Al J Thompson

Last updated

Al J Thompson (born 1980) is a Jamaica-born American photographer, living in New York City. [1] [2]

Contents

Life and work

Thompson was born on the island of Jamaica. [1] In 1996, aged 16, he moved to Spring Valley in Rockland County, New York. [1] He now lives in New York City. [2]

His first book, Remnants of an Exodus (2021), was made in Spring Valley and is about gentrification. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Publications

Related Research Articles

Al Capone American gangster and businessman

Alphonse Gabriel Capone, sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33.

Gentrification Urban socioeconomic process

Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. Because it tends to change the character of said neighborhood, it is a common and controversial topic in politics and in urban planning. Gentrification often increases the economic value of a neighborhood, but the resulting demographic displacement may itself become a major social issue. Gentrification often shifts a neighborhood's racial/ethnic composition and average household income by developing new, more expensive housing and businesses in a gentrified architectural style and improving resources.

Gay village Geographical area within a city that is inhabited or frequented by LGBT people

A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries, inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses, restaurants, boutiques and bookstores.

Valley Stream, New York Village in New York, United States

Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census.

Spring Valley, New York Village in New York, United States

Spring Valley is a suburb of New York City, a village in the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Chestnut Ridge, east of Airmont and Monsey, south of Hillcrest, and west of Nanuet. The population was 31,347 at the 2010 census, making it the 2nd most populous community in Rockland County, after New City.

Eagle Rock, Los Angeles Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States of America

Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, located between the cities of Glendale and Pasadena, abutting the San Rafael Hills in Los Angeles County, California. Eagle Rock is named after a large rock whose shadow resembles an eagle with its wings outstretched. Eagle Rock was once part of the Rancho San Rafael under Spanish and Mexican governorship. In 1911, Eagle Rock was incorporated as a city, and in 1923 it combined with the City of Los Angeles. It is an ethnically diverse community — the latter of which has risen in part due to the gentrification of Northeast Los Angeles that began in the 2000s and picked up in the 2010s.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United States census, the neighborhood's population is 151,308.

Park Slope Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Avenue to the north, and Prospect Expressway to the south. Generally, the section from Flatbush Avenue to Garfield Place is considered the "North Slope", the section from 1st through 9th Streets is considered the "Center Slope", and south of 10th Street, the "South Slope". The neighborhood takes its name from its location on the western slope of neighboring Prospect Park. Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue are its primary commercial streets, while its east–west side streets are lined with brownstones and apartment buildings.

Rosedale, Queens Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Rosedale is a neighborhood in New York City in the southeastern portion of the borough of Queens. The neighborhood, located along the southern part of Long Island, borders Nassau County.

East New York, Brooklyn Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; the Queens borough line to the east; Jamaica Bay to the south, and the Bay Ridge Branch railroad tracks and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west. Linden Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue are the primary thoroughfares through East New York.

Tim Page (photographer)

Tim Page is an English photographer who made his name during the Vietnam War and is now based in Brisbane, Australia.

Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Bedford–Stuyvesant, colloquially known as Bed–Stuy, is a neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant is bordered by Flushing Avenue to the north, Classon Avenue to the west, Broadway to the east, and Atlantic Avenue to the south. The main shopping street, Fulton Street runs east–west the length of the neighborhood and intersects high-traffic north–south streets including Bedford Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, and Stuyvesant Avenue. Bedford–Stuyvesant contains four smaller neighborhoods: Bedford, Stuyvesant Heights, Ocean Hill, and Weeksville. Part of Clinton Hill was once considered part of Bedford–Stuyvesant.

Tyson Beckford American model and actor

Tyson Beckford is an American model and actor best known as a Ralph Lauren Polo model. He was also the host of both seasons of the Bravo program Make Me a Supermodel. Beckford has been described as one of the most successful black male supermodels of all time, achieving fame and huge contracts similar to the female models that had huge success in the 1990s.

Faiyum City in Egypt

Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 100 kilometres southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. Originally called Shedet in Egyptian, the Greeks called it in Koinē Greek: Κροκοδειλόπολις, romanized: Krokodilópolis, and later Byzantine Greek: Ἀρσινόη, romanized: Arsinoë. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location.

Little Jamaica Neighbourhood of Toronto in ON, CAN

Little Jamaica, also known as Eglinton West, is an ethnic enclave in the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated along Eglinton Avenue West, from Allen Road to Keele Street, and is part of four neighbourhoods: Silverthorn, Briar Hill–Belgravia, Caledonia–Fairbank, and Oakwood–Vaughan. The commercial main street has been recognized to be of great cultural heritage significance to the City of Toronto, as a distinct ethnic and cultural hub for African-Caribbean immigrants for many decades.

Bob Marley Jamaican singer-songwriter (1945–1981)

Robert Nesta Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and musician. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Over the course of his career Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism.

Larry Sultan was an American photographer from the San Fernando Valley in California. He taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1978 to 1988 and at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco 1989 to 2009.

Hudson, New York City in New York, United States

Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 6,713, the second-largest in the county, following the nearby town of Kinderhook. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the river and its namesake explorer Henry Hudson.

Radcliffe Roye, known professionally as Ruddy Roye is a Jamaican documentary photographer specializing in editorial and environmental portraits, and photojournalism based in Brooklyn. Roye is a part of the Kamoinge black photographers collective and was featured in recent documentary Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People a feature film on Black Photographers and photography in America. Ruddy Roye was listed as one of The 50 Greatest Street Photographers Right Now by Complex in 2017.

J. D. Vance American writer and venture capitalist

James David Vance is an American author and venture capitalist. He is best known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, about Appalachian values and their relation to the social problems of his hometown, which attracted significant media attention during the 2016 election as a window into the white working class, with The New York Times calling it "one of the six best books to help understand Trump's win". However, it has been criticized as a repackaging of the naturalization of poverty in the black community into the white community.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Al J Thompson: Remnants of an Exodus". GUP Magazine. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  2. 1 2 "Remnants of an Exodus • Q&A with Al J Thompson". Vogue Italia. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  3. "A photographer bears witness to the gentrification of his childhood home". www.1854.photography. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  4. "The big picture: elegy for a lost New York community". The Guardian. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  5. "Visualizing Gentrification In 'Remnants Of An Exodus'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  6. Dwamena, Anakwa. "A Photographer Chronicles Upheaval in His Suburban Home Town". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  7. "A photographer's elegy to a divided New York community". Huck Magazine. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-17.