weird when I try to explain it to other people.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:So, like, for example, you know, I visited New York City all the time.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:You know, I jump on the train, hit it.
Speaker B:You know, hit it up a lot.
Speaker B:And usually when I'm down there documenting, I'll sit kind of like somebody hunting a deer in the.
Speaker B:In the woods and just wait until there's, you know, nobody in a shot.
Speaker B:And it's very hard.
Speaker B:It's, you know, it's something that I'm.
Speaker B:I feel like I aim to strive for.
Speaker B:And the reason for that is just.
Speaker B:I just want to, in a way, give people the.
Speaker B:The idea, the ability to be able to kind of envision themselves in what I'm portraying and in doing so, that's the story that I'm trying to tell so that they can kind of be a part of it too.
Speaker D:Is that why you're wearing the camo hat today, Richard?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker D:Definitely make sure people can't see when you're shooting.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That's basically what it is.
Speaker A:100.
Speaker B:But yeah, no, so.
Speaker B:So I wanted to, in a way, challenge myself, because at the same time, I'm gonna do a show with people now.
Speaker B:But the people that I wanted to showcase, I actually felt like there should be some importance or significance to them.
Speaker B:And I feel like the important Thing that we have here in Rochester in the art community is community over competition.
Speaker B:So that's a theme that we have going for the show that I'm going to be up at Flower City.
Speaker B:I wanted to showcase people that I feel embody that, right?
Speaker B:So people that literally show up for other people, people that support other people, people that network with other artists, people that are.
Speaker B:Are actually community based in the arts.
Speaker B:And I feel like it's important to showcase these individuals, right?
Speaker B:Because I feel like by doing so, hopefully it could instill other people to do the same, right?
Speaker B:To network, to network and show up at First Friday events.
Speaker B:Because First Friday is huge.
Speaker B:You know, since we started behind the Glass three years ago now, it's grown.
Speaker B:Like there's so many, so many places that have different galleries and different types of themes and, you know, how they curate, which is great.
Speaker B:You know, you got Frank's Chop Shop, we have Roko, we have the RIT City space.
Speaker B:A lot of, A lot of different spaces that are being able to, in a way, showcase artists and give them a platform.
Speaker B:And it's during these receptions, during these events, these openings where people, you know, they meet other artists probably for the first time because a lot of times a lot of people are just seeing each other.
Speaker B:You know, they probably would know each other through online, right, through socials and whatnot.
Speaker B:But it's through these events where people network and they start building that community by linking up with these different types of artists.
Speaker B:And, yeah, you know, very, you know, very happy to be able to say that the other two curators, part of behind the Glass, you know, Rob Bell sitting here with me and Kwaje, who over there in the shadows, are able to also be part of this crew of legends, these, these, these legends that I would like to say that I'm showcasing at the Flower City Arts Center.
Speaker C:I had to hunt you down to get my picture, though.
Speaker C:I didn't think he was going to do it at first.
Speaker C:I'm like, I made the cut.
Speaker A:Very.
Speaker B:Happy and, and I'm very happy how his came out.
Speaker B:Right now I'm in the printing stage with them.
Speaker B:Wow, sorry, allergies.
Speaker B:I'm in the printing stage with, with these prints for this Friday.
Speaker B:I've already cut them up and now I'm just getting ready to mount them and, you know, have them up ready for Friday, but it'll be up for the month of August.
Speaker B:So if you're in the area, Monroe Ave, Flower City Arts center, whenever the, the art center is open during the day, please stop in if you can't make it to the reception.
Speaker B:But more importantly, the.
Speaker B:The reception is 6 to 9.
Speaker B:So that means when behind the glass is done at 8 o', clock, you still have time an hour to make it to the art center.
Speaker B:So please stop by behind the glass at least before you come to the flower city arts Center.
Speaker B:Please support behind the glass.
Speaker B:We have a great crew that we'll talk about in the next episode, but definitely always support what we do here for underrepresented artists.
Speaker B:And, yeah, I think that's pretty much it.
Speaker B:I mean, Chris, unless you want to ask me a question or two.
Speaker D:No, I mean, I think we're.
Speaker D:I think we're just gonna.
Speaker D:We're gonna roll right into.
Speaker D:Roll it into the episode for this week.
Speaker D:So this is gonna be part of the intro.
Speaker D:You guys have the names for everybody.
Speaker D:We can intro.
Speaker D:Do the quick intro and then take a break and we'll go into the typical artist discussion.
Speaker B:All right, we have Elizabeth Rossi, Isaiah, Trayvon, and Michelle.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Michelle Ashley.
Speaker D:Say with confidence, Richard.
Speaker D:Say it with confidence.
Speaker D:I'm not cutting you stumbling.
Speaker B:I drew a blank.
Speaker B:Michelle Ashley.
Speaker D:All right, if you say it with enough confidence, I'll go to break.
Speaker C:I'm sure.
Speaker B:Super confidence.
Speaker B:Super confident.
Speaker D:All right, so we're gonna go to break, and we'll be right back.
Speaker D:That's you, Q.
Speaker D:Step up.
Speaker E:He's doing the typical shot where you just like sitting your phone in.
Speaker D:This is professionalism right here.
Speaker A:I forgot I took over as the.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:The lead host when Richard did his promo and peaced out.
Speaker C:I know, right?
Speaker A:You know?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:He just stepped right out of the building.
Speaker A:He was like, see ya.
Speaker A:So, yeah, not worried about awkward train.
Speaker A:All good.
Speaker A:So, yeah, we're back from our break and our awkward intro there, and we're gonna jump right into our august artists.
Speaker A:An amazing group.
Speaker A:I often talk about how cool it is when we drop the promo and then we see the response from folks and the reshares.
Speaker A:And I'm always excited to see that reaction and so fan of the work and love to just jump right in.
Speaker A:So we're gonna go to you first, Elizabeth, you ready?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We could do like, spin the bottle and it goes to that person.
Speaker A:Different way of spinning the bottle.
Speaker D:Go ahead and jump in.
Speaker F:Just introduce myself.
Speaker D:Yeah, introduce yourself.
Speaker D:Say what you do.
Speaker F:Hello, everyone.
Speaker F:My name is Elizabeth Rossi.
Speaker F:Pronoun.
Speaker F:She.
Speaker A:Her.
Speaker F:I am a visual artist focusing on acrylic paints, collage, and making women look and feel like goddesses and the importance of collage for me is bringing together all the different parts of ourselves and respecting the individuality of that.
Speaker F:Stumbled on that.
Speaker F:That's okay.
Speaker F:While bringing things together for a collective vision.
Speaker F:So for me, it's both about myself and being in community with people and also just being fly.
Speaker F:I've been saying this for the past few weeks.
Speaker F:I want to do dope shit with dope people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker F:And that's in my art as well.
Speaker F:I'm also a social worker, and I try to support people and communities and groups working through some things to talk about issues around oppression, but also so that we can be in joy and love and treat each other better.
Speaker F:So that's throughout my art and then also my practice.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So a couple.
Speaker A:Couple threads.
Speaker A:We're gonna jump in on there.
Speaker A:How long have you been creating work?
Speaker F:Oh, ever since I was a kid.
Speaker A:What was it like?
Speaker E:What.
Speaker A:What pulled you in?
Speaker F:I will say that my parents have always been very supportive of my art.
Speaker F:I always had art supplies.
Speaker F:My dad was really supportive of me, and he was very encouraging.
Speaker F:I feel very blessed to have two parents who are like, you gotta do it more.
Speaker F:If anything, it's me.
Speaker F:I'm like, I'm gonna go be a social worker.
Speaker F:I'm gonna go teach workshops.
Speaker F:They're like, put your art out there.
Speaker F:So this past year, coming back to Rochester, I was in New York City for 17 years, focusing on my career in different ways.
Speaker F:But coming back to Rochester, coming back to home, coming back to self, I've been really focusing on my artwork, just being dedicated to it, having a space that also in New York, there's no space.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:So now I get to have a whole room for my art and painting and all the things that I love to do.
Speaker F:So the reason why I've been talking about the collage and, like, the mosaic borderlands of it of, like, bringing together these aspects is also because I'm bringing together pieces of myself coming back home to Rochester.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's an interesting.
Speaker A:There's so many different threads we can.
Speaker A:So many avenues we can go down.
Speaker A:So born and raised in Rochester.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:Not born, but, yes, raised since I was two years old.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So more or less born.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Where were you born?
Speaker F:Louisiana.
Speaker A:La.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:Don't remember it, though.
Speaker F:La, baby.
Speaker A:Louisiana.
Speaker A:Rochester, New York City.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker A:Finding yourself in your art, that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker A:When you talk about, like, finding you coming back home and.
Speaker A:And finding yourself, what's that journey been like for you?
Speaker A:And, you know, you talked a little bit about community, like, how have you found your.
Speaker A:Your art community?
Speaker A:Here in Rochester.
Speaker F:So it felt like it took a while for me to find my community here.
Speaker F:I came in the first year of COVID from New York City.
Speaker F:I just couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker F:But also still kind of a New York City snob.
Speaker F:I have to admit that I was like, oh, I never want to leave the city.
Speaker F:I love the city.
Speaker F:And the universe was like, now you got things to tend to.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:And it brought me back here.
Speaker F:And so I just started showing up to things and just kept on showing up, kept on showing up.
Speaker F:But it really took a book club, and that's.
Speaker F:And I love book clubs and I love reading in general.
Speaker F:But to, like, find community.
Speaker F:I do think something about Rochester is sometimes you got to know the people to get to the events.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:That it's not as easy to find things.
Speaker F:Or maybe it's just growing now, but at least that was my experience.
Speaker F:And so.
Speaker F:But once you get into the thread and the stream of things, then it blooms and opens up because there's so many different artists here, and you just have to find the venues and the spaces.
Speaker F:So I just kept on showing up.
Speaker F:I kept on introducing myself to people because I wanted to build community here.
Speaker F:But it did take, like, two years to do that before it actually bloomed into something.
Speaker F:And now my community is thriving, and I feel very blessed about it.
Speaker C:Do you think you are a different creator here in Rochester than you were in New York City as far as inspiration or just how you approach the art?
Speaker C:Just the location.
Speaker C:What did you say?
Speaker E:I said, I need to know this answer.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:So I will say yes, but it's so different.
Speaker F:So.
Speaker F:So I feel like in New York City, I was a better consumer of art.
Speaker F:There's so many more museums and shows.
Speaker F:You can go to Chelsea on 9th Ave and just go to all these different galleries and just take it in, Take it and take it in and be inspired.
Speaker F:There's so many artists on their hustles.
Speaker F:Like, everyone's a creative in some kind of way on their hustle.
Speaker F:And so in that way, I consumed art.
Speaker F:I took it in.
Speaker F:And I love that.
Speaker F:Like, I'm very.
Speaker F:As many of us, I'm sure, are very visually stimulated.
Speaker F:So I like being in.
Speaker F:In that energy as a source of inspiration.
Speaker F:But I wasn't doing my art because what I realized is I was distracted.
Speaker F:You always outside.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker F:You always engaging with people.
Speaker F:And part of the creative process, I think for many of us, maybe not all of us, is that you actually just need to sit down and marinate and just Be with yourself and center yourself.
Speaker F:And being in Rochester allows me to do that, to just be like, oh, let me let this, like, idea take root.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:And let it sit and simmer.
Speaker F:Part of it maybe even like just me reading books or being by myself.
Speaker F:And then like, oh, I got a new paint, so let me just test these colors out.
Speaker F:It's like a few weeks of that marination process.
Speaker F:And I'm allowed to do that in Rochester.
Speaker F:So in terms of taking in art, New York City is just giving all the vibes.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:But Rochester, I'm allowed to actually be still enough to create.
Speaker C:Yeah, I was just in Philly and NYC the last two weeks in space.
Speaker C:You talk about space.
Speaker C:Yeah, like, there's no space for anything, anything in any big city, really.
Speaker C:So it's interesting that you say, you know, now you have the time, the space to create here in Rochester.
Speaker C:I find that a lot with people, for sure.
Speaker A:And I know you, you talked a little bit about your, your day work.
Speaker A:I think that's a common theme on, you know, most of our folks that drop on behind the glass.
Speaker A:There is what you do to pay your bills and then there's this passion for your work.
Speaker A:But there seems to be, and as you said in your intro, seems to be some overlap there.
Speaker F:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Like, what's that overlap look like for you?
Speaker A:And how does your, your social work inspire your art and even vice versa.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker F:So I have had in the past where people have been like, oh, you need to like, quit your job and just be an artist.
Speaker F:And I think that that's true for many people.
Speaker F:It's not true for me.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:I think I have many gifts, and one of them is expressed through facilitation and holding space and building containers so that people can work through our process of healing discussions that they need to go through.
Speaker F:And one of the ways that it's is done is as a teacher, is as a facilitator, is as a social worker, and is through the art.
Speaker F:And so for me, actually, a lot of the themes are the same and the work that I do, but they're expressed differently.
Speaker F:This is a different tool that I use.
Speaker F:This is a different paintbrush that I create with.
Speaker F:And my social work practice and values is infused in my facilitation and teaching work, but it's also infused in my artwork because I also see my art as a tool for healing and discussion and community.
Speaker F:So those things come together.
Speaker F:For me.
Speaker A:That'S a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Speaker A:And I think to your point, you know, a lot of people Are like, go and do this thing full time.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:Sometimes when you do it full time, it takes a little bit of that passion away.
Speaker A:It takes a couple of those pieces away from you because you're like, wait, I have to.
Speaker A:This thing that was paying my bills, I need to now do this thing to pay my bills.
Speaker A:And that may mean I need to say yes to a couple more things that I'm not necessarily gonna usually say yes to.
Speaker A:Or you find yourself in a space where you're like, I need to sell one more piece or I need to do two more projects, as opposed to like, hey, I'm just filling it right now.
Speaker A:Let me create.
Speaker A:And if someone loves it, that's great.
Speaker A:But it was really for me and for community and for, you know, kind of an outlet, if you will.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:I also think that we have to question how capitalism impacts artistic practice.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:Because everything now needs to be commodified.
Speaker F:If you have any skill set, like, I'm into astrology.
Speaker F:Like, give astrology reading.
Speaker F:I'm like, I'm not trying to give astrology.
Speaker F:I make these tea blends that everyone love, and I might maybe sell them in the future.
Speaker F:But it.
Speaker F:But what I'm seeing is if you have any skill, people want you to make money off of it.
Speaker F:And if you don't, then it means that you don't believe in yourself.
Speaker F:And I think that there needs to be a separation of that, because then the art becomes around making money and not about the creative process.
Speaker F:And I just don't want to be stressed out about selling paints to pay my rent.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker F:I gotta separate that relationship from myself, at least.
Speaker F:But that's also me in alignment.
Speaker F:And I think for other artists, when you're in alignment, that might flow for you in that way.
Speaker F:But that's my.
Speaker F:My story and my journey.
Speaker C:Well, have you been in that situation before where you.
Speaker C:You've had to live off of your art?
Speaker F:No.
Speaker C:You've always had a job on side.
Speaker F:Oh, I've had five.
Speaker F:I have five jobs on the side.
Speaker F:I have.
Speaker A:I like to say I do my art and I have a job on this side.
Speaker A:So he was right when he said that.
Speaker A:It's like, oh, no, my job's on the side.
Speaker F:No, I always have.
Speaker F:I was a teaching artist and a gallery curator and a social work student.
Speaker F:Like, I always had several things happening at one time, which I like, because then I'm jumping around and I'm like, again, my brain's stimulated and all this other stuff.
Speaker F:But I also feel like sometimes I Always have a commentary about something.
Speaker F:Because I had 50 jobs, I'm like, oh, I know a little bit about that.
Speaker F:So there's that for me too.
Speaker F:But I was definitely on my hustle, but it was all things that I enjoyed.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:I love the many jobs.
Speaker A:And I'll say that sometimes people are like, oh, yeah, that's one job I had.
Speaker A:And people are like, how many jobs did you have?
Speaker A:And I'm like, oh, that's just one job I had.
Speaker A:So thank you for sharing your story.
Speaker A:And we're gonna.
Speaker A:We'll loop back around at the end and kind of hear more about what you're gonna bring into the gallery space.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:But now we're going to jump over to Michelle.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker G:I'm doing great.
Speaker G:Zero complaints.
Speaker A:I love those glasses, actually.
Speaker A:Everyone's glasses.
Speaker A:Like, I look over at our guest and like, all glasses on point, like.
Speaker F:Where you came today.
Speaker A:I think before.
Speaker A:Before we leave, we're going to have to get a picture.
Speaker A:Yeah, a picture of folks in glasses, because glasses are on point right now.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:So tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker G:So I am a humanitarian, a social activist, a bit of a documentary photographer.
Speaker G:It has morphed a little bit, talking about overlapping in money and your art and having to make money.
Speaker G:I started doing everything that I'm doing, having shows.
Speaker G:You know, when you have shows, generally you're in the negative.
Speaker G:You're not making money.
Speaker G:People would always ask me to, do you do weddings?
Speaker G:Do you do family photos?
Speaker G:Do you do.
Speaker G:I didn't do any of that.
Speaker G:I didn't want to do any of that.
Speaker G:And now I've gotten myself into doing a lot of that.
Speaker G:A little less of my heart, work a little more of the other, which is great because it helps me buy my equipment and give me all the things that I want to become a good photographer.
Speaker G:I started probably about.
Speaker G:I'm guessing about 12 years ago.
Speaker G:I had a brother who died on the streets.
Speaker G:And we were never notified when my brother passed away.
Speaker G:And to me, I was.
Speaker G:I didn't put a lot of effort into trying to try to find out how my brother passed away.
Speaker G:But I wanted to use my art to be a bit of a storyteller and show faces and names to the people who are on our city streets, which I honed in on Rochester, which is really easy to do, and it really just snowballed from there.
Speaker G:I've had a few shows focusing on mental Illness and childhood poverty.
Speaker G:I have worked with Rochester's Refugees, which was probably my favorite and best show I've ever had.
Speaker G:And, yeah, that's it, really.
Speaker G:I mean, what else is there to say?
Speaker C:What else is there to say?
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I'll say I love your work.
Speaker G:Thank you.
Speaker A:And it's when you talk about, you know, doing family photos and doing the wedding photos, and I know it's different than some of the other work, but what I see in those photos is the same passion in the work that I think some folks know you for the, you know, the street photos of, you know, folks that are living and living right here in Rochester.
Speaker A:And I think part of that is because it's you behind the camera.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Your heart is in it.
Speaker A:Whether it's, you know, someone whose story is, you know, untold or someone who is coming together as a family.
Speaker G:Sure.
Speaker A:You know, what's, you know.
Speaker A:So I know you talked about your brother there for a moment.
Speaker A:Like, what has been that journey for you, being out there taking these photographs of people that are often unseen or maybe seen, but unheard or even uncared about, you know, by folks that may be passing by?
Speaker G:I think for me, I've always been a bit of a storyteller, so I'm a hairdresser full time.
Speaker G:I listen a lot, and I feel like I get most excited when I've heard something and I want to share it with either my husband or a family member.
Speaker G:And I think that I've been able to use that craft when I meet people on the streets or in shelters, wherever it is that I'm going.
Speaker G:I.
Speaker G:You know, they say, when.
Speaker G:When do you feel the most alive?
Speaker G:And for me, it's literally telling you about a story that I heard that day.
Speaker G:I have learned that I take away so much more than I'm giving to them.
Speaker G:And I don't know, it's hard.
Speaker G:It's an emotional experience for me, and it has nothing to do with my family member, which is really sad to say, but I became a mom, and I remembered what my mom was going through, and it helped me to maybe, even though my mom had already passed, give my mom a little bit of maybe what somebody should have done for our family or my brother.
Speaker G:My brother was a troubled soul and probably invisible to a lot of people.
Speaker G:And I wanted to.
Speaker G:And I have made sure that some of these people, you know, it's so cliche that everybody has a story, and I hate saying it like that, but these people want to be heard, and it's been really easy for me.
Speaker G:Most of the time I don't have to ask a person to take their photo or listen to them.
Speaker G:They actually, you have a camera, they generally, you know that you're out there, they come up to you, they want to talk to you.
Speaker G:And nine times out of 10, they've asked me to take their photo.
Speaker G:And I've had people ask me to send their photo to their family and let them know that they're still okay and alive.
Speaker G:And here.
Speaker A:What was that?
Speaker A:If you could take us back to maybe the first experience, Right.
Speaker A:You're walking with a camera.
Speaker A:Like that first moment of walking up to someone or someone noticing you.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:So I volunteered at St. Joe's on South Ave.
Speaker G:I worked in the Dorothy Day house.
Speaker G:I was helping with transition housing, getting people off the streets into housing.
Speaker G:And the first person I met, his name was Eddie.
Speaker F:And.
Speaker G:And I just sat.
Speaker G:It was just him and I.
Speaker G:And he had a pillow and a mattress and a sheet, and that was it.
Speaker G:And he was so happy and, you know, he was really bashful and shy and it took a little while, but when I left that day, I was really addicted and sucked into.
Speaker G:To the experience of it.
Speaker G:You know, I've gone home and cried.
Speaker G:I've gone home and laughed.
Speaker G:I feel like they could have their own reality show.
Speaker G:The.
Speaker G:That I could tell of these people that are living in these communities under the bridges and intense.
Speaker G:Like, seriously, they're political, they're catty, they're hysterical, They're.
Speaker G:You know, there's a lot there.
Speaker G:It's a lot to take in, but it's.
Speaker G:Yeah, it's my heart work.
Speaker G:It's really where it's at.
Speaker G:It's been hard lately because I hate to say this, but first of all, I'm not young and my family started to have a hard time because the city has changed so much.
Speaker G:And my son is 30 and he lives downtown.
Speaker G:And he was constantly like, mom, you're starting to roll the dice.
Speaker G:You're starting to roll the dice.
Speaker G:You know, you're walking out there with this expensive camera and everybody knows you and they've been really good to you.
Speaker G:But at some point that may not happen.
Speaker G:So I have slowed down a little bit on that.
Speaker G:And I had a show that I think you were at that was at the Yards, and then it was hanging at Strong Hospital.
Speaker G:So I focused in then on people that I actually knew that either struggled with mental health issues or really just wanted to share something.
Speaker G:And I had them write whatever it is that they wanted I hung up their handwritten letters and their portraits.
Speaker G:And so I've kind of taken a little bit of a segue into.
Speaker G:I never know how to put it.
Speaker G:I don't want to say everyday people, but people that I walk with, people that I know, I've been telling their stories, and not for anything, but you can only do so much in the community I was working in, and you become a little bit of a nuisance.
Speaker G:You know, they're like, here she comes again with this camera.
Speaker G:You know, at some point, you have to close that chapter and move on to something else.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think the show at the Yards and then later at Strong was a beautiful show, and I think the handwritten notes really, really brought it to life and kind of pulled you in.
Speaker A:But what I often enjoy about your photos, and I don't know if this is intentional or not, is that sometimes there's a caption and sometimes they're not.
Speaker A:There's not.
Speaker A:And so it kind of takes you on this journey whether, especially when there's no caption, you wonder, who is this person?
Speaker A:Where are they from?
Speaker A:How did they end up in this place, and what are they going through?
Speaker A:Is the no caption intentional?
Speaker G:No, not at all.
Speaker G:It's more.
Speaker G:Sometimes I have time for things, and sometimes I don't.
Speaker G:Sometimes I post old things, sometimes I post new things.
Speaker G:I work full time, so that is my side gig.
Speaker G:So it really just depends.
Speaker G:And I had a lady once, I don't know how you feel about this, but she came to one of my shows because most.
Speaker G:I think every one of my shows, there's always been a story, whether it's my handwriting or someone else's.
Speaker G:And she said to me, why do you do that?
Speaker G:You should be able to just look at your portrait and let the portrait tell the story.
Speaker G:And I was like, that's really unfair, because you may look at somebody and think that, you know, what happened to them and why they are in the position that they're in, and that may not be their story at all, with what I do, I don't think it's up to the viewer to assume or try to figure out what somebody's story is.
Speaker G:So when I have shows generally, which I'm not doing this for this show, which was hard for me, it was a little different.
Speaker G:I almost always.
Speaker G:And I will never forget that woman's name.
Speaker G:Her name was Marge.
Speaker G:And, you know, she just was really, like, taken back and couldn't understand why I couldn't let the photo tell the story.
Speaker G:And so from Then on I was like, oh, I'm going to add stories to every one of my photos because I like it.
Speaker A:Shout out, Marge.
Speaker G:Yeah, right, exactly.
Speaker G:Thank you for keeping me going.
Speaker C:I resonate with a lot of what you're saying.
Speaker C:Worked at the DNC for five years and cover a lot of heavy issues as a photojournalist and as a writer.
Speaker C:I know I took a lot of that stuff home with me.
Speaker C:And I'm curious as to what you do to protect yourself so you can keep creating, knowing the heaviness of the subjects that you portray and document.
Speaker G:I can't really, you know, with me it runs pretty deep.
Speaker G:I have a son who's in recovery.
Speaker G:He was the biggest reason of why I did what I was doing because I felt like I could become my mother at some point and lose my son.
Speaker G:So there's been many stories that people have told me or just people that I photographed.
Speaker G:That was very difficult and I don't protect myself from that.
Speaker G:I actually, I tend to feel all the feels and I also feel like my best work has been when I have felt the heaviest because some of my work is really heavy.
Speaker G:If you look at my Instagram now, you see a lot of light hearted, family style photos and like I said, that's what is making me money.
Speaker G:But if you dig deeper into some of the other stuff, the heavy stuff, I'm okay with that.
Speaker G:I'm okay with that.
Speaker G:There's only been a few people that I have talked to that really bothered me in the middle of the night.
Speaker G:You know, I can think of one person, his name was Joseph and he said to me, the first time I ran from the police, I was five years old.
Speaker G:And that story really is a story that is.
Speaker G:Makes me cry every time I tell it.
Speaker G:It's a beautiful story, but it's a really difficult story.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Thank you for.
Speaker G:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you for sharing.
Speaker E:That was great.
Speaker A:And we're going to switch over to the fly guy.
Speaker E:I don't know how I can follow that up either one of those.
Speaker G:You can do it.
Speaker B:I shoot photos.
Speaker E:That's it.
Speaker A:There's something in your photos.
Speaker A:There's something, something beautiful.
Speaker A:So, Isaiah, tell us, tell us a little about yourself.
Speaker E:My name is Isaiah.
Speaker E:I go by Fly Isaiah on Instagram.
Speaker E:People call me Zay.
Speaker E:Those are the three names.
Speaker E:Let's just get those out the way.
Speaker E:Right?
Speaker E:Dang.
Speaker E:Let's see, where do I start?
Speaker E:So I've been shooting photos for over 10 years for sure.
Speaker E:And a lot of it has started digitally and then Just like any Rochesterian or whatever we want to call it.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:I've gone to film and film's become the strong point, which started with Polaroids.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:And then the 35 millimeter and now in love with 120.
Speaker E:But all sorts of film.
Speaker E:And that's really it to the story of me shooting photos.
Speaker E:It's kind of just how it started.
Speaker A:Why, what, what brought you to film?
Speaker A:Like what was it?
Speaker A:I mean, obviously we're in Rochester is Kodak.
Speaker A:Someone else is standing next to you holding a film camera.
Speaker A:Like what's the.
Speaker A:Like what pulled.
Speaker A:What pulled you in?
Speaker E:That's authenticity.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:It's just how authentic it is to take that photo and boom, that's it.
Speaker E:You know what I mean?
Speaker E:You can do some light adjustments, but I love film stocks and just how they just do their thing in general.
Speaker E:Not that it made the process easy because it's not easier.
Speaker E:It's actually harder if you want to nail it, if you ask me.
Speaker E:But I just love that look, that authentic look.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And you can't.
Speaker C:It's one of those things that's almost unspeakable.
Speaker C:You can't kind of describe the feeling you get because like you.
Speaker C:I started with digital.
Speaker C:I swear I would never be film.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I've been shooting nothing but film for the last six months.
Speaker E:It's something about the look too.
Speaker E:I mean, honestly, for me personally, Polaroids is my favorite look out of all film.
Speaker E:It's not the sharpest.
Speaker E:You know what I mean?
Speaker E:But the colors and everything is just the, the formula of the chemicals and everything.
Speaker E:And what it does just off rip for me, it's just the best.
Speaker D:Do you find you like the challenge of using film versus digital?
Speaker E:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker D:Do you like the fact that you don't know exactly what it's going to be and you have to do it on purpose?
Speaker E:Absolutely.
Speaker E:You know, sometimes I try to guess what the settings and then I'm like, oh shoot, I'm right.
Speaker E:Like, you know, pull the light meter out to double check yourself or a digital camera to match the settings up.
Speaker E:And I'm like, okay, I nailed this.
Speaker E:So it kind of helps you remember and train yourself to really understand lighting and the mathematics of film, if we however we want to call it, but really lock into that process and.
Speaker E:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker A:So when you go on about it forever when you.
Speaker A:I love.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm also of a generation that like film was the only thing that we had starting.
Speaker A:And so like I was in a dark room, I played around with that Stuff and for me, like, film like transitioned over to my digital work.
Speaker A:So it made me slow down a little bit.
Speaker A:It made me think about things a little bit.
Speaker A:You know, I.
Speaker A:When Photoshop came around, not to say, you know, again, not trying to age myself, but like OG Photoshop and like I understood what Dodge and Burn meant because I was doing Dodge and Burn in a dark room.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker E:Oh, this is never used Photoshop a day in my life.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:And I don't want to.
Speaker A:No, you don't need to.
Speaker A:Lightroom is so good that for me it was film.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker E:Film.
Speaker E:All my baby pictures are off film.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:So I'm not far behind you.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:All my baby pictures are film or Polaroids.
Speaker E:A lot of them are Polaroids and even Kodak Polaroids when you flip it over.
Speaker E:So, you know, I'm.
Speaker E:I'm seeing all this and I don't know about.
Speaker E:For you guys, but I went to Spencerport for school, like first grade all the way through.
Speaker E:We had an actual dark room in our school.
Speaker E:I don't know if you guys had like a dark room.
Speaker E:So I always saw the film, but I never tried it in all of high school.
Speaker E:So I already had that curiosity, just loving seeing family photos, seeing it throughout school.
Speaker E:But I never tried it.
Speaker E:So I was even late myself.
Speaker E:And then I just gave it that try like after digital.
Speaker E:Like, I like this look.
Speaker E:So let me try to get it, you know what I mean?
Speaker E:I tried to get it on digital first, nail that look in and I found my own, my own style through that.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:And then once I tuck it to film, I think that changed my style and really helped me really hone in on what I like to do.
Speaker E:And honestly, it goes back to what everyone else was saying with like not doing it as a job because I've done it for a job for a couple years where that was my sole main income.
Speaker E:Rather people only knew me for shooting cars for a certain part of time or if I was doing Polaroids only or if I was.
Speaker E:I've done a couple of weddings, but when I was doing it for that time, I felt myself really rather just want to slow down and hone in on projects.
Speaker E:Not that they weren't projects I didn't want to do, but more projects I wanted to really focus on and not have to think about the fact that, okay, if I get this done, I can eat for the next week.
Speaker E:You know what I mean?
Speaker E:So that I don't know, ask me some questions about that.
Speaker E:Because I feel like that's the biggest Part I don't know if a lot of people have had to really live off of it or really own.
Speaker A:We've had a handful of people in the studio.
Speaker A:Again, it's that you're making that decision, you know, am I gonna do this or am I gonna do that?
Speaker A:But it also can feed into some of your projects where you're like, hey, I'm doing this thing here.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so now I wanna.
Speaker A:Wanna go down that path.
Speaker A:Let's talk about your, your Polaroid work for.
Speaker A:For a moment.
Speaker A:That's something again.
Speaker A:You know, when you think about, like the entryway of getting to know someone, that's the first work that I saw was your, your Polaroid work.
Speaker A:And it was of people, like people just vibing or individuals.
Speaker A:Like why, like why?
Speaker A:What made you pick up that Polaroid?
Speaker A:And then also what made you start doing those snapshots of.
Speaker E:I'll touch back on you.
Speaker E:Like those conversations.
Speaker E:A lot of my Polaroids are creators in Rochester.
Speaker E:People I've either are meeting for the first time and have probably most likely had a conversation with on social media before, or people that I'm just in the streets and they're interested in the type of Polaroid camera I have.
Speaker E:And we really just have conversations and those conversations lead to remembering that moment.
Speaker E:So a lot of my Polaroids are really just those faces and the memories for me.
Speaker E:Not everybody might know the story, but I know the story of every single Polaroid I ever took.
Speaker A:So how do you store your.
Speaker A:How do you store your photo or your Polaroids?
Speaker A:Are they in a book?
Speaker E:I don't know.
Speaker E:You'll find out on Friday.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker D:Yeah, just a book on a table.
Speaker E:Nothing hanging on the walls, maybe.
Speaker C:You said you like the family kind of photo book.
Speaker C:Ye kind of vibe and like.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, like that's.
Speaker C:When I look at your Instagram, it feels like that.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, it feels like a photo book that's on, you know, grandma's table or something like that.
Speaker E:It's all family, it's all local people we know.
Speaker E:They're.
Speaker E:They're creators of everything and anything, whether it's music, photos, video, microphone, like anything.
Speaker E:Literally anything.
Speaker E:Rather they do scrapbooking, you know what I mean?
Speaker E:Rather they like to just drive cars, you know what I mean?
Speaker E:Anything.
Speaker E:And it's really those stories for me, those, those memories and that book, like you said, it's like those family photos for me.
Speaker E:I know I'm gonna have those Polaroid books for forever and they're gonna really tell a story of not just the faces, too, but Rochester with time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker E:And places and important monuments in Rochester.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:I think about that.
Speaker A:I inherit it.
Speaker A:My grandma.
Speaker A:My great.
Speaker A:Not my great.
Speaker A:My grandmother is 91, and she has photo albums from everything.
Speaker A:And they're all meticulously cataloged with the year, who's in it, what the celebrations were.
Speaker A:And so little by little, we've been trying to take those photo albums and kind of figure stuff out.
Speaker A:And I got five pages just recently.
Speaker A:Photos I even remember ever seeing.
Speaker A:But there are moments with my grandfather, moments, you know.
Speaker A:You know, I think I shared with Rob.
Speaker A:I'm, you know, casually holding a play gun that my uncle had gotten me.
Speaker A:And I remembered getting that play gun because my mom was furious that we went to Woolworths, and my.
Speaker A:My uncle bought this thing for me.
Speaker A:And she's like, why would you ever do that?
Speaker A:And I'm just casually, like, holding it in pictures.
Speaker A:And I think about your photos, and I think about, like, your entryway into it.
Speaker G:You.
Speaker A:You know, like those moments that may never exist again, or they may exist for just that moment.
Speaker E:Just that moment.
Speaker A:You've got a photo of this person and that person, and maybe they're.
Speaker G:They're.
Speaker A:They've moved on, or maybe they've, you know, changed their hairstyle or maybe they've, you know, transitioned types of what work they're doing.
Speaker A:So what you're doing is super important.
Speaker A:So I just wanted to shout that out.
Speaker E:Thank you.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:That's.
Speaker E:That's honestly my favorite work.
Speaker E:Honestly.
Speaker E:And the film, too, because now you have that physical scan, you know, of those pictures, and you can store.
Speaker E:And years from now, I'm sure there's going to be a way of a snap of our fingers to be able to read 35 millimeter and 120.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:You know what I mean?
Speaker E:So having those physicals is super important.
Speaker E:Digital can help you get really lost in that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That definitely.
Speaker A:You can shoot a thousand photos on your phone and print one, or you can take this role to Scott's and print them all.
Speaker A:And now you're holding these physical pieces, which I think, you know, we've gotten away from a lot where, you know, I joked with my mom, I sent her a couple pictures, and I said, you're gonna print those?
Speaker A:She's like, I'm printing them right now.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:So she's.
Speaker A:She's still constantly printing because she's in that.
Speaker A:That mood.
Speaker A:Even though it's a digital.
Speaker A:She's, you know, constantly sending Walgreens and printing, printing, print.
Speaker A:I'm like, mom, we'll just get you a printer at home and.
Speaker A:No, no, I'll just get it from home.
Speaker E:It'll matter years from now.
Speaker E:I think that's the most important thing because even for all of us, us, those pictures, like you said, those baby pictures and you holding the gun bring back a memory from then.
Speaker E:It matters now, and it's gonna matter still 20, 40 years from now.
Speaker E:You know what I mean?
Speaker E:On to generations and generations.
Speaker E:So those.
Speaker E:Those bodies of work and having those physical books are.
Speaker E:That's everything.
Speaker E:So nostalgic to me, too.
Speaker A:Well, looking forward to it on.
Speaker A:On Friday.
Speaker A:And obviously we'll all be surprised together.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:I don't think none of you guys have ever seen the book, so.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker E:There you go.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So, so, couple shout outs coming from the live chat.
Speaker D:Joe Satello and Tommy Tut shouting out Zay on the.
Speaker D:On the Instagram.
Speaker E:That's my brother.
Speaker D:And what we're going to do, we're going to go to break and get a little recap from everybody for what they're bringing to the gallery, and we'll be right back.
Speaker A:All right, we're back.
Speaker A:And I didn't fumble that intro.
Speaker A:So we're going to.
Speaker A:We're going to go around the horn, as we often do, and talk about what you're bringing into the gallery and where folks can bring you or find you.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:And when we talk about bringing into the gallery, we're not talking about, you know, the specific pieces, but, you know, what's the vibe like?
Speaker A:What do you want people to.
Speaker A:To take from your work and, you know, as it will be up throughout the month of.
Speaker A:Of August.
Speaker A:But we'd love for folks to come to our first Friday reception at the Mercantile, Maine, August 1st.
Speaker A:So we're gonna go.
Speaker A:Hello.
Speaker F:Hi, everyone.
Speaker F:This is Elizabeth again.
Speaker A:Hi.
Speaker A:It's a great podcast.
Speaker F:It's my first podcast.
Speaker F:I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker F:I'm figuring it out.
Speaker D:We're all good.
Speaker A:I've been doing this for three years.
Speaker A:I still don't know.
Speaker F:I'm trying not to make noise in the chair.
Speaker F:I'm like, ooh, nah.
Speaker E:I like authenticity.
Speaker E:Let it creak a little bit.
Speaker E:Sorry.
Speaker G:You have a voice for a podcast.
Speaker F:Thank you.
Speaker F:Also, don't leave your glasses around me on this table.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker F:See me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker E:We all got high hopes for each other on Friday.
Speaker E:We got to bring out some glasses.
Speaker F:I got to get the more the spicier ones.
Speaker F:So on Instagram, you can find me on Elizabeth Rossi Art.
Speaker F:I also have Elizabeth Rossi art dot com.
Speaker F:So that answers that question.
Speaker F:Can you repeat the other questions?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what's the vibe?
Speaker A:Like, what are people.
Speaker A:What do you want people to get from the work that you're bringing into the space?
Speaker F:Oh, I just hope people feel, like, visually stimulated and inspired, that there's something around the colors.
Speaker F:I don't know.
Speaker F:It's hard for me to answer that question because I've been working so hard not to overthink my art.
Speaker F:Like, part of my.
Speaker F:I had an art show last year that was just dedicated about my perfectionism.
Speaker F:And so am I healing from my perfectionism.
Speaker F:And so part of my own self work of, like, just doing what feels good for me and releasing that and.
Speaker F:And not being worried about if it looks like a real person.
Speaker F:So the pieces that I'm bringing this week are actually a bit more freeformed in terms of my painting because I've been just releasing that and also releasing not being responsible for other people's interpretation of my art, that it is going to speak to who it's meant to speak to.
Speaker F:And I'm letting it go because I'm only responsible for honoring what's within me and letting it go.
Speaker F:And so it's a bit hard for me to answer that question because I'm so dedicated right now to be like, it doesn't matter what other people think.
Speaker A:I think it should be.
Speaker A:Let me answer it for you.
Speaker A:Yes, I'm bringing dope.
Speaker A:Shit for dope people.
Speaker F:I'm bringing dope.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker C:So, yeah, I was gonna say, y' all gonna get what y' all gonna get, right?
Speaker A:All that.
Speaker C:That's what I got.
Speaker A:Y' all like, yeah, well, thank you.
Speaker A:We're looking forward to it.
Speaker G:Michelle, my turn.
Speaker G:So typical Michelle fashion.
Speaker G:There's a bit of a message in the five photos that I chose.
Speaker G:Little.
Speaker G:Little bit of politics involved maybe a little bit.
Speaker G:I picked five people that have been maybe affected a little with what is happening in the country right now.
Speaker G:And you can find me at my Instagram is Michelle with one L. And Ashley is spelled A, S, H, L.
Speaker A:E, E. When I did the post, I spelled Michelle about 25 times.
Speaker A:And I kept saying one L. One L?
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:You know, when I was born, my mom said, she looked at me and said, said she already looks like she's full of hell.
Speaker G:So we're not putting hell in the middle of her name.
Speaker G:So I have one L. Not sure if that's true.
Speaker G:That she really did say that.
Speaker G:But that's the story she gave me.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:I would stick with it.
Speaker E:Yep, that's a good bar.
Speaker E:I like that.
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker E:All right, so for me, what Fly Guy Isaiah, that's the Instagram.
Speaker E:That's also the website and every other social media you could possibly think of.
Speaker E:It's Fly Guyz A Y A And what the work is, well, we know there's gonna be polaroids there in some form or fashion and really just a history kind of even what I said of my work from the beginning to end digital to all different types of film.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker E:Pretty much simple as that.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:We're looking forward to it.
Speaker A:So this is the part where I say something else, right?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:You can throw it to me if you like.
Speaker E:The hat's for Richard.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker D:So, yeah.
Speaker D:So make sure Everybody comes out August 1, 6 to 8 at the Berken Tile on Maine.
Speaker D:Also check out Richard show over at.
Speaker A:Flower City Community over competition.
Speaker D:Yeah, Flower City Arts Center.
Speaker D:That's six to nine.
Speaker D:So go to behind the Glass first, swing over there after or vice versa.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Support the community for all the great things going on in First Friday.
Speaker D:Shout out to Blue Seas from Roko, you know, coordinating First Friday all over Rochester.
Speaker D:Q.
Speaker D:Anything else people need to know before I do my plugs?
Speaker A:No, I mean, I think as I said in Instagram, you know, it's a weird way to announce that Richard's not going to be at behind the Glass this week.
Speaker A:I found out in a social media post like everyone else.
Speaker A:But it's cool.
Speaker A:But it is a great opportunity to go out and support a lot of great folks.
Speaker A:I know we took off the month of July as we typically do, so it's time to get back in and, you know, kind of check out what's going on at behind the Glass and other places throughout the community.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And if you want to check out other amazing work going on on the Lunchadore podcast network, want you to check out some of our newer shows.
Speaker D:Check out Common thread from our friends Rory Van Grohl and Greg Benoit talking about the living the hardcore music lifestyle and how it's affected them as adults.
Speaker D:Also want you to check out one of our long running shows, the Pauly Guglielmo Show.
Speaker D:He just did a two part episode with chef Ryan Jennings talking about his journey.
Speaker D:Closing Sweet Pea Plant based kitchen was a fascinating dive into the struggles, the highs and lows of running a business and trying to make something cool happen.
Speaker D:Lots of cool stuff going on in Lunchadore.
Speaker D:We'll also see you at the Fringe Festival for a live podcast event at the downtown branch of the Rochester Public Library.
Speaker D:Until then, we'll catch you at behind the Glass and we'll see you on the streets.
Speaker D:This has been a presentation of the.
Speaker E:Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker B:The Prestige.
