Courtesy Laurel Museum

Courtesy Laurel Museum

Courtesy Laurel Museum

Courtesy Laurel Museum

Hear our full chat on my podcast “Beyond the Fame with Jason Fraley.”

She was famously the lead actress in “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986), which launched the career of Spike Lee.

Now, Tracy Camilla Johns, 60, presents her photography exhibit at the Laurel Museum, operated by the Laurel Historical Society in Maryland where she’s lived for 25 years. The exhibit runs now through Thanksgiving.

“This particular exhibit is specific to Laurel,” Johns told WTOP. “It’s kind of a quiet, kept secret that I have resided in the DMV for some time … The running joke is: ‘Where is that [photo location] in Laurel?’… There’s the lake, there’s a lot of local foliage … People come and go every day and don’t pay attention to the beauty … It’s a quiet little museum in a small part of the city, but it’s a treasure. I grew up in New York, so I’m a museum junkie.”

Born in 1963, Johns grew up in Hollis, Queens watching Broadway plays, drawing and listening to music.

“This is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, so I grew up in the land of Salt-N-Pepa and Run DMC, I remember when rap started with the whole Queens influence,” Johns said. “I’m absolutely still a die-hard New Yorker, it never leaves you … I came from one of those wonderful African American families. Both of my parents were working and in school when I was growing up … When I declared I wanted to pursue art, they looked at me like I was crazy.”

She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan where she took a theater class as an elective. Her final project brought her teacher and classmates to tears. Less than a year later, she met NYU film graduate Spike Lee, who had just won the Student Academy Award for his thesis film “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” on which Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”) served as assistant director and Ernest Dickerson (“Juice”) was cinematographer.

“I assumed ‘Spike Lee’ was going to be a Caucasian guy in a leather jacket with studs on it — and he was anything but,” Johns said. “I was actually cast in another film that never came to fruition … called ‘Messenger’ about a bike messenger … I’d been cast as the female lead, but by the time we got to production, there was no film and I was actually quite distressed … But that started our friendship and he wrote ‘She’s Gotta Have It’ for me.”

Shot over 12 days in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood on a shoestring budget of $175,000, “She’s Gotta Have It” marked Lee’s feature-film debut. Not only was it a groundbreaking moment for Black cinema, it also joined Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise” (1984) to launch the American independent film movement of the 1980s.

“During the process of the film being edited, there were several screenings just to get [financial] backers to get the film completed,” Johns said. “This is where he coined the term ‘guerrilla filmmaking,’ because we were going from location to location, many that required permits and we had none. We had a lookout [person] and we would literally collapse the equipment and run to avoid the police.”

From a directorial standpoint, Lee had not yet invented his signature “double-dolly” shot — that would come later in “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990) and “Malcolm X” (1992) — but the film still features wild experimentation like breaking the fourth wall, fragmenting the narrative, even shifting from black-and-white to color for a dance sequence like the old dream ballets of “An American in Paris” (1951), right down to the gifting of a flower.

“My favorite scene from looking at it recently was the Thanksgiving scene,” Johns said. “That had a lot of different things going on in the angles and everything that we used, but overall, the film was so unique.”

As for her character, the lead role of Nola Darling was a fiercely polyamorous woman juggling three suitors: Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks), Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell) and Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee). The character was also a muralist, echoing her real-life friendship with Brooklyn graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

“Spike knew my illustration background when he created the movie, so some of those things were drawn from Tracy the person,” Johns said. “You had obviously the independence. The sexual liberation part was something that was definitely not seen in Black cinema at that point in time, it was absolutely groundbreaking, it was very controversial. There were thousands of responses and feedback about, ‘You’re showing me, my sister, my cousin.’”

The result won Lee the Award of Youth at the Cannes Film Festival, while Johns was nominated for Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards, losing to Isabella Rossellini in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” (1986).

“We’re in Cannes at the film festival, which was a total dream come true … talk about such a pinch-me moment,” Johns said. “Although he refutes this greatly, [Spike] said he knew, but even in that atmosphere, I had no idea that we were going to return home when it was going to be released, we had lines around the block for months, literally. It turned into this thing far greater than I had even wanted at that time, just the travel experience.”

Johns was suddenly in demand, appearing on TV’s “Family Ties” in 1987, starring in an Air Jordan commercial with Lee in 1988 and appearing in the music video for Tone Loc’s hip-hop hit “Wild Thing” (1988). Despite a cameo as a club patron in “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990), Spike’s career mostly continued without Johns in “School Daze” (1988), “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Jungle Fever” (1991), “Malcom X” (1992) and “Crooklyn” (1994).

By the time she joined Wesley Snipes and Ice T in Mario Van Peebles’ “New Jack City” (1991), her personal life was careening out of control, plagued by drugs and alcohol to the point that she left the film industry in 1991.

“The auditions slowed down when you weren’t the flavor of the moment and the 15 minutes of fame had subsided,” Johns said. “I came to a crash and burn. I could not buy a job because I was young, I was a bit of a trash talker and I was doing a lot of excessive living … When I could not pay the rent any longer and all of the entourage had disappeared, I really and truthfully wanted to check out … Check out of this Earth, it literally was that severe.”

She describes these suicidal thoughts as the moment she hit rock bottom.

“Between the drugs, drinking and everything else I was doing excessively,” Johns said. “My personal items were in storage on the East Coast, I was in West Hollywood, sleeping on my then-manager’s floor, getting high just to not deal with life … I came into the apartment of a young lady [in] Compton, I went into that house with the full intent to not come out. It was there that I was literally crying, screaming, cussing God out … I was like, ‘Where are you?’”

That’s when she says she had a spiritual epiphany that transformed her into a born-again Christian.

“He showed up in that place,” Johns said. “I decided I was just going to climb out of it and, with the power of God, I did. Traveling, I did mission work in South America, the Philippines, I traveled with this amazing group of young people who came from similar backgrounds, from entertainment, from sports and they all had a common goal that they wanted to serve with their lives, they wanted to take what they had and use it for its greatest purpose.”

She even made amends with Lee, reprising her role as Nola Darling in “Red Hook Summer” (2012), but this time as an older Jehovah’s Witness. She reunited with Lee again for the 30th anniversary of “She’s Gotta Have It” in 2016, then appeared in the 2019 reboot TV series of “She’s Gotta Have It” on Netflix.

“I didn’t talk to him for almost a decade, we literally had lost contact because we were both very strong-willed and I was very much like, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do,’” Johns said. “Spike came to do a book signing about 18 to 20 years ago in [Prince George’s County] … He does this squint like, ‘Am I seeing something?’ He jumps out of his seat, pushes through the people and security … That’s when we came back into contact and made peace.”

Listen to the full conversation on the podcast below:

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Nov. 14, 2023 7:50 PM PT

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Filled with hues of caramel and auburn encased by a lime green sky, Recess Coffee stands in the center of “Westcott World,” one of many photographs displayed in William Rollins Hall Jr.’s most recent exhibit at Petit Branch Library.

“(Hall’s photography) makes me see normal everyday people and sites in a different and new way,” librarian Simcha Glassman said.

The exhibit takes center stage at the library, located in Syracuse’s University Neighborhood. Hall’s photography encapsulates different scenes from the surrounding Westcott Street area and features a series of heavily photoshopped photographs, all edited by Hall on Adobe Photoshop.

Glassman has been working at the Petit Branch Library for close to a year. As adult service librarian, she coordinates adult programming and maintains the adult collection, along with coordinating the rotating art exhibit at the library. She said Hall’s work is “altered photography.”

Hall’s artistic journey began at age 12 when he drew cartoons and created homemade birthday and Christmas cards for his relatives. His journey as an artist works without “editors or sponsors,” fully allowing him total artistic freedom.

“I can speak what I believe to be the truth,” Hall said. “With my cartoons and pictures that might not have a chance of appearing in print.”

Hall has been curating art exhibits and showings for many years. For the past two decades, Hall has worked with Petit Branch Library to showcase his photographs. He also shows them at other Westcott spots like Recess Coffee, where he’s displayed a daily picture since 2009.

Recess owner Adam Williams opened the local coffee shop in 2007 and oversees all operations of the business. Williams said Hall’s art is a reflection of his unique personality.

“Bill (Hall) has been coming into Recess every day for like ten-plus years and swapping out an art piece on our front counter,” Williams said. “(Hall’s) a part of (the) Recess story and his daily visits are a part of our day.”

While curating his photography, Hall associates the photos with a quote of his choosing. He is often inspired by the messages of the First Amendment and resonates with the likes of Upton Sinclair and other pro-free speech artists and writers.

“I’m like a living uncensored newspaper,” Hall said.

The quotes associated with Hall’s art stem from a number of outlets, such as celebrities or Hall himself. He said he would “make up a poem or make a statement” that fits whatever photo or cartoon he is curating that day.

As the coordinator of art exhibits at Petit Branch Library, Glassman reached out to Hall to produce the limited exhibit. Glassman said Hall’s art is “supposed to make people think.”

“Even when I go grocery shopping I have (the camera) with me,” Hall said. “You never know when a flying saucer or Bigfoot or the Mayor of Syracuse will appear.”

Hall takes nearly two thousand photos per day. After capturing these photos, he meticulously goes through them one by one, using Adobe Photoshop to edit them diligently. He looks at “each picture like a puzzle,” Hall said. It takes hours to get an image that is just right.

His artistic process begins early in the morning and sometimes ends as late as 2 a.m. He never leaves his house without his Canon camera.

“When I have a sizable amount I burn them onto a disc to save them. And then (I) narrow down the number of pictures and burn those onto another disc,” Hall said. “I take (the pictures) to Syracuse Blue Print located on East Genesee Street to be printed.”

Photography is not only Hall’s profession. He also uses his art and photography as a distraction from the tribulations of everyday life. He believes that art functions as a distraction.

“Whether rich or poor, everyone has problems in life and focusing on an interesting image provides a diversion from those problems,” Hall said. “That is the service I provide.”

Moorhead man Robby Njos, 52, was sentenced to 28 months in prison Monday for luring a minor using electronics.

Njos’ criminal complaint states in the past few years, he sent and requested sexually explicit material to a boy between 15 and 17 years old. Njos did not admit to the crime but admitted to enough evidence for a conviction.

Njos’ probation is set for five years.

Court documents state a close family friend first reported Njos for sending sexually explicit photos, videos and texts to her son between 2019 and 2020.

The 17-year-old victim, a student at Fargo North High School, reportedly told law enforcement he had known Njos “his whole life” and that Njos was aware how old he was.

The victim called the behavior “weird” and said Njos asked for photos of himself wearing progressively less clothing.

Documents report Njos sent a nude image to the victim via Snapchat when the boy was 16, as well as sending and requesting multiple sexual videos and texts, and leaving inappropriate items near the victim’s work.

Njos reportedly denied knowing the victim or his mother when asked by law enforcement in November 2022.

In a hearing, the victim said he was hospitalized for anxiety and tried to take his own life.

“I didn’t feel control over my emotions and the abuse controlled my life,” the victim said in court. “I would do impulsive and self-destructive behavior.”

Njos is a well-known local photographer and owner of Njos Photography, taking high school senior portraits, family photos and theater photography, according to the Fargo Forum.

The Ao5 Gallery in Austin will host “The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang” from December 1-3, offering visitors a raw glimpse into John Lennon’s personal life during his so-called “Lost Weekend.” This exhibit occurs in sync with the recent digital launch of the documentary “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story,” enlightening audiences further concerning Lennon’s life beyond The Beatles. For reference, more details can be found on the Austin Culture Map.

Lennon’s former partner, May Pang, immortalized their 18-month-long affair from 1973 to 1975 through candid photos. The San Diego News reported that this was Lennon’s most productive solo period, leading to the albums “Mind Games,” “Walls and Bridges”, and the hit single “Whatever Gets You Through the Night”. In addition, Pang played a fundamental role in helping Lennon reconnect with estranged individuals, including Paul McCartney and his son Julian.

A selection of photos in the exhibit, documented for the first time, allow spectators to gain a deeper understanding of Lennon’s personal life, disconnecting from his prominent music career. Some of the fascinating highlights comprise the last captured moment of Lennon and McCartney together and the only photo of Lennon signing the contract that later catalyzed The Beatles’ breakup reported by the Culture Map.

The potency of Pang’s photos lies in her unique talent for depicting the man behind the superstar. In an interview with the San Diego News, Pang said, “John was human, he had all the frailties… He didn’t see himself as a god. He didn’t perceive himself as a superstar or rock star or even a legend.”

The insightful Pang narrated how she suggested to Lennon that she possibly collaborate again with McCartney. Although this collaboration never took place, the brief encounter between the two music icons remains an indelible mark in music history, memorialized within the unique photo collection.

The photographs showcased by May Pang offer a valuable insight into John Lennon’s private life during a period of profound creative evolution. This collection highlights their 18-month journey, presenting an honest depiction of Lennon the individual, separate from Lennon the legend. As people around the world honor Lennon’s musical genius, “The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang” pays homage to the human being beneath the celebrity exterior.

Hosted at the Ao5 Gallery in Austin for just three days, the exclusive exhibit is free to visitors. A grand cocktail reception will allow guests to meet May Pang personally.

Cross polarization transforms images of a variety of clear subjects into rainbow, fluorescent works of art with equipment that you probably already have. Learn the easy process behind this clever optical technique to create some masterpieces of your own.

There is something truly magical about cross polarization. The first time trying this technique reminded me of the first time seeing an image develop in the darkroom. It is hard to comprehend how something so beautiful can result from such a mundane process.

I have shown the below image to many people over the years and asked them to guess what the subject is. Most will answer that it is a crystal. However, this is a crunched-up piece of cellophane tape! The ability to take something so unremarkable and turn it into an attractive photographic subject started a short series where I experimented with a wide variety of subjects to create some fine art pieces.

In the next image, I attempted to visualize how music makes me feel, by letting cross polarization tell the tale of the enjoyable emotional journey experienced by listening to some of your favorite songs. Yes, these are some of my favorite songs.

In 2021, I tackled my frustrations surrounding self-isolation boredom by turning my lens on COVID testing kits in order to highlight the amount of single-use plastic that was being generated in response to the pandemic. Cross polarization was a tool for storytelling in this instance. What can cross polarization be for you?

The Physics Behind the Art

I’m a firm believer that you should research the theory or the science before trying something out. You will have heard of polarized light and polarizing filters. This may be through your journey through photography or from something as widely known as sunglasses with a polarized coating to help minimize glare from light-reflecting surfaces such as water, glass, or snow, helping to protect your eyes from UV rays. A polarizer is an optical filter that works by blocking all incident light waves but those in a specific plane of oscillation, in line with the polarizing filter. The resulting effect of this is minimized reflections from specular surfaces. Cross polarization takes this one step further, by taking two linear polarizers – one at the light source and one between the subject and the lens, and rotating each polarizer opposite to one another to cause further light extinction. which causes the remaining light to split in the visible spectrum. This all sounds very complex, but the rest is easy.

Scientific Applications of Cross Polarization

Cross polarization, also referred to as photoelasticity, not only results in aesthetically pleasing images, but this technique is also extremely useful across many areas of science, manufacturing quality assurance, and medicine. 

Macro and Micro Photography

Cross polarization can be used in macro photography with extremely small subjects, bringing out those fantastic colors on subjects such as insect wings and other biological objects. Small details can be revealed in hard plastic and acrylic objects. Going smaller with micro photography, cross polarization can visualize minuscule creatures in bodies of water and help to colorfully visualize crystallized structures, cell membranes, and chemical compounds normally invisible to the naked eye.

Forensic and Medical Photography

Cross polarization is utilized in forensic investigations to capture detailed images without reflections from shiny surfaces, ensuring accurate documentation of evidence. This process is also useful in dental photography; The surface of the tooth is covered in shiny enamel, and dentists utilize cross polarized light in order to achieve an unobstructed view of the surface of the tooth.

Manufacturing

When certain materials, like plastics or glass, are subjected to stress, they exhibit birefringence, meaning they split light into two perpendicular components. Cross polarization allows manufacturers to analyze stress patterns during the design and prototype process. This is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of the final product. By studying stress distribution, manufacturers can consider factors such as load-bearing capabilities and durability.

The manufacturing application of cross polarization is what we are going to be working with in this tutorial. Transparent materials such as hard plastics are some of the best subjects for showing the technique and are what I usually photograph when experimenting with cross polarization.

Step-by-Step Guide

Materials Needed

Set Up Your Shooting Space

Firstly, you will need a polarized light source, which can be expensive at most usable sizes. Luckily, LCD screens contain polarized film, so you will find that your laptop, iPad, or TV screen can act as your light source. I am going to demonstrate by using a 2020 MacBook Pro with a sheet of black paper under a sheet of glass on top of the keyboard to create a reflective surface with which to place my plastics and other objects. To turn the MacBook Pro into a light source, simply play a 10 Hour White Screen video on YouTube, oreate a white JPEG in Photoshop, or leave a blank Word document open.

Next, attach a polarizing filter to your camera lens. If using a circular polarizing filter, you may need to rotate the filter to find the desired polarization angle later in the process. Placing your camera on a tripod is useful for any still life shoot, especially so here, as you will want to adjust your filter and adjust your objects for best positioning.

Adjust your camera settings as necessary in manual mode to have control over the exposure. Start with a low ISO setting to minimize noise. Choose a narrower aperture, f/8 or higher, for appropriate depth of field. Adjust the shutter speed to achieve the desired exposure, keeping in mind that longer exposure times may be necessary in low-light conditions. You are now ready to shoot! You should already be able to see the vibrant colors revealed. However, you should continue to tweak your camera settings for optimal results until satisfied.

Focus on the plastic objects and rotate the circular polarizing filter on your camera lens while observing the live view or view through the viewfinder. You’ll notice changes in reflections and color intensity. The background may change from pure white to purple or even black, depending on the quality and position of the polarizing filters used. Find the position where the reflections are minimized and the rainbow colors of the plastic objects become more pronounced.

Try this technique for yourselves! This is an extremely accessible technique, and everyone will already own something at home which will look great illuminated with the cross polarization technique. Follow the step-by-step instructions and share your results in the comments below. What object worked best?