Welcome to The Darkroom Diaspora

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The Griots of Visual Memory mural at the Seeds of Somers Garden: five large black-and-white photographs wheatpasted on a white brick wall above the words THE GRIOTS OF VISUAL MEMORY painted in red. Russell Frederick and Dahkil Hausif stand in front of it.

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Stop Deportation, 2007. A man stands on a Brooklyn sidewalk wearing a T-shirt reading Stop Deportation Now.

Stop Deportation2007 · Tap to open

A man photographed from behind at Nostrand Avenue station, his back tattooed with hieroglyphs, feathers braided into his hair, beneath a sign reading I See Black People.

Tribute to the AncestorsStory coming soon

A man in a headwrap holds a small child on his shoulder, both smiling, in a Brooklyn garden.

King Lion & daughter Queen OmegaStory coming soon

A woman stands on an elevated subway platform holding a sleeping baby in a striped wrap.

Hekima & ZingaStory coming soon

Three women and two children stand together on a Brooklyn sidewalk in front of an iron fence.

Bengali WomenStory coming soon

The Garden

The Process

The Artists

P.I.T.C.H.Prevention Is The Cure (To) Health

Stop Deportation
(2007)

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QR code linking to the augmented reality experience at stopdeportation.art

Instructions

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The Seeds of Somers Garden

Six people stand arm in arm in front of the Griots of Visual Memory mural, smiling.

Visitors talking and reading cards at the garden, the mural behind them.

A crowd gathered under a white canopy in the garden beside the mural wall.

Visual memory needs to live in public. Community gardens are natural gathering spots where people have already set the intention to come together. Doing that with a backdrop of art is what brings different communities into the same room, standing in front of the same wall.

The Seeds of Somers Garden is a permaculture garden with an outdoor kitchen and is built for community activations: health and wellness, art, food justice, and everyday communal gathering. It's the right home for a project built on the same values.

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The Process

The Darkroom Diaspora brings you a living archive of image and sound created by Russell Frederick & Dahkil Hausif.

We start with two classic mediums: a photograph and the human voice.

Then we used AI and AR to enhance the experience of the story behind each photo.

Every mural is a doorway: look through your phone and the story behind it comes alive.

Rooted in the community. Built to travel. Bringing us together to Create Change and make a difference.

The Artists

Emmy-nominated visual activist Russell Frederick has spent 25 plus years photographing Bed-Stuy on medium-format black-and-white film, with work featured in PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and the Brooklyn Museum.

As a professional griot, Dahkil Hausif has had an award-winning career as a director and film editor, as well as being the longtime voice of ESPN's 30 for 30 commercials.

The two met through Men At Work Healing, a healing circle Russell turned to in 2023 as glaucoma quietly took most of his sight and the identity he'd spent decades building.

Sharing that story, and the healing it brought, started a two-year journey that became The Darkroom Diaspora — and its first activation is The Griots of Visual Memory.

Russell Frederick and Dahkil Hausif standing in front of the mural at the Seeds of Somers Garden, both looking off camera and laughing.

russellfrederick.com dahkillah.com

P.I.T.C.H.
Prevention Is The Cure (To) Health

“I lost my sight, not my vision” — Russell Frederick

That's Russell's line, and it's the whole idea. Glaucoma is an invisible disability that hits Black and Latino communities at more than double the rate of white communities, often due to low public awareness and a breakdown of trust between our neighborhoods and the healthcare system.

P.I.T.C.H. takes Russell's story of resilience on the road as a mini TED Talk, paired with interactive games and conversations the room plays together instead of a lecture delivered at them. Art comes first, data second: safe, consent based, and built to travel from clinic to classroom to community center, meeting people where they already are.

We're looking for the next room and organization to do this work in. Prevention is the cure! Reach out and let's build it together.

darkroomdiaspora@gmail.com

Visit the Garden

Russell Frederick and Dahkil Hausif with their arms around each other in the Seeds of Somers Garden, surrounded by visitors.

Come and see the mural in person at the Seeds of Somers Garden.

Hear about our latest events, or ask for a studio visit.

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