This was a blast. I got to photograph my grandfather, Kurt Stocker: the man who taught me how to drive on dirt roads in the mountains of Colorado when I was 12, taught me how to shoot a gun and change the oil in a car, and made me fall in love with the Southwest and New Mexico green chilies. Featured in “My Ride” with his amazing 1954 truck: read here.
I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to shoot this assignment in Pittsburgh for the New York Times Magazine in 2017. It wasn't the most photogenic story, but what an important one. If an algorithm can help protect children from abuse, and this program seems promising, I hope to see it being utilized across the country, so that the most vulnerable no longer slip through the cracks.
This story will appear in the print version of the magazine on Sunday January 7th. Read online
I had the huge honor of being nominated by Donna Ferrato as one of the 34 emerging female photographers on TIME Lightbox. Thank you Donna & those at TIME who worked on putting this list together! Read here
Nice words from BuzzFeed News’ photo editor on the recent Glamour feature of Exotic Bodies In Motion.
After holding this project close like a protective parent for years, worried that a publication would sensationalize the story and the women who make it, I was happy when Glamour wanted to publish Exotic Bodies In Motion. Glamour consistently features stories about strong, intelligent women, and I know the women from the club fit right in. Read here
But the best part was hearing from a dancer I hadn't been in contact with since photographing the project. After the article came out, she emailed and thanked me for coming into their world with an open mind and heart. "You saw us as we saw ourselves, and that means more than you'll ever know."
Select photographs from Ezy Ryders will be shown in an exhibition opening on October 20th!
Brooklyn Arts Council's Creative Coalitions program and Brooklyn Born are transforming an East New York storefront into a vibrant art space. What Grows in East New York showcases East New York's locally-inspired visual art and its vibrant arts and culture community. Curated by Krista Saunders Scenna, Co-Founder of Ground Floor Gallery and the Director of Programs and Communications at Art Connects New York, the pop-up gallery will feature works of art that illustrate the culture of East New York and that explore each artist's relationship with the neighborhood.
Please join us for the reception!
Thursday, October 20, 2016 5-8pm
522 Sutter Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11207
L to Sutter Ave
2/3/4/5 to Pennsylvania Ave
FREE
ABOUT CURATOR, KRISTA SAUNDERS SCENNA:
Krista Saunders Scenna is an independent curator based in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked for the ICA in Philadelphia, the Queens Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art and New Museum in various capacities. Scenna was a 2010-11 Lori Ledis Curatorial Fellow. In addition to exhibitions at BRIC, NURTUREart and Lesley Heller Workspace, her curatorial portfolio also includes site-specific exhibitions in alternative forums such The Old Stone House, Vax Moto motorcycle garage, the DUMBO Arts Festival and SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2015. Scenna also advises emerging artists as the co-founder and director of Ground Floor Gallery in Park Slope, Brooklyn – a young gallery that connects underrepresented, local artists with new art buyers.
ABOUT BAC CREATIVE COALITIONS:
Since its inception in 2012, BAC's Creative Coalitions program has worked to mitigate the impact of displacement in East Brooklyn communities, and as a result of these efforts, longtime residents of East New York have been empowered to make positive, lasting changes within their respective neighborhoods through arts and cultural programming that speaks to their needs and aspirations. Uniting artists, local businesses, arts and culture organizations, community groups, and residents interested in expanding arts and culture within their communities, BAC's Creative Coalitions program engages a "boots on the ground" approach to building homegrown capacity and to providing technical assistance to neighborhood coalitions and their members so that neighborhoods can realize their potential for creating cultural vibrancy.
Ezy Ryders will be on view for one day only, July 10, 2016, in an interactive outdoor installation at the Steel Horses Motorcycle Club in East New York, with select photographs remaining on the walls until weather deteriorates them. The opening on July 10 will be during the Steel Horses MC bike blessing, an annual event that draws thousands of local riders for a block party-style celebration with food, music, and a prayer to keep the riders safe on the road for the upcoming year.
Ezy Ryders is an ongoing body of work spanning two years about the black motorcycle club culture in New York City. Formal portraits highlight the individuality of the riders, and photographs from bike blessings, trophy parties, and road trips depict the strong community both within the clubs and between clubs from all over the city.
The exhibition is comprised of photographic wheatpastes, large-format black & white prints pasted to exterior walls in two different locations, Steel Horses Motorcycle Club (740 E 98th St, Brooklyn), and Black Falcons Motorcycle Club (523 Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx). The full show can only be viewed the day of the opening, but some photographs will remain on the walls in both locations to weather and fade with the elements. Viewers are encouraged to visit the Bronx to see the photographs pasted up at the Black Falcons Clubhouse, for a joy ride between boroughs similar to ones the clubs make frequently themselves.
This event is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). This event would not be possible without the Black Falcons MC & the Steel Horses MC- huge thanks.
TRANSPORTATION:
MTA: Take the 3 train to Rockaway Ave. Right outside the station, take the B60 bus to Rockaway/Ditmas Ave. Walk 2 blocks west.
OR, Take the C train to Rockaway Ave. Right outside the station, take the B60 bus to Rockaway/Ditmas Ave. Walk 2 blocks west.
Formerly Steel Riders, my series on the NYC biker community, Ezy Ryders, will be exhibited July 10 at the Steel Horses MC clubhouse, thanks to support from the Brooklyn Arts Council. More information to come!
My portrait series on world record holders, The Triumph of Obscurity, was published on Ain't-Bad Magazine's website today.
Thanks to Ricardo Nagaoka for inviting me to be a part of this great magazine!
Check out the article here.
Isis, Sergeant-At-Arms of Next Level MC, Brooklyn 2015 ©Cate Dingley
Exciting news! The Brooklyn Arts Council awarded a grant to my ongoing project "Ezy Ryders," on NYC's black motorcycle clubs. The proceeds of the grant will allow me to continue shooting and will culminate in a solo show of the work this summer. More details to come in the next couple months.
A huge thank you and big hug to the Brooklyn Arts Council, who believe in paying artists to do their personal work—we need more people like you!