Can You Hear the Reggae in My Photographs?

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Photographer and National Geographic Storytelling Fellow Ruddy Roye grew up in Jamaica, a cradle of reggae and social justice movements. He describes how that background prepared him to cover the historic protests and civil unrest in 2020, what he’s tackling in his new National Geographic project "When Living Is a Protest," and what he tells his sons about growing up in America. For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/overheard Want more? See some of Ruddy Roye’s National Geographic assignments, including his coverage of the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, as well as his most recent photographs, depicting the impact of COVID on people of color and the Black Lives Matter protests. And for paid subscribers: See the renaissance happening at historically Black colleges—a surge in enrollment and a new brand of African-American activism. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My mom always said that it's always best to give bitter news with honey.
0:09.4	And so if you know anything about Bob and the science behind his music, every song has
0:16.0	a one drop rhythm.
0:18.0	And the one drop rhythm is a simulation of a heartbeat.
0:22.0	So that's photographer Rudi Roy talking about reggae icon Bob Morley.
0:35.1	So he wants to find your vibration and it's the vibration that everybody lives with.
0:41.3	It's the vibration of a heartbeat.
0:43.6	And he uses that to push the needle in and that needle is the sound of your heartbeat.
0:51.0	And he gets you to the music and once you're there, he can't not give you the medicine.
0:56.0	And those are the words.
0:58.0	I mean, he never left that methodology.
1:01.3	So why is a documentary photographer musing about reggae music?
1:09.1	I'm Peter Gwyn, Editor-at-large at National Geographic Magazine and you're listening to
1:13.7	overheard at National Geographic.
1:16.1	A show where we eavesdrop on the wild conversations we have here at Nat Geo and follow them to the
1:21.3	edges of our big, weird, beautiful world.
1:25.0	This week, we sit down with photographer Rudi Roy as he talks about growing up in Jamaica
1:30.2	and how the songs of reggae musician Bob Morley prepared him for a journalism career
1:35.6	and ultimately led him to the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and the civil rights
1:39.9	protests.
1:45.6	We're all built different, so we all sleep different.
1:49.2	But when you sleep on a sleep number smart bed, you're finally harnessing your unique potential
	...

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