Lost in thought/surrounded by baggage, NYC

EXHIBITION: ART + PROTEST

ONLY 3 days left to check out this amazing exhibition!  C'mon Uptown to the historic Malcom X and Betty Shabazz Center to view over one hundred documentary photographs by twenty-two photographers (including me) in the exhibition titled ART + PROTEST!

Recent work

Been shootin' up a storm lately, for private clients and myself.  I like when I'm in a creative flow and my third eye opens. Nothing feels more free!

b'ball 'round the way. bushwick, brooklyn. nyc

pigeon crossing

Young woman on the Long Island Railroad

Long Island Railroad (Forest Hills) Station.

The everyday
all day
every day

SGL in the city

My photography presentation with the young members of Boys Club of New York

Here I am presenting and discussing my photography with the middle-school aged boys at the Boys Club of New York. The goal was to inspire them to believe in the creative process and to peak their interests in a future career in the arts. They were engaged, asked tons of questions, made great comments about my work and according to the staff there, my presentation was GREAT! I love sharing my passion for photography with youth! Thanks BCNY for the opportunity!!

The photography of Gordon Parks - An American History in Milan

A European retrospective of Gordon Parks' photographs from his days at LIFE magazine.

Gordon Parks, the Renaissance Man, as he was known even at the time of his collaboration with Life, was a photographer but also a director, a writer, a musician, a poet and could therefore be defined as a truly storyteller. "Una storia americana" arrives at Spazio Forma in Milan (until June 23) thanks to the Gordon Parks Foundation, and it is the first major European retrospective exhibition dedicated to the work of the storyteller, to his profound poetry, and to his classical, powerful and deeply cinematic photography. A collection of Parks' most significant production: the protagonists are segregation, poverty, prejudice, but also the key players of the twentieth century, the world of fashion, and even the great personalities of the rapidly-changing world, such as Malcolm X, Muhammed Ali and Martin Luther King.

Justice for Trayvon: NYC Protest

July 14, 2013: The day after six jurors found George Zimmerman not guilty of any crimes for shooting seventeen year-old Trayvon Martin, New Yorkers took to the streets to rally and march for justice. 

MLK Speech: I Have a Dream
Photography: Ocean Morisset

NYC PRIDE: A Focus on LGBT Adolescents of Color

New York City PRIDE events are well documented affairs. The parade, costumes, the festival on Hudson street, the pier dance and everything in between are recorded by the million spectators in attendance. So this year, as in years past, I decided to forgo the parade to stay on mission and focus on LGBT teens and adolescents of color who were out among thousands of celebrants displaying their pride. 

Since 2005, I’ve been documenting the many facets of the black LGBT community which touch on themes of protest, love, HIV/AIDS, aging , homophobia, hate crimes, outreach and community celebration to name a few. Recent news stories have brought attention to the devastating effects anti-gay and lesbian bullying can have on teens and adolescents, who in many recent cases turn to suicide to escape the taunting, bullying and other abuse they faced because of their sexual orientation. In fact, preliminary results from a major 2012 survey of black gay youth, conducted by the National Strategy for Black Gay Youth in America, reveals that 43 percent of black gay youth have thought about or attempted suicide as a result of issues related to their sexual orientation. According to the results, over half of those surveyed fear or have experienced family disownment as a result of coming out of the closet. Many black and Latino LGBT youth have found themselves homeless since being “thrown away” by their families.

Young black gay men particularly face a unique challenge when coming out given the deep-rooted anti-gay stigma in the African-american community. In an article published in the 2012 Journal of GLBT Family Studies by Rutgers University School of Social Work’s Michael C. LaSala and Damien T. Frierson from Howard University, LaSala explains some of the unique complicating factors faced by young, gay black men, including a “one more strike against you” mentality that he says makes acceptance difficult for relatives of gay youth: 

“The world already sees you as less than others. By being gay, you’re further hurting the image of African-American men,” LaSala says was a common reaction among the male relatives of the black youth when they learned that their relative was gay. “Parents of African-American gay youth said, ‘You have everything going against you as a black man. This is one more strike against you.’ Conversely, parents of white gay youth stated, ‘You have everything going for you — and now this!’” 

To black and latino LGBT youth I spoke with at NYC PRIDE, many expressed that they simply want to “be” who they are. “My life shouldn’t be threatened just because I love other guys.” 17 year old Trevor said.” I just want to live and love whoever I want.” he affirmed.

In this age of CHANGE, my intention as a photojournalist documenting the LGBT community of color is to provide positive imagery and disseminate information of the issues affecting this marginalized group to filter into our collective consciousness, and realize that we are all ONE. I AM, therefore WE ARE.  

***********Scroll below for more images
 from NYC PRIDE.************

I'm Back!

Self-portrait. Mid-town, NYC. July 2013

Wow, it's been four months since I posted on my blog! I've been "stuck" on Facebook  and Instagram and all its quick upload and access from my iphone. Technology is moving amazingly quick since I began this blog in 2005, as a showcase for my photography and musings. My photography has really evolved since then, and the creative journey continues to be an exciting one!

To my followers, supporters and fans, I apologize for not posting more frequently. I have lot's of new images (I've been busy) to share so be sure to check back on this site for further updates!

You Can also FOLLOW ME on these other sites:
Instagram: @oceanstide
Facebook: facebook.com/oceanmorissetphotography
Website: oceanmorisset.com

I'm back!

Resurrection, Rebirth, Renewal. Happy Easter!

Untitled Harlem walk on a snow night. March 18, 2013.

Harlem scape: West 143rd steet

West 143rd street b/t Riverside Drive and Broadway. Harlem, NYC March 2013. Ocean Morisset Photography.

The SOUL OF PHOTOGRAPHY workshop NYC Apr. 27-May 18

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Expand your creativity creating compelling images that tell stories. Register for the SOUL OF PHOTOGRAPHY workshop today!

http://soulofphotographyworkshop.eventbrite.com/

The End of the Road

The end of the road  has many connotations. In my case, it’s the end of my cancer journey. I’m having surgery today to have my port-a-cath (the funny looking button and straw sticking out of my chest) removed. The port has been my gateway for receiving twelve rounds of life-saving chemotherapy. Having the surgery to remove it is a definitive marker of my remission. My oncologist had me keep the port in for 12 months after my last round of chemo, “just in case” Hodgkin’s Lymphoma reared it’s ugly head. The cancer never did return and I can’t even hold my breath about it any more. 

I remember when i first got the port surgically implanted in my chest. I had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma two weeks prior. Two weeks later, I started my first round of chemo. It’s been quite a journey with a bittersweet end. Though I won my battle with cancer, many other warriors haven’t been so fortunate including young Mohammad Ayan. At the tender age of fourteen, Ayan reached out to me when I was first diagnosed and encouraged me to Never, Never, Never Give Up. I never did. Instead, I became intimately acquainted with my spirit of resilience and created self-portraits documenting my journey. I like to think that my creativity was just as crucial as the chemotherapy being infused in my port.

Ayan, never gave up either. He fought all the way to the end. There is no reason why two people on the same chemo regimen have different outcomes. Life, as incredible as it is, is also unfair. So as I prepare for my surgery this morning, I’m counting my many blessings with great humility, grateful that the end of this road is here and a new road paved with possibilities is just around the bend.

New Exhibition: Sea Drift at the Brooklyn Arts Council, New York

I'm proud to be one of seven artists participating in this great exhibition, Sea Drift at the Brooklyn Arts Council! 

Through the lens of symbolism and ritual, Sea Drift, a group exhibition featuring the work of seven Brooklyn-based artists, presents a meeting of mythic ideas and contemporary realities regarding the waters surrounding Brooklyn. 

The participating artists in Sea Drift bring a range of practices and approaches, both traditional and contemporary to the exhibition. The common themes of journey, memorial, salvaging, remembrance and transformation are apparent among them, shaping their work and their understanding of water. Sea Drift shows a potential for artistic expression to ebb and flow, to drift between the real and symbolic.

The pull of the tides, the lure of the sea, and the mystery and power of oceans and rivers has through time manifested in a rich body of folklore, symbolism and ceremony.  Water is necessary for human life, and due to this obvious importance, water has taken on considerable symbolic value in communities both religious and secular.  Much of this is depicted in rites and rituals, collections, journeys and performances, which portray ideas of water beyond the literal.  

Water as an everyday aspect of Brooklyn's landscape has been, and continues to be, in flux. Formerly crucial maritime uses have mostly disappeared, and waterfront access is now commoditized, a perk for those moving into newly residential areas. But in fact our relationship to the shoreline is not solely one of ownership, but of understanding, interaction, and respect for this unique place. 

Three of the artists show documentation of traditional cultural expressions concerning water. Ocean Morisset’s photographs of the 23rd annual Tribute to the Ancestors of the Middle Passage document a ceremony that memorializes the thousands of African slaves who died in the Atlantic passage to America. Every year hundreds of Brooklynites come to the shore of Coney Island to send flowers and prayers in remembrance. Their ritual actions transform the same location of Larry Racioppo’s photos of mermaid parade revelry into a healing place of offering. Racioppo also has regularly documented and participated in Italian Williamsburg’s annual Roman Catholic Feast of St. Paulinus and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, popularly called the Giglio Festival. The centerpiece of the festival, performed in Brooklyn for over 100 years, is an enactment of St. Paulinus’ miracle story, from Nola in southern Italy. It tells of the Saint’s journey by sea to rescue boys captured by pirates. In its yearly re-enactment,  the parading of a 65' tall tower called the gigli (lily), and la barca (boat), are separately carried on over one hundred men’s shoulders. The tower represents the lilies thrown at the Saint’s feet upon his triumphal return with the boys and it is the boat's symbolic role to help actualize this narrative of miraculous recovery on the streets of Brooklyn.

A journey is also presented in Angela Jimenez’s photographs of Crete, George Kortsolakis’ homage to his homeland, from which he emigrated in 1955. By the side of his house, Kortsolakis began his miniature recreation of Crete in 2002. This work of memory-based folk art is devotional in its obsessive detailing, figuratively drifting Kortsolakis from Bay Ridge to the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.  

Randy Duchaine has documented both working and playing aspects of the New York harbor, including tugboat races, the Polar Bear Club meetings, and competitive swimming.  These group interactions with the water can be seen as culturally-created secular rituals.  

Unlike the activities shown in Duchaine’s images, transformation can develop from solitary and fairly passive expeditions and interactions with the water. Marie Lorenz builds wooden boats, taking them out on weekly journeys to the uninhabited islands and coasts of Brooklyn and Queens. Once there, she begins her ritual of collection, learning about the environment through direct interaction with what the tides have brought that day. Lorenz’s art emerges from a personal transformation, which develops into her own modern ritual. Willis Elkins works in a similar fashion. His collection of nurdles, “mermaid’s tears,” look like sand, or perhaps beach glass, but instead they are raw plastic, a new reality of detritus on Brooklyn’s waterfront. The nurdles’ journey to our shores is impossible to know, yet we are confronted with the environmental repercussions. 

Is there ritual in this depository role our waters have taken? A form of urban labor that takes on the feel of dystopian ritual is seen in Stephen Mallon’s series Next Stop Atlantic. The creation of artificial reefs is a practice dating back to the 1600s, and is currently in process along the Eastern Seaboard, with over 2,500 subway cars sunk offshore.  Seeing the subway cars, something so iconic and crucial to millions of New Yorkers’ daily lives, splash into their watery grave is deeply disorienting. But it reminds us that the bodies of water surrounding us are much greater, much deeper, and more powerful than we usually understand. 

Sea Drift is on view from March 7 - May 24, 2013 at the Brooklyn Arts council located at 55 Washington street in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. For more information visit the Broolkyn Arts council website:

http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/documents/2137

Ocean Morisset Photography 2012 Year in Review

Closing out 2012 with a "Viewer's Choice" slideshow of images that received 30 or more "likes" by Facebook friends, fans and clients. Check it out and Happy New year to all! Thanks for your support!

In deep reflection

self-portrait. el-barrio, nyc december 4th 2012

An average day on a NYC street

Still life fruit

Exploring alternative processes with digital apps. 

My first Instagram Photos!

Today I upgraded my phone to an iPhone 5 (so long Blackberrry!) and as soon I walked out the shop with it,  I downloaded Instagram and started taking pictures. I've resisted this nifty photo app until now, but I'm completely hooked!

Theses are my first ever Instagram photos taken in Central Park, NYC. Feel free to follow me on Instagram @oceanstide.