Episode #214: Photography as an Act of Care with Duquann Sweeney
About This Episode
In this powerful conversation, Jersey City photographer Duquann Sweeney shares his philosophy that photography is fundamentally an act of care. From his Bergen Lafayette neighborhood, Duquann has spent years documenting the dignity, joy, and everyday beauty of his community through striking black and white portraits. We explore his recent work honored by the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, the Royal Men Foundation he founded, and his collaboration on the WE'RE HERE Project documenting hidden histories. Duquann challenges us to hold onto three essential elements: history, love, and imagination.
Meet Duquann Sweeney
Photo by Grant Hardeway - courtesy of Duquann Sweeney
Duquann Sweeney is a Bergen Lafayette native and Jersey City photographer whose powerful black and white portraits capture the dignity and everyday beauty of his community. His work has been featured in exhibitions across Jersey City, including a solo exhibition at the Communipaw Library and as part of the Onee bike display on Grove Street. Beyond photography, Duquann is a community organizer and founder of the Royal Men Foundation, a nonprofit that provides fellowship and alternative sentencing programs for men. He is also a collaborator on the WE'RE HERE Project, which documents Jersey City's hidden histories.
Connect with Duquann Sweeney:
Website: duquannsweeney.com
Instagram: @duquannsweeney
WERE HERE Project: wereherejc.com
Key Insights
Photography as care: Photography is not just about technical skill but about the trust between photographer and subject, and the responsibility to represent people as they want to be seen
The power of archiving: Care extends beyond the moment of capture to how images are stored, preserved, and displayed in beautiful spaces
Countering negative stereotypes: Intentionally documenting the positivity, beauty, and everyday life in communities that are often portrayed negatively
The importance of history, love, and imagination: Three essential elements to hold onto, especially during times of uncertainty and erasure
Community building through art: How the Royal Men Foundation and photography work together to strengthen community bonds and provide alternative narratives
The long view of artistic career: Success doesn't happen overnight—young artists should believe in their work and keep pushing forward for the long haul
Perspective in photography: The story changes depending on the angle—photographing two people supporting each other from behind tells a completely different story than from the front
Everyday heroes: Recognizing the importance of every role in community, like Richard Boyd cleaning the church before Sunday service
Visual Documentation
"Before Sunday Morning Service" - Richard Boyd sweeping the steps of Oriental Baptist Church on Ivy Place - Photo by Duquann Sweeney
Large Scale Portrait from the Onee bike display on Grove St. - photo courtesy of Duquann Sweeney
Duqann Sweeney in front of Onee bike display
Related Resources
Communipaw Library - Location of Duquann's solo exhibition featuring community portraits
Royal Men Foundation - Nonprofit organization founded by Duquann in 2012 providing fellowship and community support
WERE HERE Project - Collaborative project documenting Jersey City's hidden histories
Salem Lafayette Court - The neighborhood in Bergen Lafayette where Duquann was raised and continues to document
Kathleen Collins - Jersey City filmmaker and activist, subject of Duquann's signature closing question
Ming Smith and Dawoud Bey - Influential photographers in the tradition of documenting Black communities
"The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander - First book studied by the Royal Men Foundation
Explore Further
Coming soon on substack - an article inspired by my interview with Duquann - Subscribe so you do not miss the articles that go along with my podcast interviews.
Coming Up Next
Join me for a conversation with Jersey City writer Tim Herrick, author of the book The Subconscious City - Love, Art & Artists Jersey City, USA
Connect with Nat
Website: natkalbach.com
Substack: https://natkalbach.substack.com/
Instagram: @natkalbach
Email: podcast@natkalbach.com
Music: Our theme music is "How You Amaze Me," composed by Jim Kalbach and performed by Jim Kalbach, Bryan Beninghove, Charlie Siegler, and Pat Van Dyke.
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Full Transcript
Slightly edited for legibility
Nat Kalbach: Welcome to Nat's Sidewalk Stories. I'm Nat Kalbach, and today I am thrilled to bring you a conversation with Jersey City photographer Duquann Sweeney. Duquann is a Bergen Lafayette native whose powerful black and white portraits have been capturing the dignity, joy, and everyday beauty of his community for years.
His work has been featured in exhibitions across Jersey City, including a solo exhibition at the Communipaw Library and as part of the Onee bike display that recently earned him recognition from the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. But Duquann is more than a photographer. He's a community organizer, the founder of the Royal Men Foundation, and a collaborator on the We're Here Project documenting Jersey City's hidden histories. Through his lens, he challenges the negative stereotypes often associated with minority communities, choosing instead to show the love, care, and beauty that exists in the everyday moments of his neighbors' lives.
In this conversation, we talk about photography as an act of care, the importance of holding onto history and imagination, and why believing in yourself is the most important thing for any young artist. Let's get into it.
Hey, I'm here today with Duquann Sweeney. I'm super excited. I'm a huge fan. I have a huge crush on Duquann and his amazing work, and I just saw him last week—by the time you hear this podcast, this is like months ago—at the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy Awards, where he got a great award. We'll talk about that too, for his beautiful work. Hello, Duquann. How are you?
Duquann Sweeney: I'm well. How are you?
Nat Kalbach: I'm good. So good to have you.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. I'm so happy to be here.
Nat Kalbach: For those people who do not know you, who are you? What are you doing? What's going on?
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. Well, I'm Duquann, photographer, resident of Jersey City all my life. I'm a fisherman. I like to fish. I like to play chess. I'm a community person, a family man, a friend. You name it, I'm chill. I'm real chill.
Nat Kalbach: You have the most beautiful photos. You had a great exhibition at the library, the new one, the Communipaw branch. And we'll go into that a little bit more, but when you got your award just recently, you did a very amazing speech. You got this award for the Onee bike display that you did there. And there are photos that some people may have seen already—black and white, very large scale photos. And at the award ceremony when you were talking about photography, you said that photography for you is an expression of care and you also challenged the audience to hold onto history, love, and—my favorite—imagination.
Can you expand on what that means to you personally and what photography means to you in that context and in general?
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. Thank you for everything too. Thank you for the introduction. Prior to the speech and to me receiving the award, I was thinking about those three things. I was thinking about the cost of photography and the care that comes with it.
So for photography, or for photographers as well—photographers—sometimes we talk about the technical part of photography, or we talk about the camera itself. But for me, it's deeper because I think about photography as care. Me photographing people in my neighborhood, family and friends, sometimes strangers—I think about the trust they have with me, right? And my responsibility as a photographer to make sure I'm making a beautiful image, an image that represents them, how they want to be seen.
For me, photography is a two-way street. It could be multiple streets too. It depends on how many people you photograph, but it is a relationship that, for me, you have to have, especially when you're making portraits of people. And the relationship has to be about care. They care. I care enough to make a beautiful image of them.
Even the idea of care after the photograph is made—whether I'm having that archive, wherever I store it, whether it be storage space or I'm holding the negative—care comes with that. The whole process of taking care of the photo and taking care of an image, making sure it's in the right space, in beautiful spaces.
So I think about that. It goes much deeper, but yeah, I just think about photography being an act of care. And it really is.
Nat Kalbach: That's so beautiful. And how do you, in that context, when you said you challenge the audience to hold on to history, love, and imagination—I know you gave more context, but I would love to hear it from you. The message was so important.
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah. When I was thinking about it—again, I was pondering these thoughts for a while—at that time I was thinking about history that's being erased, like African American history, Latino history. I mean, pretty much everybody's history is pretty much being erased. I was thinking about Palestine, I was thinking about Gaza. I was just thinking about war that was happening and policies that are in place right now where we're taking history out of schools, we're taking history out of our educational institutions. We're just taking history out of a lot of things. So that was in the back of my mind. It was like, this is something—the idea of the powerhouse, the idea of places and people in power trying to erase people's history. So all that was in the back of my mind.
Love could be, in a way, in definition-wise, something simple, like something we all somewhat have experience with. And so the love aspect is just like the love we probably have for our art, the love we have for our community, love we have for our family and friends. The love we have for so many things that I just was like, love is definitely the core of everything, like the core of something that we've got to cherish. Especially at these moments where we're dealing with so much uncertainty, love has to be the core of everything.
The imagination is just something that is something daily that we have to think about all the time—our imagination. Like again, what we want the world to be, what we want our artwork to be, what we want our communities to look like, what we want to look like ourselves in the near future. It's just something that we have to just cherish. I was one of those kids when I was younger—I was one of those kids that used to play by myself. I used to just play by myself. I would be—my mother said I would be in a room by myself. I would have two pencils or something, and I would make believe they were men, and I would just play with the pencils and use my imagination. And even now, to this day, I'm always imagining about things, right? I teach my daughters the same way. Use your imagination. Think about stuff. It's like that. And again, our imagination is not age-based. Sometimes we think about imagination as something like a child would do, but it is something that at any age, as adults we can do all the time. We just really, really have to imagine again, what we want, what we want the world to be like. And that is something that could sustain you, especially when we're dealing with these uncertainties, when we're dealing with these troubled times. Just imagine the greater good.
Nat Kalbach: I love that. I really think that you touched on the core of that. You need love, and when you have love for people and care, then the imagination comes with it. Like, how do we make this place a better place? Or how do we get along with each other? I care enough that this is important for me. So let's have some imagination about how we do that, right? It goes in so many directions and ways. I really, really loved these words and that's why I wanted to have you expand a little bit on that.
You just touched on something else. You said earlier that you were born and raised in Bergen Lafayette. Is that actually a term? Are we making this up?
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, I mean, we honestly—Bergen Lafayette is the political term I would say, or the city term, but we call it the Hill. So I was raised in Salem Lafayette Court. That gets a lot of attention these days—unfortunately, negative attention. But yeah, I was raised in Salem Lafayette Court on Union Street.
Me coming up in the eighties, times were different. And I saw a lot of beauty. I saw a lot of negativity as well too. And it has always been that kind of balance. And I think that's where it kind of started from. I was fortunate, and I say this all the time, I was fortunate enough to be raised right across the street from a church, right near a community building. So I saw people from different ages. I remember being outside, just playing football all day long. This is before you become adults and you start paying bills and start doing everything else like that. But I just grew up in a neighborhood that was kind of caring as well too.
And during that time as well, we always have—unfortunately, a lot of minorities, African Americans, Latinos and so on—we have the other side where we get negative stereotypes as well. So that also plays into my work as well, because I know that the negative stereotypes exist. So when I'm out working, when I'm out photographing, or when I'm just out being or having a conversation, I always try to remind people what it really means, what it really is. Because sometimes the negativity overshadows the positive.
And I believe totally different. I believe that the totally opposite is more positivity that goes on in our neighborhoods, in our communities. I mean, it's a small pocket of stuff that happens—negativity happens. But it overshadows—I see working moms, I see parents taking their children to school, their everyday life, people just living their life on a daily, having fun, joy. I see all of that. So, yeah, that just plays into part of my work. It's just making sure I'm staying the course and just trying to show people what I see on a daily. And what I see—and I mention this often—is just small. It's small really, because my next door neighbor sees things even deeper, even more beauty than I do. So when people see my artwork, trust me, there's much more beauty that's going on. I'm just fortunate enough or unfortunate enough just to catch that little bit of beauty. It depends on how you look at it, but yeah.
Nat Kalbach: Yeah, it's this little snapshot—
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, just a little—
Nat Kalbach: Before and after, right?
Duquann Sweeney: It's a snapshot. Sometimes I would photograph a community event or something like that, and obviously, I can't photograph everyone. I can't photograph every smile. I can't photograph every conversation. I can't photograph everybody's hug, everybody's affection during that time, but trust me, we know it's there.
Nat Kalbach: Right.
Duquann Sweeney: That's the imagination, right?
Nat Kalbach: Yeah. I love that. By the way, behind you is a photo—is that on Ivy Place?
Duquann Sweeney: Ivy Place is—hold on—
Nat Kalbach: That church on Ivy Place?
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: I recognize those stairs.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. I always—yes. That's the—I think it's Oriental Baptist Church or something like that. If I'm getting it right, yes, yes. One of my favorites. Yeah. This photograph was in the library. Yes. It's titled Before Sunday Morning Service.
Nat Kalbach: I love that so much.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: Maybe you can share it with us because—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: We can't see it right now, but—
Duquann Sweeney: And I'm glad you brought that up because I speak about this photo often. It's one of my favorite photos. And the guy, the man—as you know, I photographed—his name is Richard Boyd. And this is a funny story that I've run into him recently. But he was sweeping in front of the church. He just was a member. And it was before Sunday service started. And when walking through there, I saw him and it just was like, oh, this would make—it was just a perfect light. The door was open, he was sweeping. I was like, this is a moment.
So I just asked him. I introduced myself and told him who I was and he was welcoming and I photographed him. And what I really love about this photo is that he wasn't a deacon, he wasn't a pastor, he was just a member of the church. But his responsibility was so important because you think about somebody like Richard Boyd that's cleaning the church before service starts, which people want to come into a clean church. We want in front of the church to be clean. And his responsibility was just as important as somebody that's like the reverend or the deacon, or the choir. His role was just as important. And it just always reminds me, it doesn't really matter what role you are, what position you have in life. Your position is important.
Nat Kalbach: I love this so much. It reminds me when we moved to the street where we live right now, near Lincoln Park, we had Alvin. He unfortunately passed away, but he was a neighbor of ours and he had a walker and he obviously had cancer, right? He was obviously not doing so well, but every day he would walk up and down the street and collect the garbage. And so my husband one time went outside and he said, "Hey, how are you?" And they introduced each other to each other. And my husband was like, "Can I help you?" And, "This is so great that you're doing that."
And Alvin said, "Well, I want to see beauty. We want to see beauty when we go outside. You've got to stay human. That's my job." Right?
Duquann Sweeney: Right, right.
Nat Kalbach: Just so beautiful. And then we noticed he was gone unfortunately, because you're like, I don't see Alvin and garbage is out there. So now it's like, hey, we've got to do this also for Alvin. You've got to pick up the trash because that's what Alvin would have done.
Duquann Sweeney: Right, right, right.
Nat Kalbach: So it's just such a—there's someone who cares. And your photo reminds me of that too. He cares about the church and how people come and how they see it. That's so beautiful. It's amazing that people are out there. And I love when you photograph that touch and you tell that story. It's not about my story, but it really sets something off in you. You're like, you're seeing that and you're like—
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah.
Nat Kalbach: Yes. These are the people who are part of the fabric of the city—
Duquann Sweeney: Right.
Nat Kalbach: —who do the everyday stuff. Right. And it's so important. And so it's so beautiful that we have that.
Duquann Sweeney: Right, right.
Nat Kalbach: Thanks for taking that.
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you, Richard, for being in the photo. Richard, thank you for doing that. Yeah, thank you. It was great. So I didn't see Richard in years. I think I took that photo in 2019. And I saw him, I think it was the beginning of this year. He was just walking by, right? He was walking by and I was on the phone with my friend from Atlanta. So I was like, man, yo, I've got to call you right back. I believe I see this man, the guy, the man that I photographed years ago. I want to give him this photo.
Nat Kalbach: Oh.
Duquann Sweeney: So it was him. So I ran—I was like, Richard! I was like, you don't remember me, but I photographed you and I want to give you this photo. So I ran upstairs and got the photo. And what happened was he wasn't supposed to be walking. I don't know if he had a touch of dementia because he was an older guy or something. And a friend of the family saw him walking and she pulled over and she was like, "Richard, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be walking," blah, blah, blah. She didn't know what was going on because she saw me talking to him. So she was wondering, who is this stranger talking to Richard? What was going on? Because he was just taking a stroll. And so I had to explain myself who I was, bring out the photo. But anyway, he got the photo and he was safe as well. So I just was like, wow.
Nat Kalbach: That's so beautiful. Was that after your exhibition? Did he know that he was in it?
Duquann Sweeney: No, he didn't even know. He didn't even know because I think during that time, I think it was maybe just around the pandemic, so it was kind of crazy. But I should have made it around to the church to give him the photo then. Yeah, he didn't even know. And I was just telling him, I was just explaining to the friend and Richard, I was like, man, you just don't know about this photo. I had this photo shown plenty of times, man. So I was just so happy to give it to him. And I signed it too. And when the friend saw it, she was like, oh, this is a beautiful photo. So I was just happy that he was able to receive it.
Nat Kalbach: Most of your photos, they radiate joy and dignity. Many people may focus on struggle when they do photos, right? How do you intentionally center celebration and beauty? How do you go about that?
Duquann Sweeney: That's a great question. Um—
Nat Kalbach: Am I challenging you?
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, you're challenging me. How do I go about it? I think it's just around me. I think it's just like a daily thing. I really don't seek it. It's kind of organic. Because I normally would just walk the street or just be in my neighborhood. And sometimes I'll be like, oh, this might be a great photo. Or what I like to do is really focus on that person. Growing up in a city, Jersey City, or just living in a big city, it is busy, especially certain times of the day. So when I think about the people I photograph, I like to isolate them in a way just for that moment, right?
So if I see someone that I think might be a great photo, or they're just relaxing, they could just be sitting—sitting on a chair, sitting on a car, or sitting in front of their door, sitting near the church—I would look at that moment. I was like, oh, this looks like it would be a beautiful shot. And I would just introduce myself. But I like to isolate the people I photograph for that moment. Just tell them, really, just tell me what you want to say. I don't like to be the director like, you know, "Oh, this way," or "Do this." I might do a little something, something, but I'm not really demanding. And I would ask them, tell me what you want to say or what you want to tell me, or what you want to say to the community at this moment. And it doesn't take long. It's not technical. It just happens like that, organic.
Nat Kalbach: Do people get emotional sometimes and feel seen through your lens, through your eyes?
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, it's more joy because it's like again, bringing it back to care. Trusting me that I make a beautiful photo of them. And when they see it, they're like, "Oh, wow, it is really good."
So then you have people that know you're a photographer. And then sometimes it's just like, "Yo, Duquann, take a picture of me. Come on, come on, come on. Let's go, let's go." And I've got people that I photograph on the regular, my regular clients, I would say, or friends I would photograph often or more than one time.
And I'm also at that point in my career where I feel any of the photos I make could go somewhere. If that makes sense. I think about my work now—it could be somewhere, it could be in a gallery now. So I'm more intentional in a sense, though I'm still fun and could be spontaneous. But at the same time I'm more intentional with the work now. I think about the people I photograph as potentially being on a gallery wall or in a public space. And some people that know me, they kind of know that too. So, yeah.
Nat Kalbach: So that is when they already trust you, but how do you—I mean, you of course are doing a lot of photos in your community, so they know you, but you must approach people like Richard that don't know you. So what's your process of building that trust or rapport with your subjects?
Duquann Sweeney: Great, great, great question. I remember when I first kind of started out, I would be nervous, especially photographing women. Because I didn't want to come off like, "Oh, why do you want a photo of me?" I didn't want to come off like a creep or a weirdo or anything like that. But I think over time it's just being yourself. Plenty of times, I would come up to people and ask them for a photo and they would just say no. And I'd be like, okay, just accept it. I still would do my introduction. If you don't want to take a photo, that's fine, but I'm always here. I'll catch you next time, or whatever the case may be. Just being myself when I approach a stranger about what I do.
And it's always good to have your camera—most photographers know this. It's always good to have your camera out. So before they get an idea of, oh, that could be a photographer.
Nat Kalbach: It's less creepy than if you would do it with a cell phone.
Duquann Sweeney: Right. Exactly. Exactly. To sum it up, right?
Nat Kalbach: Right?
Duquann Sweeney: Just being myself and trying to just be warm and welcoming with a smile and things like that, so.
Nat Kalbach: So when people may see themselves in the library, for example, or other photos like on the pod—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: How was their response?
Duquann Sweeney: They're blown away. You know, because like I said, I photograph people in my neighborhood, like the one that's located on Grove Street with the guys on one side that are playing chess. I know them, but they had no idea that their photo would be out on display at such a big scale like that.
Nat Kalbach: Yep.
Duquann Sweeney: And they know me, they know I take photos, but sometimes they don't know the art side of it, the gallery spaces and exhibits and that part of it. They just know, "Oh, Duquann"—some people call me Du—"Du takes photos." But when they saw it that big, they were blown away like, "Oh, wow, man." And it becomes a family thing because then they tell their family members like, "Yo, my photo is downtown. It's big. Yo, Duquann made me famous," or whatever the case may be.
So it's kind of—I love that. It definitely is a joy. There's a love that comes with it. So it is good, and I'm really grateful to be in a position to be able to do that.
Nat Kalbach: How does that make you feel to have your community's images in these really highly visible spaces? How does that make you feel?
Duquann Sweeney: I feel really great. I really feel—it makes me really feel great that I'm able to be in a position to do that. I think about past photographers, living photographers now—Ming Smith, Dawoud Bey, so many others that came before me that did work that's just out of this world. I'm following that tradition of black photographers in particular of just photographing their community and seeing the beauty. So that's how I feel. I am just a part of that line.
I'm thinking about Jack Whitten. He's a black abstract painter. He just had his show at—what was it, the Whitney or the MoMA? But anyway, he did an interview, and it made me so emotional. At this time, Jack was probably in his seventies. It was late in his career, and he just said, "I just want to be a part." He was talking about his friends and artists he admired and he just said, "I just want to be a part of the boys." And when he said that, and I was looking at him—he's a big-time artist—and he was so humble and just said, "Yeah, I just want to be a part of the boys. I just want to be a part of the boys." And I got so emotional. I almost teared up when he said that. And it just reminded me, yeah, that's what I think a lot of artists want to be. We just want to be—and I'm using the word boys, but of course women as well too—we just want to be a part of it.
So when I think about artists like yourself and so many art friends, I think we just—it's just a network, it's a community. Because we all do similar work and we all are basically trying to get our message or just get our work out there. So that's what it is. I just feel I'm grateful to be in a position to be able to put my community out there.
Nat Kalbach: That's so beautiful. I love that. And there's a big group of photographers in Jersey City, which—I have known Grant Hardaway for a long, long time.
Duquann Sweeney: Good friend. Yeah, good friend.
Nat Kalbach: I actually interviewed him many years ago during the pandemic, funny enough.
Duquann Sweeney: Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Nat Kalbach: I've known him for a long time. And I called it Artists in Residence—we all had to stay home. Right?
Duquann Sweeney: Right, right.
Nat Kalbach: But there's kind of a renaissance for photographers also in Jersey City. You see more and more of you being in galleries and shows and it becomes its own thing. There's something so awesome about it because it also connects—walking around the neighborhood, connecting with people, talking with people, just being out there. There's something so immersive about that art style for me that I'm really happy to see that it's getting its moment and hopefully it stays.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: We're still at the beginning of the hill, but I hope it's transcending even further.
Duquann Sweeney: Me too. Right? Me too. Me too.
Nat Kalbach: We have a friend that we two know, Jin, who—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: I interviewed before.
Duquann Sweeney: Right.
Nat Kalbach: You've worked with her together on this collaborative project, WE'RE HERE, which is amazing. So everyone listens to this podcast and then you will remember, oh yeah, I heard about Duquann in that one too. Different approach, research approach, but how important in general, not just with your photos, is collective storytelling and storytelling about—because of course you said already with photography, you want to tell the untold stories or the beauty of a community that's oftentimes not represented. But WE'RE HERE was even broader. It was about stories that are buried or forgotten and you can't even take photos of them right now anymore. How important is that for you and what did this project or other similar projects you might be part of represent?
Duquann Sweeney: Oh man. Great question again. Yeah, I mean, that was—WE'RE HERE and working with Jin—that was deep. It was really, it was really deep. It was really important to tell those hidden stories or those untold stories or putting stories out there that some of us may have forgotten about or we just may not have known. And just going into the research—and anybody knows Jin, Jin puts in a lot of energy, a lot of great ideas. I think it's just so important for the present now, but it, again, is also important for future generations.
The young folks, the children, that may not know about the African burial ground or a racist attack in the Heights. It's just so important that, again, we started off in a conversation about history. It's just so important that we keep the history out in the forefront because we don't want that to be erased. It's so impactful.
Nat Kalbach: It is so important because it also will tell us what not to repeat, right? If we know about things that happen, it's not all about making you feel bad. It's about you realizing that there are times in human history that can be repeated, right? So let's tell that tale—not tale in terms of it's not true, but to learn something from it, that's not where we want to go. Or we should know that so that we understand where people are coming from maybe.
Duquann Sweeney: Right. Yes. Exactly. Well said.
Nat Kalbach: Duquann, can you tell me something about the Royal Men Foundation that you founded—
Duquann Sweeney: Oh, okay.
Nat Kalbach: —in 2012? I understood that you worked with county courts on alternative sentencing programs. Yeah, I do my research, man.
Duquann Sweeney: Alright, there. That was some homework right there. So Royal Men Foundation, the nonprofit organization that I founded in 2012, and again, it started off with an idea. It started off with my imagination. Coming up, I was one of those kids where—one of those guys where everyone would meet up at my house. My mother had an open door policy where friends would come and we would hang out and stuff like that. So before I started Royal Men—I had to say that because, before I started Royal Men, I was thinking, man, you know what? We should have a social club. We could just hang out. Guys could get together, we could play some cards, or we could play some games and we could do all that stuff. Then I realized, that's not really too much benefit of that. And I started to be more conscious of needs in the community, more conscious of space, more conscious of fellowshipping, I would say. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to start a nonprofit organization for men where we can gather, we can love on each other, we could support each other. We could just do things in the community that would be towards each other and towards our community.
So that was the idea of Royal Men Foundation. So I took my little hard work, my research, my little finances, and put it together. It was grueling as far as paperwork-wise, but then it was there. So we would gather every Wednesday from six to eight. And I remember when I first started, sometimes it would just be me or sometimes it would be just a friend of mine. But more men started coming by and they realized, oh, this is something good right here. I love this intimacy. I love this space. I love this fellowshipping that we're doing. And it was just a group of men coming together and we would just talk. We would talk about family, we would talk about our careers, we would talk about sports. We would talk about parenting. We were talking about so many things. And then we just started branching off and started doing things in the community, like organized back-to-school drives. We were really known for our lectures where we would take a book that we were reading. Our first book was The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. And we basically did lectures in a park based off that book. We always would have entertainment. So we would have the local poet, dancer, singer. We also provided food.
So we put all those things in the public spaces. We would go to Audubon Park and we would just talk about policies. We would talk about mass incarceration, what it did to our communities and our families and the whole war on drugs. And we would talk about that. It just blew up. It just blew up. And we started to get recognition from around, just from people in the community, a lot of support, a lot of people would donate and help out and it just took a life on its own, right?
But that also plays again into my photography. Because again, it was an idea of just seeing and wanting to always do something positive for my community, or just building, or just showing my community, or just imagining what it would be if we would just gather up and fellowship in a park. The idea of just the whole care that comes with it. People in the community have taken care of me on many occasions and me just pouring the same care and the same kindness and the same love out there to my community.
So yeah, that's how it kind of started. And the courthouse—we would work with men that had misdemeanors. Instead of them going to jail, they would just have to come to our meetings.
And it was so welcoming for them because there were people that were from the neighborhood. They didn't feel like they were meeting strangers in a way. They met someone that was probably living next door, around the corner from them. Or we knew them or we knew of them, or we knew their family members—people from your neighborhood and your community that you could relate to. You could relate to the struggles or the mishaps because you probably made similar mistakes or you know someone that made similar mistakes. And those mistakes don't outweigh you in life. Because again, sometimes that negativity could overshadow. A small misdemeanor, but that's not the whole makeup.
Nat Kalbach: Yeah. What a great organization. Thanks for telling me about it.
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
Nat Kalbach: What are you working on right now? Is there something coming up that you can share?
Duquann Sweeney: Not off hand, but I would say I'm really focused personally on family and friends this time around. I really want to bring it home, not like a homecoming, but I really want to get close to home, if that makes sense. I want to focus a lot on my family members and friends or just in my neighborhood.
There was a shooting that happened Sunday, where a young man from my neighborhood was murdered—
Nat Kalbach: Hmm.
Duquann Sweeney: —a block I was raised on. And I photographed him. He was actually in my first solo exhibit, the Hoboken Museum. His photograph was there.
Nat Kalbach: I'm so sorry.
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah. But even prior to that, again, growing up, anybody who knows Salem Court now—it's a hot spot. It's a hot zone from the political standpoint. And I'm like, but it really isn't.
Nat Kalbach: Mm-hmm.
Duquann Sweeney: From the political side, the city side, it's a hot spot. And maybe—no, I'm not naive. Also, some people hold that, some people believe that it is—people that come from the community like, "Oh, it's a bad area." But I really want to focus this time around on my childhood, the lives of people around my neighborhood, my family, what it really means, what we see and what community and what our neighborhood and what Union Street, Salem Court really means to us.
And I believe that story right there is going to be real, real—again, I'll use the word beautiful a lot, but I think it's going to be real impactful because again, a lot of people that I know hold similar views as me. We want to see—we know what the community is. We want our imagination, the beauty, the dignity, and everything in between to be out there and to be shown. So yeah, I think that's what I'm working on now.
Nat Kalbach: I can't wait to see it.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: So I'm reading a lot of things, and it was brought up and I think it's an interesting point and makes me think as an artist too, about the young artists. What about them? That they feel kind of left out or not being fostered in the Jersey City community in general.
So for you, you have mentored people, but in general, for young photographers, especially those from overlooked communities, what would you tell them about finding their voice and their mission and also their path in this world? I think every one of us artists has idols and people we strive to be like, right? To be one of the boys. Right. But what would be your advice to a young, striving photographer?
Duquann Sweeney: I think the number one thing, or one of the main things is to believe in yourself. Believe in your work. Believe your work has a purpose. And just keep pushing yourself. Keep pushing yourself. Just keep doing it. Don't stop. Sometimes I think as artists and some young artists, we could think that—and because I was the same way—that success, right, looks big, right? And you could get it overnight. But when you think about—young artists, think about their career, look at it as a long one. Just, this is a long, long career. So you might be here at this one moment today, next month, next year, two years from now, five years from now, 20 years from now, you may be different. So just keep pushing. Believe in your work. Just believe in yourself. Believe in your talent. And don't stop. And don't stop. Because sometimes I get the questions like, "Oh, Duquann, I want to make work that's similar to yours." The work is always there. It's something that we all can participate in. We all can do it. Just don't be afraid. Just go out there and just—to sum it up, just go out there and just do it.
When I first started, I used to just take photos. I would just take photos of every little thing until I realized the power in it. I tell this story often as well, and it just ties it together. I remember photographing two guys and they were high as a kite, and they were holding each other. They had their arms wrapped around each other, and I photographed them from the back. So when you see it, you just see them holding each other, like they're just supporting each other. But if I would have photographed them in the front, it would have told a whole different story. Whole different story. And that's when I realized the power of photography, because the perception is what you really want to show. That was just one part. Just keep pushing. Don't give up, don't give up. And yeah, and just look for inspiration in the things you are probably already doing, like reading, reading poetry, watching movies, looking at other artists' work. How many artists I look up to and their work—and they're not even doing photography, they could be just writers. There's so much inspiration out here. You just got to just look for it and just believe in your work and keep it going.
Nat Kalbach: Stay curious, right?
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: Yeah. Amazing. So Duquann, if you—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: Could go back to any moment in Jersey City's history—
Duquann Sweeney: Cool.
Nat Kalbach: Right. And you can cheat, like lots of people are cheating here on this show.
Duquann Sweeney: Oh, they do?
Nat Kalbach: Oh yeah. Oh man.
Duquann Sweeney: They shouldn't be cheating.
Nat Kalbach: So if you could go back to any moment in Jersey City's history and photograph one person from the past—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes.
Nat Kalbach: —who would it be? Where would you meet them for this photo session and what's the one question that you'd want to ask them while you had your camera ready?
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. I was thinking about this question and I was like, oh man, so much. But—no, bringing back Jin again and the WE'RE HERE Project—it would have to be Kathleen Collins.
Nat Kalbach: Hmm.
Duquann Sweeney: I would love, I would—yes. Yeah. Kathleen Collins would be the person I would want to photograph. And where I would photograph—I would photograph her right on front of her door, on her porch. And I just—oh wait. Yeah. I would definitely enjoy that.
Nat Kalbach: Tell us a little bit for the people who don't know her yet.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes. Well, Kathleen Collins was a filmmaker, an activist born and raised in Jersey City, downtown Pacific Avenue. She went to Lincoln High School. She was known for her groundbreaking movie—first woman filmmaker to get her work on the main screen during that time. Losing Ground, which is a great film. So anyone listening to this podcast, check it out and you could learn about Kathleen Collins on wereherejc.com.
Nat Kalbach: And what would you ask her? I will link it up. What would you ask her?
Duquann Sweeney: Ah, well, I would ask her—ooh, that's good. It was a couple of questions I probably would ask her, but I would definitely ask her what would she like to read? What is she reading now? I just thought about that. I thought about asking her what's her favorite ice cream? I would just ask her the simplest, basic, but a lot of informative type of questions. I would definitely be trying to be her friend just to pick her brain on filmmaking and artwork and education and so much. But it would definitely be Kathleen Collins all the way.
Nat Kalbach: And where would you photograph her? Did you say that? I think—
Duquann Sweeney: Yeah, yeah. I thought about two locations because she lived on Pacific Avenue, so I probably would photograph her in front of her door on her porch, or maybe at—we call it 22—I think it's Dr. Weber Park, but we call it 22 Park. That's around the corner from her house. So it probably would be at those two locations. It would probably be an all-day photo shoot.
Nat Kalbach: Not just like a quick one, so you can ask more questions about—
Duquann Sweeney: Yes, exactly. Yes.
Nat Kalbach: —and the music she listens to.
Duquann Sweeney: Music. So yeah, it would definitely be Kathleen Collins. That would be great.
Nat Kalbach: Amazing. That was so much fun.
Duquann Sweeney: Yes, it was.
Nat Kalbach: Thank you so much, Duquann.
Duquann Sweeney: Bye.
Nat Kalbach: That was my conversation with Duquann Sweeney, Jersey City photographer and community builder. To see Duquann's work, you can find him on his website, duquannsweeney.com, or look for his photographs displayed around Jersey City. Learn more about Kathleen Collins and other Jersey City histories at wereherejc.com. I will link all of this up in the show notes for this episode.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone who loves photography, community storytelling, or Jersey City history. I'm your host, Nat Kalbach. Our theme music is How You Amaze Me, composed by Jim Kalbach and performed by Jim Kalbach, Bryan Beninghove, Charlie Siegler, and Pat Van Dyke. You can find show notes, more information about my guests, and related content on my Substack or at natkalbach.com. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.
