Transcript: Adele Berry

I am blackness
Episode “Adele Berry”

Carlita Lindsey: Hi, I am Carlita Lindsey and welcome to I am blackness. The only show that highlights the rich variety of what we are. What we are up to, and how we define ourselves. In today’s show we are going to meet Adele Berry, who hails from San Francisco bay area. Adele currently runs her own business as a creative director where she helps some of the top brands in the business look there very best. Check it out.
Adele Berry: I think that as a people we have gone through a lot. I think there have been a lot of doors closed, but there is just certain perseverance. I think that we will not be subdued. That we will overcome ultimately .You can close all these doors but we will just figure out another avenue, another way to succeed at all costs. And to make sure that our children have a better opportunity than we had.
Well I do a lot of photo shoots for national companies. Cost plus World Market is a big client of mine. As well as I do a lot of work for Mervyns. I do a lot of advertising; I do a lot of catalogs. My job title would be art director or creative director. An art director’s job is really to pull all the different elements and in say a photo shoot or an advertising campaign together. So my job is to work with photographers, to work with the models if we have models, the hair and makeup artist, the stylist. To make sure everything comes together to get that visual image that when you open up a magazine. Or when you open up a catalog that everything is right for that particular brand .That’s really my job.
I guess I am unusual in this particular field. In that there aren’t a lot of other people that look like me, and certainly when I meet with clients. I have never met with a client that was African American. It’s always about me being able to find common ground between myself and a client and bridging what gap they may perceive, because it is likely that they may never interacted with someone like me in that position. And particularly in a photo shoot where the art director has the final say in what image is presented for the client.
I originally started out wanting to be a photographer. And my father said have you talked to any photographers? When I was an undergrad I interned with two different photographers. One was a fashion photographer, and one was a product photographer. I didn’t get paid, but I had one day a week in college of my class schedule that was free. I would spend my whole day at the studio just kind of sucking up everything these photographers had to offer. And it was great because I learned to what I enjoyed doing. And what I didn’t enjoy doing. I learned that I loved fashion photography and that was something I wanted to pursue.
Well for people interested in pursuing this career. I would say connect with people early on. Especially as a student, people are more than happy having you come in and possibly be an intern. And learn from them, ask a lot of questions, observe a lot. And take note of things you enjoy doing and you don’t enjoy doing. And pursue it. If you’re interested in fashion photography start looking at the fashion magazines. If you are interested in car photography start looking at car magazines. Really develop an interest and a curiosity about the field. And ask a lot of questions. And continue to pursue it regardless. If every person that say no you can’t come and intern with me. There is going to be someone who is glad to take you in and give you a lot of information.
Part of blackness too is being able to be a player in the global world. The world is getting smaller and smaller and having a great sense of self and being able to interact with people from all different countries and different cultures. I actually first went to china in February of last year with three sisters, three friends of mine, all African American women. And so we were these four black women in china, and I have never felt as warm a reception, as in any country, as I felt in china.
It was amazing to me, because I guess I have this preconceived notion that it’s this communist country and communist countries are closed and it’s quite the opposite. People smiled on the street. And Shanghai itself makes New York look like a village. I mean it is a city of 18 million people, with more skyscrapers and amazing restaurants, amazing design, just a fantastic place. And it really lets you see that the United States is such a small place on the globe. And that there are so many other places with great experiences and history and things to offer, that we as black people can learn from.
So as an adult another huge factor that has to do with my understanding of blackness has to do with what I have learned from my husband Also my husband grew up in Liberia, which is a republic in western Africa. His experiences have added a whole other layer of my understanding of blackness. I am familiar with a lot of what African American’s have done. But I haven’t been able to first hand make the connection, in the way that I am able to make the connection now, tack to the African continent.
Just growing up in an environment where black people were in all positions of power. You know the president was black, the head of the bank was black, and all the cabinet ministers are black. And what that means for him, and to come to the United States and to have a completely different experience. All the people in power are not black anymore. But what that meant to him in terms of growing up feeling proud. He is one of the most fearless people that I have ever met. He is not afraid of people in power or people that are different color, and just learning from him to and that understanding of blackness.
My biggest hope for the upcoming generation of African Americans is that we will come together more as a community. And that we will begin to tell our stories more. And when I say tell our stories, I mea because I think part of us rising as black people is being able to communicate who we are. And communicating how that is relevant. And communicating where we come from, how what a role. What a tremendous role we played in building this country, and contributing throughout history to the development of the world.