Haiti-based photographer Samuel Dameus has a lot in common with Frederick Ives, the man who captured the images of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Like Ives, Sameus’ native country Haiti was hit by a disastrous earthquake, and like the 20th Century photographer, Dameus’ increased interest in photography started with the acclaim he received for his post-disaster photos. He was contacted by news agency EuroNews to be part of the team behind Silent Disaster: One Year Later, a documentary on the Haiti earthquake. This breakthrough provoked an interest in social photography. He recently made a stop in Miami to release a Haiti photo book and for a photo exhibit.

Kreyolicious: What’s the most memorable photo from your childhood?
During my childhood in Haiti, having ones picture taken was a luxury. You either had to go to a photographer’s studio or hire one to come to you. I have an positive experience that has remained engraved in my memory. At approximately five years old, as a reward, my mother took me to a photo studio to have my picture taken. I was poised with joy and was beyond excited to have my picture taken. The photographer (after a brief convo with my mother) felt compelled to extend my reward by taking me on the famous Boulevard of Cap-Haïtien for my very own impromptu photoshoot.

A few years later, at seven years old, I recall seeing the frail face of an starving child in Africa in the newspaper. Until this day, I vividly have the recollection of this image in my mind. It impacted me in ways I couldn’t fully comprehend then, but it was memorable enough where my mind kept going back to it over the years. In recent days, that same picture made it on Time magazine’s on of the top 100 photos of the century.

Kreyolicious: Have you ever taken a photo that turned out differently from what you intended…but in a good way?
In June 2015, American Airlines magazine “American Way” decided to do a spread about Haiti for the very first time. The magazine is very popular and is seen daily by passengers on all 6700 flights across the world. I was fortunate enough to have one of my images of Kokoye Beach in Petit Gôave, Haiti be featured in the prestigious publication. Never did I imagine when taking that picture it would be exposed to millions around the world. The article named “Hidden Glory” featured Haiti’s best attributes. Most recently, in December 2016, while visiting my hometown of Cap-Haïtien, I visited the local street market and took a picture of a group of vegetables vendors. I named the picture “Hidden Figures”. It is the most responsive photo I’ve ever shared on my platform. The beauty hidden in the reality of the picture resonate with the Faces Of Haiti.

Kreyolicious: How did the idea for the Faces of Haiti photo exhibit come about?
As a kid, and now as an adult, I have traveled throughout the country exploring different places. Just enjoying having Haiti as my backyard, not realizing that the views I was seeing I sometimes took for granted. Over the years, as I continue to share some simple pictures on my social media pages, people from all walks of life were in awe of the images, that’s when I knew I had to put Haiti on display, and voila Faces Of Haiti was born. The Faces Of Haiti Expo and Book Release will allow the guests in attendance to discover the many facets of Haiti and its multi-dimensional splendor.

Kreyolicious: Tell us about the process selection for the book itself.
The selection process was challenging due to the number of photos I have taken over the years. Nonetheless, the book is a collection of images that depict the daily life of Haitians and the beauty of the land. From my compilation of files it took me a few days to settle on the photos I selected to share in the book. The photos in the book will take you on a journey to rediscover the Faces Of Haiti.

Kreyolicious: Your first stop was in Miami. How did that go?
Being that Miami is the closest US city from home, it was the perfect location to launch my Faces Of Haiti series. The event was a complete success. I felt the warm welcome of my Miami supporters, and I’m highly motivated to continue sharing Haiti through my camera lenses.

Kreyolicious: You have many more cities to go. What’s next following your tour.
Yes indeed! with Faces Of Haiti I will take Haiti beyond its borders. On March 26th it will be in Washington D.C., May in Paris, June in Montreal and a final scheduled show in Port-au-Prince Haiti. I have to admit that I’ve received countless requests to host a Faces Of Haiti event in New York. I will study the possibilities with my team and will update the public in due time. Updates for all the event will be on SamuelDameus.eventbrite.com. I will continue to promote Haiti with Faces Of Haiti—the book—and canvas prints which are now available on my website.

CLICK HERE to visit the photographer’s website and to keep up with his work and his future exhibits.

New Yorker Richard Louissaint founded a much-needed movement for Haitian-American creatives known as The Haitian Creatives series. A creative himself (surprise, surprise), Louissaint’s creative love and forever crush is photography. Let’s trace his journey, starting from his chilhood years onwards, and learn more about the Haitian Creative Series he’s so passionate about.

Kreyolicious: When you think about your childhood and teen years, can you think of incidents that proved that you were heading towards an artistic direction in life?
In all honesty, not really. i used to draw in middle school and even applied to an art program inhighschool but didn’t get in. So, that ended my aspirations in that realm. Not until college did I discover I was somewhat good at writing for the school paper.

Kreyolicious: Why did you start the Haitian Creatives movement?
It was all organic and came out me documenting Zing Experience a group started by Paul Beaubrun and his wife Cynthia Casasola. The movement was already there i just connected the dots and saw the degrees of separation in the New York creative scene and Paul just happened to know a lot of them.

Kreyolicious: What drew you to photography?
I just began documenting events and my friends during college for fun and then discovered the darkroom my last year of college. Then, it became a more serious hobby where I would come to Vibe Magazine, who I had a short, full-time stint with then freelanced) original Director of Photography George Pitts and get his opinion of prints I would make. Then, an apprenticeship with Haitian photographer Marc Baptiste exposed me to the world of black photographer doing commercial work for the first time.

Kreyolicious: Ever suffered a long period of creative block?
Prior to making it the Haitian Creatives Series officially a project in 2013, personal and professional problems had left me in a very long rut. I had a stopped shooting consistently— even personally—around 2010 and couldn’t get past it until I quit a job I hated. [I started] shooting video work to find another outlet for my creativity. I really didn’t get out of [the rut] until 2013. I have learned to best way to get through blocks and slow periods of work is to shoot, shoot and come up with projects to work on with others.

Kreyolicious: You’re based in New York. What bearing does that have on your creativity?
New York is still that cliche despite it being inhospitable financially for creatives, the poor, working and middle classes. There’s so much creative energy and inspiration everywhere if you look hard enough, just not in the places it used to be like museums, which are really not that affordable. The biggest change for me has been the discovery of collaborators which I nice to have. Us only-children types tend to work alone so much ’cause we are used to it.

Kreyolicious: What are some of the most inspiring, creativity-boosting books you’ve ever read?
As I was a writer first, they tend to be fiction books, in particular scifi and fantasy. N. K. Jemisin, who was became the first Black woman to win the Hugo Award for best novel, inspires me a lot. And of course here predecessor the late Octavia Butler. But aside from that, there is Create Dangerously:The Immigrant Artist at Work by Edwidge Danticat.

A photo shot Richard Louissaint!

Kreyolicious: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a creative?
Honestly, if you discover you have a creative itch early, scratch it. You can work on other things and try things out. But everyone’s paths are different. You may decide to have a full time job and work on your creative ambitions. Or you can decide to suffer the artist’s life which can be very rewarding and also very draining emotionally and financially until you find a balance. Just make sure sure you choose.

Kreyolicious: What do you hope to accomplish in five years?
To finally finish this first short film I have been working on for two years with Jason Minnis, an accomplished musician. Turn the Haitian Creatives Series into a full-length film. Get better as a filmmaker and DP. And to be cool with the life I have chosen.

[Richard Louissaint’s headshot/main photo: Ariel Williams]

FOLLOW RICHARD LOUISSAINT’S HAITIAN CREATIVES SERIES. GO HERE! VISIT HIS PHOTOGRAPHY SITE HERE!

Writer Mike Gauyo is riding high on a thick set of creative clouds. The scribe is on the staff of “Fruit”, a trail-blazing web audio drama from web series pioneer Issa Rae. This is in addition to being on the staff of TNT’s popular show “Claws”. We’re living in interesting times where entertainment content is concerned, and Gauyo is more than happy to be part of this revolution.

Kreyolicious: Was it always a fantasy of yours to become a writer?
Mike Gauyo: Wow, great word choice – Fantasy – Yes, I day-dreamed a lot as a kid. Mostly because I was left alone, while both my parents worked crazy hours. In their absence, I spent a lot of time caring for my two siblings and cleaning (or not cleaning). [Laughter] I would create alternate universes in my mind and place myself there. It was my own from of entertainment. There, I could do anything. It was cathartic and still is. But no, it wasn’t a fantasy of mine to becomes a writer. I did’t find writing till later in life. From the time I could walk, my parents were grooming me to go to medical school and become a doctor because kids in Haitian households were only allowed three professions to choose from-doctor, lawyer or engineer.

It wasn’t til the earthquake in Haiti that I made the decision to changed the trajectory of my life. My parents and sister were there at the time. I could not reach them for three days. It was crazy and I feared the worst had happened. It was a really tough time in my life, In the end, thank God, they were all fine, but from that point on I made a vow to live my life the way I wanted and what I wanted to do was write.

Kreyolicious: How did you get involved with Issa Rae’s “Fruit”?
Interestingly enough, going back to my dream board, I had cut out a picture of Issa and put her on it. This was before I had ever met her. A month after pasting her on my board, she posted on her Instagram that she was having a mixer for black writer/creators and to gain entry to the mixer you had to submit a writing sample — Now, I’ll preface what I say next by saying that I had already moved to LA from Boston, I was already working on television for American Idol as their script assistant, and I had graduated college, magna cum laude, with a degree in theaer. I’m not saying if you make a dream board you can just sit back and relax, you still need to put in the work — But back to the story…So, I got into the mixer, met Issa, got a chance to work for her months later on an equal pay for equal work campaign she was doing for women’s right, then months after that, I connected with her again at the Austin Film Festival, where she was schedules to be a panelist and I was just a writer with a script that made it through the second round of the festival. After her panel, we got drinks. She talked about “Insecure”, which had recently been picked up for its first season. I talked about what I was doing and how I was looking to transition from reality TV to scripted. And a week later she emailed me about a podcast series she was doing called “Fruit”.

So the point of that long ass story is dream boards work, but you need to work too. You have to speak what you want into existence or chances are it won’t happen. Even worse, if you’re too scared to speak it into existence then you’ll be too scared to try.

Kreyolicious: What’s it like being on the staff of a show of this magnitude?
“Fruit” is an audio drama that airs as a podcast, so the magnitude in this case doesn’t really have the connotation of being daunting like a series formatted for television might have. Fruit, more or less, harkens back to the days of radio soaps and is formatted similar to the “Serial” podcast. With that in mind, it’s been different, and great, and creative, and the other writers in the room are amazing, and talented and we all work very well together. Two seasons of “Fruit” have already aired on Howl.FM, but the first season of “Fruit” is also now available for free on iTunes. For season one, I wrote episodes 3, 8, and the finale. For those who don’t know, “Fruit” is a scripted audio series about a sexually fluid football player who accounts event from his past, dealing with love, relationships, and the game of football. It’s told in a first narrative. Everyone should check it out!

Above: Mike Gauyo with actor Jimmy Jean-Louis and playwright Jeff Augustin.

Kreyolicious: Do you ever doubt yourself?
Mike Gauyo: I doubt myself all the time. Every time I write a new script, every time I make a decision about what direction to take in my career, and every time by boss on Claws asks me a question, any question. [Laughter]

Kreyolicious: How do you overcome that?
Mike Gauyo: I overcome it by getting over myself and getting out of my own head. Usually, I tell myself I am too grown and(or) bougie to be living a broke lifestyle so let me stop doubting and make this shit work so I make more money because I like nice things.

Kreyolicious: And you’re also part of TNT’s “Claws”. What’s that like?
Mike Gauyo: Working on “Claws” has been great! I’m learning a lot about writing for television. I’ve had the opportunity to bend the ear of some great writers. I get to listen in on notes calls from the network and the studio, which have been invaluable to my own growth as a writer. My boss, our showrunner, Janine Sherman Barrois, is superhuman and the personification of black girl magic. Her work ethic is unparalleled and I’ve been able to learn so much just by watching her.

My position on the show is that of a Writers’ Production Assistant, which includes making sure the writers eat, taking notes on calls from the network and studio, concerning notes on scripts, and, when needed, writing notes on the board in the writers’ room. The great part about that is, while they’re brainstorming, I have an opportunity to chime in and ask questions. I don’t write on this series, but “Claws” is right in line with the type of genre I like to write, so who knows what will happen. I’m speaking it into existence, y’all!

Mike Gauyo will talk about his background, and how he became Haitian-American now…thank you very much. The talented writer is on the staff of the groundbreaking web podcast drama “Fruit”, an Issa Rae production. Creatively, it doesn’t stop there for him. He’s also part of the staff of “Claws”, a much-discussed drama on the popular network TNT. Over the course of the last segment of our conversation, we discussed how he became a writer. This time, we’re going to go back to his childhood, discuss his philanthropy and the methodology he uses to achieve his goals.

Kreyolicious: Tell us about yourself and about what it was like growing up Haitian-American.
Mike Gauyo: Well, I was born in Haiti and moved to Massachusetts when I was 4. We landed in Mattapan, which was like an Ellis Island for Haitians. [Laughter] After living there for a couple of years, we moved to Quincy, then finally set roots in Cambridge, where I attended Cambridgeport Elementary School and Cambridge Ridge and Latin High School. I mention these moves because I went from being in an ESL class with only Haitians (in Mattapan) to being the only black kid in the class (in Quincy), to only then end up in a really diverse environment (in Cambridge). When I think back on it, each place I’ve lived really informs the type of person I’ve become because I’ve experienced both sides of the spectrum. I didn’t really have an awareness of myself as a Haitian living in America until I was the only Haitian, let alone black person, in a class full of white faces. Then it became…”Why’s your last name so weird?…Why do you talk like that? Is that African? What language is that?” Mind you, I already had, and still have, a lisp, so you can imagine all the side-eyes, eye rolls, and facial gymnastics I had to perform to keep myself from cursing people out. But yes, growing up Haitian-American was not so much a struggle, it was just different. You weren’t like any of the white kids, but you also weren’t African-American. So, I’d say we were the original “Black-ish” family – I’ll take my check now, Kenya Barris!

Kreyolicious: Haha. You’ve been to Haiti lately?
Mike Gauyo: I haven’t been back to Haiti since before the earthquake. I used to go every summer between the ages of 10 and 18. I do plan on going back really soon.

Kreyolicious: So, you’re involved with an organization called Alliance HH. Tell us more.
Mike Gauyo: The Alliance for Housing and Healing is an organization that provides housing and healthcare services for the homeless. I recently competed in my second Spartan Race to help raise money for the Alliance and our team was able to raise over 65,000 dollars. It’s a great organization and I was happy to help in any way. Even if it meant putting my body through an 8 mile obstacle course. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it was fun and we raised a lot of money for the homeless. So yeah, no pain, no gain. I’ll be doing two more races this year.

Kreyolicious: Do you ever look back at the Mike of the past and think, “I done changed”?
Mike Gauyo: Yup! [Laughter] And thank God I did. Change is good. In order to grow, a person needs to change. Change the way you think, change your habits, and in some cases, change your friends. The circle you surround yourself with needs to uplift you and provide an environment that is conducive to your own success. The people in my circle are who I lean on and vise versa. When I make it, my team makes it.

Kreyolicious: What changes in you are you most proud of?
Mike Gauyo: I changed the way I think about success. It’s not a destination, it’s continuous, it comes in waves, it’s fleeting. You have to keep working to keep it.

Kreyolicious: And how did you propel them?
Mike Gauyo: Realizing that helps me to keep working and learning.

Kreyolicious: Along the way, what helped you keep on track and focused on your goals?
Mike Gauyo: As soon as I committed to writing as a career, there was really no stopping me. I do things to keep me focused, like I write down a list of my goals and make dream boards. I turned my desk at home into a dream board. On my desk are pics of people who inspire me and who I want to work with, phrases that uplift me, titles or words I want associated with my name, like writer, creator, Oscar winner, husband, father, sexiest man alive…I’ll let you decide if that last one was a joke or not. [Laughter] But yes, dream boards and lists are how I stay focused.

Kreyolicious: On that account…What if someone was building a personal development library and asked for your suggestions. What books would you recommend?
Mike Gauyo: As a man growing up in this skin, in the “United” States of America, I would suggest Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and any/everything by Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.

CLICK HERE to keep up with Mike Gauyo on Instagram.

Clearly, Boston-raised funny girl Charla Lauriston is an expert at multi-tasking. While her lips are cracking jokes, her hands are busy typing an outline for a show, and her mind’s pondering on her plans for the next day. This is how one has to operate to keep up with the swift pace of a life that includes frequent gigs at some of the nation’s most popular comedy venues, a hand at creating a successful web series (“Clench and Release”), and writing for several others, including Tina Fey’s hit series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

K. St. Fort: So, what were you doing right before this interview?
Checking my email.

K. St. Fort: Did you feel pretty growing up?
I’m dark skinned and this is America, so no.

K. St. Fort: Hmmm. ​Some people who end up being comedians were either super-shy in high school, or were very, very extroverted. Which category did you fall in?
I was insanely shy until senior year when I started coming out of my shell.

K. St. Fort: You been to Haiti lately, girl?
I’ve never been back to Haiti since I left when I was four. It’s hard not to stay connected when my whole family is Haitian. I grew up going to Haitian churches, hanging out with my cousins. I still speak fluent creole. I promise I’m still super Haitian.

K. St. Fort: Tee hee…Lucille Ball, a comedian who lived in the 20th Century once said, “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” Comedy is not all laughter, of course. How do you stay positive during trying times?
I’m very introverted. I take some time to myself for a while then after I’ve had enough of that, I start reaching out to family and close friends. My family and friends are super supportive and always willing to listen and comfort me.

Above: Comedian Charla Lauriston at an OK Cupid show at Housing Works in Soho. Photo by Jing-Jing Hu

K. St. Fort: You attended Emmanuel College. Knowing all you know now, would you have skipped college and gotten right into comedy following high school?
Absolutely not. College made me who I am. It opened my eyes to the world, I learned how to be analytical, to question, I read things that changed my life. I made friends from other cultures and walks of life. I absolutely wouldn’t be who I am without college. I think the greatest inequality in America is the lack of equal access to higher education. I took on a lot of student loan debt to go to college which is the worst, so if I did it again, I just wouldn’t have gotten into so much debt. But either way, college was amazing.

K. St. Fort: Girl, I read that you had a job as a senator’s assistant, and decided to do comedy full-time. Girl, what did your parents say when they found out?
My mom was actually really supportive. My parents are super Haitian and conservative, but sometimes I think they’re secretly hippies. My mom knows me and knows that I hated every day job I ever had. She also knows I’m stubborn and strong willed and generally can’t be at a job that I hate. She told me her only fear was that I would struggle which I thought was such a beautiful mom thing to say. And I of course did struggle, but it was worth it.

K. St. Fort: You worked with the legendary comedienne Tina Fey—as a writer for the first-season of the show “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. What are some of the most important lessons you learned during that period?
I felt really unworthy when I was there. I felt like I didn’t deserve such a great job with such great people, that I didn’t belong there, and that showed. I looked like a deer in headlights the whole time. I think that’s a dire mistake particularly for any woman of color when she goes into a job that’s intimidating. I learned that I gotta always fake it ’til I make it. If there’s something I don’t know now, I ask or I study it so I can be armed with knowledge. I remember they would use terms in the writers’ room or make references I didn’t know, and instead of asking or finding out, I’d just wallow in my ignorance because I thought lowly of myself. Always think highly of yourself. Not in an arrogant know-it-all way, but know that if you get to a certain level of success, it doesn’t matter if you deserve it or not. Seize the opportunity. Make sure to learn and soak up an much as you can. Don’t judge yourself for what you don’t know. Don’t get down on yourself. Remember that you’re the dopest b___ on the planet. They hired you for who you are, so be gloriously, unabashedly yourself.

K. St. Fort: You wrote, directed and produced your own series “Clench and Release”. What was it like on your most strenuous days?
The worst was when we shot at a coffee shop before they opened at 5am. I don’t do early well. Or late for that matter. I’m a 10am-8pm kind of person. Aside from the long days, I was so passionate about what I was doing, I hardly noticed how early it was or how late it was once I was doing it. Probably the most strenuous thing I did was I had to go pick up lights that I’d rented. I didn’t expect them to be insanely heavy but they were. I didn’t have a car and I was too broke to get a cab, so i dragged the lights onto the subway, rode up to Harlem, then called my roommate to help me carry the lights to our apartment. The struggle was real.

K. St. Fort: Is that something you’d like to do again?
Yes. I love creating my own thing.

K. St. Fort: A graduating high school senior comes up to you and asks you how she can break in to series comedy writing. What do you tell her?
I’d tell the person to start reading books on comedy writing, maybe take a sketch writing or TV writing class, start watching comedies she likes and try to break down the episodes, study your craft! Maybe take an improv class. Go to comedy shows—sketch, improv, and standup. Immerse yourself in it. Make it your life. And lastly, I’d tell her to stop asking for advice until she’s actually started getting involved. As a policy, I don’t give advice to people who have never actually tried doing anything because they don’t know what to ask for yet.

K. St. Fort: What are we to expect from you next?
That I’ll stay black.

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