1
00:00:02,380 --> 00:00:04,860
["New York Close Up"]

2
00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:14,580
--Thanks for coming, you guys.

3
00:00:14,580 --> 00:00:16,400
--You've been in this whole journey with me

4
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:17,580
--and it means a lot.

5
00:00:17,580 --> 00:00:18,680
--My whole life…

6
00:00:18,700 --> 00:00:20,240
["Jordan Casteel--Artist"]

7
00:00:21,860 --> 00:00:22,800
[WOMAN]
--Congratulations, though!

8
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,000
[CASTEEL]
--Thank you.

9
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,740
I consider myself to be more of an introvert
than an extrovert.

10
00:00:27,749 --> 00:00:29,050
I can flip on--

11
00:00:29,050 --> 00:00:30,789
like, adrenaline can kick in

12
00:00:30,789 --> 00:00:35,320
and I'm able to perform
extroversion really well.

13
00:00:36,340 --> 00:00:41,180
And so I often try to find
my kindred spirits in the world,

14
00:00:41,180 --> 00:00:45,420
and usually it's somebody who's, kind of,
standing off to the side.

15
00:00:46,940 --> 00:00:48,840
There's a certain amount of mindfulness

16
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,490
that it requires to slow down enough

17
00:00:51,490 --> 00:00:56,700
to really feel what it is to be present
with someone in a moment.

18
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,700
["Jordan Casteel Stays in the Moment"]

19
00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:11,120
I've always had an inclination
towards seeing people who

20
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,980
might be easily unseen.

21
00:01:17,180 --> 00:01:18,880
[LOUIE]
I remember it like it was yesterday.

22
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,380
It was a real calm, vivrant night.

23
00:01:21,980 --> 00:01:23,640
It feels like the way it's painted--

24
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,420
it was a vibe...
like pink, summer...

25
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,900
125th Street, where we ran into Jordan.

26
00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:31,200
I'm so proud to be here today,

27
00:01:32,020 --> 00:01:34,500
to be a part of this
and be the face of it right now.

28
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,020
I love her.

29
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,160
[QUENTIN]
I feel like a superstar. [LAUGHS]

30
00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:49,440
Yo, I can't stop blushing! [LAUGHS]

31
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:51,200
I can't stop blushing.

32
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,420
[ZEN]
I was walking the dogs, right?

33
00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,340
And we met and I sat and posed for the photo.

34
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:00,860
[MAN]
It was here in New York right?

35
00:02:00,860 --> 00:02:02,020
[ZEN]
Yeah, Harlem.

36
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,240
[125th Street, Harlem]

37
00:02:14,780 --> 00:02:15,700
[LOUIE]
How you doing?

38
00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:17,160
Can I introduce you to Megastar Brand store?

39
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,160
We got it all.

40
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:18,940
You get hoodies.

41
00:02:18,980 --> 00:02:19,940
We got long sleeve tees.

42
00:02:19,940 --> 00:02:21,380
Black Power everything.

43
00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:22,800
We got all kinds of...

44
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:26,340
How you doing miss?

45
00:02:26,340 --> 00:02:27,800
Can I introduce you to Megastar Brand store?

46
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,040
[WOMAN]
Maybe next time, baby.

47
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:30,610
[LOUIE]
All right, take care.

48
00:02:32,860 --> 00:02:34,920
[CASTEEL]
I was walking around, shooting at night

49
00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:39,070
and Louie and A-Thug
were packing up their stuff.

50
00:02:39,070 --> 00:02:40,830
So while I was taking the pictures,

51
00:02:40,830 --> 00:02:44,160
at some point, Louie asked,
"What's going on here?"

52
00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,220
"Are you an artist?
A photographer?"

53
00:02:46,220 --> 00:02:47,720
"What brings you to Harlem?"

54
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,920
And I was like, "Oh, I'm actually a painter,"

55
00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,100
"I'm doing this project,"
blah blah blah.

56
00:02:52,100 --> 00:02:54,200
And they were like, "Oh, yeah!"

57
00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:55,700
"We'd love to participate!"

58
00:02:56,180 --> 00:02:58,640
They had phenomenal energy from the beginning.

59
00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:00,780
--Y'all turned this into a photo shoot.
I ain't mad at it.

60
00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:03,320
[LAUGHS]
--Make use of it while you got the camera!

61
00:03:03,700 --> 00:03:07,100
The actual moment of me photographing someone

62
00:03:07,100 --> 00:03:09,160
is that speedy moment.

63
00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:10,960
I'm in and out with them.

64
00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:16,500
But I get to spend the most intimate time,
initially,

65
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,780
by myself in the studio,

66
00:03:19,780 --> 00:03:24,300
re-engaging with what I felt from someone
in an instant.

67
00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:39,560
I sit in here literally for hours alone, in
my own head--

68
00:03:39,570 --> 00:03:46,270
to have the space to really delve into
my most intimate thoughts and feelings,

69
00:03:46,270 --> 00:03:49,040
and to process the world around me,

70
00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,320
which is what I do when I'm painting.

71
00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,360
I spend a lot of time just looking

72
00:03:54,370 --> 00:03:57,130
and deciding colors in advance,

73
00:03:57,130 --> 00:03:59,090
and then mixing them meticulously

74
00:03:59,090 --> 00:04:00,980
so that when I get to this point

75
00:04:00,980 --> 00:04:04,960
I'm able to exert a certain amount of confidence.

76
00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,400
My way of trying to reconnect with
the immediacy that happens

77
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,690
if you're sitting in front of somebody,
you know?

78
00:04:13,690 --> 00:04:15,140
That you're working from life.

79
00:04:17,350 --> 00:04:22,720
The camera, it's really become a liaison
between me and the sitter.

80
00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,680
It gives me time to
slow down before I go fast.

81
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,260
In that moment with A-Thug and Louie,

82
00:04:30,260 --> 00:04:33,540
I don't know if I noticed that "melanin" shirt
sitting on the table.

83
00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:36,190
I'm quite sure I didn't
as I'm taking the pictures.

84
00:04:36,190 --> 00:04:37,420
But it's only in retrospect,

85
00:04:37,420 --> 00:04:40,860
as I took time to really study the environment
that they had created,

86
00:04:40,860 --> 00:04:42,080
that I was like, "Whoa!"

87
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,040
"There are really prominent things 
happening here."

88
00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:51,660
His shirt saying,
"T.H.U.G., the hate you gave us,"

89
00:04:51,660 --> 00:04:55,560
I also didn't notice until I started making
the painting.

90
00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,700
I think that's a very powerful statement,

91
00:04:58,700 --> 00:05:01,490
to wear it on your chest like a shield

92
00:05:01,490 --> 00:05:04,500
that communities of color often have to create

93
00:05:04,500 --> 00:05:07,020
in order to protect and honor ourselves.

94
00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,620
[LOUIE]
I get the best feeling when I come outside

95
00:05:11,620 --> 00:05:13,800
and somebody's wearing one of my t-shirts,

96
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:14,800
one of my hats.

97
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,260
Right here is a little bear I done drew out,

98
00:05:17,260 --> 00:05:20,360
animated it with the little graphic design.

99
00:05:20,980 --> 00:05:22,600
So, I've got to produce.

100
00:05:22,610 --> 00:05:25,520
Like, making art into
wearable clothing right now.

101
00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:27,000
Young Style Designs.

102
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,820
It's wearable art right here, though.

103
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,740
Jordan, her work is on showcase.

104
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,940
You've got to go inside of an establishment.

105
00:05:36,940 --> 00:05:38,660
I'm more of a street hustler,

106
00:05:38,660 --> 00:05:41,560
I get it out right on the
cement concrete block.

107
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,740
She left a little event in my life,
like a nice little milestone.

108
00:05:46,740 --> 00:05:50,220
Just dropped down and did something nice.

109
00:05:52,860 --> 00:05:55,500
[CASTEEL]
I have somehow found a way

110
00:05:55,500 --> 00:06:01,540
to weasel myself into a one-percent opportunity
within the art market

111
00:06:01,550 --> 00:06:03,060
that has proven, on so many levels,

112
00:06:03,060 --> 00:06:06,200
that room for me
is few and far between,

113
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,040
as a young African-American woman

114
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:14,520
in a space that is primarily run by older
White men.

115
00:06:16,090 --> 00:06:20,320
The history of this country is complicated.

116
00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,130
The history of how art has moved through institutions,

117
00:06:25,130 --> 00:06:27,200
and been valued, is complicated.

118
00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,000
With access comes responsibility.

119
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,860
With visibility comes responsibility.

120
00:06:34,780 --> 00:06:37,920
[ZEN]
There are very few spaces where

121
00:06:37,930 --> 00:06:40,520
Black men are being represented

122
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,700
outside of criminality and entertainment.

123
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,440
People probably pass the subjects in this
work everyday,

124
00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:52,960
without acknowledging anything about them.

125
00:06:54,140 --> 00:06:56,920
There is a value in just being.