File: TTInterview04092015
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[Music]

Q: Okay,

so the Scratch and Mix exhibit, what is

that?

A: It's an organization

and forgive me if i make a mistake, I

probably will.

It's an organization that had found

funding

to bring together a bunch

of youth of color

from ages as young I think as like 15 or

14, all the way till 30.

And they were given an opportunity to

submit

a proposal as to what ideas they have

and from that

a team on the AGO would decide

you know, whether or not they would

choose them.

Yeah, of those people who applied I

was one of the people lucky to

get in. Q: So, do you know how many people

applied?

A: No, I wish I did. I honestly wish I did. I

hope it wasn't too, too many people

but yeah, no we weren't told.

Q: how many people were selected?

ten, and you know what's funny? Originally

they were looking,

they were aiming to go for five, but then

because

it was that many astounding people

they're like, no we have to up the number

to 10.

Q: So, in the exhibit you

have a lot of your photography in it.

Is it just photography or do other

mediums? A: No it's actually just my

photography.

Originally I proposed that I wanted

to do it

on the love story of my parents. I said

if I ever do an exhibit

my first exhibit has to be my parents. My

parents, they're my best friends

and already before that for three years,

I had been documenting them.

I've been following them because I'm

a documentary photographer

and then I've been like, looking into

ways I can have an exhibit. But the most

easiest way that I don't have to spend

any money, like at all. Like I don't want

to spend any money. My work is going to

be so awesome

that someone's going to want it for free

and someone's going to actually pay me

to have my work.

Right, and then this opportunity came

through my sister

and my parents were like, hey you

know you were looking for this, try it.

I'm like it's the idea.

I don't know and I tried it and then it

worked and

they loved some of the few pieces I gave

them. And they're like, no we want to

honor your parents.

Absolutely, let's have these photographs,

let's make it happen.

Q: So other than your parents, what kind of

what other things do you take

photographs of for the exhibit?

A: It's just, it's the everybody has to have

it's thematic.

Everybody has to have one theme,

one idea for what they're bringing and

mine was the story of my love.

The love story of my parents, and that's

that's, those are the pieces you'll be

seeing on

Saturday, April the 18th. Q: How did your

parents fall in love?

A: How did they, that's the thing... you know

dad one day said to her

mom when she was like really young, like

16 or something, I'm gonna marry you like

it's gonna happen.

I'm gonna marry you. Just let me get a

few things out of the way.

And mom was like, whatever and then he

finished his school because at that time

military school was like the coolest

thing to do and you know I finished and

he was done and he came back. He's like

yeah, so I want to get married and she's

like fine.

Why not, and they're like the most

amazing people. But for my exhibit

specifically

it starts when he comes here and

he sponsors mom, and he sponsors my

sister. And exhibit mine starts with a

letter

that he wrote where he writes to like

Kenya embassy even though that's not who

he's supposed to write to.

He just writes to them and says, I miss

my wife, I miss my wife, and I love her.

Can you please help me. Bring her and

they were just so taken back, where they

were like,

yeah we're not the people you write to

you need to go to like sponsorship of

Somali and not Kenya but because we love

your letter, and your letter is just so

heartfelt,

we're gonna help you. And that's how they

brought mom and my sister. So you see the

story of mom

and dad coming here establishing their

lives and where they are today.

It's really amazing. I hope it touches

heights. I hope so.

Q: That's beautiful, and okay. So I've looked

at your Instagram

and there's this thing that you did

on it where you would,

sorry where you would take photos of

the past

and then compare them to photos in the

exact same place,

similar clothing, now. What gave you

that idea?

So okay Sso the thing for me is I

don't know how,

what people do in their solitude, but for

me

it's most weird. I can be in a room and I

can be looking at photos

and I can be having the loudest

conversations. Like I will be look,

I'm like, I'll be looking at these photos

and I'll be having the loudest of

loudest conversations,

and I'll be just like, wow look at time,

time, this is time.

And these images are a moment of time

that I can't get back but I have these

images to prove

it happened and it's sort of for me like

well what's happened now.

Well this happened then, but what's

happened now. So how can I

reenact that moment if I can get it back

and if I can't get back great, but how

can I try to

and luckily for me I grew up in the

same apartment

that mom moved into and she was five

months pregnant with me and I'm still

there.

So for me, and I have these photographs

and I'm like, hey just a few things have

changed.

So it's for me, it's like how can I

reenact moments in the space that's

already happened

but today. So that then in our series was

pretty fun. It was a lot of fun.

Q: So we were actually all out of time. So

the exhibit is happening on April 18th

to

August 30th. Thank you so much for

talking to us.