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Lost in Jersey
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Lost in Jersey
Finding Humanity in Every Frame: One Photographer's Mission
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The surprising power of a camera to tell stories and to connect you and us to the community. We sit down with Montclair photographer Armando "Out There" Diaz to discuss his recent proclamation award from Mayor Renee Baskerville and his journey as a community documentarian. Through his powerful photography, Armando captures the essence of Montclair's Fourth Ward and diverse communities that are often overlooked.
• Armando shares how photography became his path back to social connection after struggling with mental health issues and isolation
• Using his camera to observe and gradually reconnect with his community
• Transitioning from graphic design and music production to photography
• Creating art exhibits that intentionally bring together diverse people and energies
• Focusing on documenting musicians, community events, and everyday life in Montclair
Visit Armando's current photography exhibit, which is running until the end of the month!
Armando "Out There" Diaz Instagram
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Introduction to Armando "Out there" Diaz
Speaker 1Hi Rachel , hey Jeanette , we just got off a great interview with Armando Out there Diaz , One of his monikers is Out there and it's also another one which we didn't ask him about , but I remember seeing it everywhere is e-gullets , in that it is everybody's got a little light under the sun , great and he was recently given a proclamation award from the mayor of Montclair , Rene Baskerville .
Speaker 1And we talk about it in the interview , so I won't go over the top line sentence . But he's been recognized for all the work he does . He's basically a community documentarian is what it is stated in the proclamation . I can't say it correctly . He documented all different groups of people and he's known to you , know , you know , do AAPI , the Montclair Mutual Aid Out , Montclair , Latinos of Montclair and also , specifically , the Fourth Ward . He likes to tell the story of the Fourth Ward of Montclair and he's been here for so long .
Speaker 3He grew up here and his family immigrated here from Cuba , which we learn at the end , which he tells stick around to the very end . Stick around because it's very interesting to hear about that , the last minutes of the episode right . I would say it's a very heartfelt episode and he's very open , honest and vulnerable and it shows in his work and we hope you guys go out and see his work . It's showing right now . We'll put links in the show notes to where you can go .
Speaker 1And learn how someone can use art to get themselves back out into the community if they find themselves withdrawn , disconnected , and one person's story how they used art to get back into the world . Yes , enjoy , armando . Thank you for joining us on Lost in Jersey .
Speaker 2Thank you for having me .
Speaker 1This is Rachel
The Proclamation Award Recognition
Speaker 1and I'm Jeanette , and you came on my radar a long time ago .
Speaker 3Yeah , it's a long time ago .
Speaker 1I've seen your photos posted and every time your photo of you post a photo or someone post a photo that they had taken of you taken by you , it's just , it has a lot of meaning . It has a lot a lot going on . First , the photo is wonderful , but it's also the way that you set the photo up and there's like a story in all your photos . You've got recognition from the of Montclair . Rene Baskerville recently gave you a proclamation and we were like , oh , we got to get him on and talk about that .
Speaker 2Yeah , that was something . Yeah , I don't get awards or anything like that . I don't know , not really at all . I mean , I kind of , you know , I get some recognition in some ways , but never in such an official and meaningful way .
Speaker 3Can you explain a little bit more to our listeners about what that is and what a proclamation from the town is ?
Speaker 2So it's basically a document with a description of who I am and what I'm doing , and I guess it's to specifically recognize your contributions to the community in whatever shape that they take . I mean , that's what I gather from it . I don't know if that's the official definition of it .
Speaker 1Right , right , so I have it right here . So let me tell people kind of a quick review of it . Okay , so it's a Township of Montclair , New Jersey . Proclamation honoring Armando Out there Diaz , Jersey . Proclamation honoring Armando Out there Diaz . So you have this middle name called Out there that you use as part of your handle on your social medias and everything . So it says whereas Armando Out there Diaz has been a dedicated resident of the township of Montclair for 47 years and throughout this time has contributed immensely to the artistic , cultural and civic fabric of our community . And it goes on , my dog's barking .
Speaker 1So I bet you are blown away by getting something like that .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , it's special . I walk around town . Most of the time that I've done this , I mean , especially the first four or five years I walked around with a camera and you know , I got to know people , I got familiar with things like that . Do you guys remember Montclair Center Stage ?
Speaker 1No , montclair Center Stage . Yeah , I do , I remember that .
Speaker 2So Saturday nights on Church Street , you know that's the place where I learned to shoot and you know , basically it was a lot of time of me walking around the neighborhood taking pictures of people and nobody had any clue who I was , and around the neighborhood taking pictures of people and nobody had any clue who I was . And I guess you know I was just a weird guy with a camera . You know it's basically what I was for these first few years . So so in a sense , like that , you know the proclamation , the effect that it's having on me , is because eventually , when I started to find , I guess , direction with with the shooting community events and seeing that kind of interaction and , and you know , and Montclair Center Stage being a major one , I just kind of felt like , okay , this is my lane . I mean , I was already shooting music and other things that come from being a music producer and a DJ in my previous life .
Speaker 2So I was already shooting artists doing shows , things of that nature . But the fun started for me when I started to do Montclair Center Stage and for three years I shot for them and all that branched out into other community-related events and before I knew it it was like I kind of liked being able to show that aspect of the people around here Because , you know , being from Montclair but going everywhere else , it's like the perception people have of Montclair . All my life had Montclair . It's like the perception people have of Montclair all my life had . A Montclair Outside of Montclair was .
Speaker 2You know basically that . You know we all live on Highland
From Graphic Designer to Community Photographer
Speaker 2Avenue and Upper Mountain Avenue . Like they think everybody's like that the minute you say you're from there . So there's all these other parts of town . You know , and I'm from the fourth ward , that's why I'm down here at Glenfield , because I live just around the corner from here and I grew up watching a lot of amazing things happen . You know a lot of community programs and stuff when I was younger , when I got the camera . A lot of these people are still around . A lot of them are still doing these things . So I would just start documenting stuff and nobody asked me to mind you . That's the funny part . Like nobody asked me to do any of that , it was just . That's what I wanted to see .
Speaker 1Well , you know it's interesting about two things that I want to point out is that I feel like , with you have a camera , it's kind of like a pass to walk around and see things , and we have a good friend , shonda Hall , who's a photographer , and I see her walking around with a camera , that's my buddy .
Speaker 3Yeah , she's the one who told me about your work way back when .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , she's the one who told me about your work way back when , yeah , she can , I feel like she can pass through . It seems like you know , oh , that must be official . You know like something's happening with that person . Let them go through , you know .
Speaker 2And a little bit of that .
Speaker 1A little bit of that . But also looking at your Instagram and your gallery and everything , there's a huge art scene that you reveal . You reveal a lot of artists , a lot of musicians .
Speaker 3Yeah no-transcript .
Speaker 2Yeah , my first , I guess , subject matter that I favored when I was out in the street was the musicians that were busking . And a lot of that went on in Church Street , south Park , down towards Trend and various parts up and down the avenue . Like you could walk up and down the avenue and just bump into all these people you know musicians otherwise really more than just musicians just a lot of iconic Montclair personalities that if you just spent an afternoon walking up and down you get to see these people Well .
Speaker 1I'm curious also has there been something along you've been doing ? I was reading that you've been doing this for 12 years . I would imagine you've also . I think that you work for Sophia for 15 years , so you did other things before .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1You were a graphic artist and things like that .
Speaker 2So I was around when Cynthia Walker founded the thing and I was helping her at the time with the logos and materials and stuff . I don't know if you know she does the Sophia Walk every September .
Speaker 2So , it started with things like that . I had to make the flyer for that and the poster for that and stuff to go on the website , you know , and this is yeah . So this is what I did for her before a camera and I was doing this kind of , as my main hustle for a while is I was doing graphic design .
Speaker 1Right , and then I saw that you had were written up in I think it was 2001 , that they did a laundromat exhibit . It's kind of when it started . I saw you starting to come onto the radar where they did an exhibit down in the South Ward in a laundromat and I thought that was so creative to start to integrate the community and the life of people within that . Do you have , do you feel that there's a lot of that kind of going on that most people don't know about in Montclair , Like things like that ?
Speaker 2Absolutely Even stuff that I don't know about , because it's one of those kind of things like you have to know somebody that goes to something or you have to come across it . You know what I mean ? You can't do that . You can't actually walk around and find yourself in an environment where , oh , look at all these um poets or look at all these musicians , they just they're gathered in the space . You don't know what's going on but yeah , there's all kinds of stuff going on , you know .
Speaker 2I mean , um , I'm not as active as I used to be , um , like I said , because I literally would just get up for the first three years I was shooting . I would just get up and walk around , you know , for a full day and just you know , I would start here . I might end up walking down to the stadium down there in Newark , the baseball . Is that the baseball stadium ? Like the near where the church is down there in Bluffett Avenue , Like if you're walking north .
Speaker 1You'd walk from Montclair to there .
Speaker 2All the time .
Speaker 1Oh my , yeah , all the time . Walk from Montclair to there All the time . Yeah , all the time .
Speaker 2Good , how far is that ? I gather it's
Photography as a Path Back to Connection
Speaker 2probably about six , seven miles , I don't . I'm not sure .
Speaker 1That's pretty good , that's pretty smart . So you just walk your way there and then pick up because I mean , I noticed on your gallery of photos you have so much , so many different locations . You have New York City city , you have newark and you have montclair and other areas . Do you just ? Did you just start just going to places and just taking photos of what you saw ? Is that your pretty ?
Speaker 2much it . Yeah , how did you ?
Speaker 3determine to like . How do you choose where to travel to and what to focus on ? Is it it what you're feeling like during that day , or is that you want a collection or a series of photos that expresses , you know , a certain community ?
Speaker 2No , the funniest thing is , I never thought about it that deeply . It was more mood than anything . The only things that I did deliberately would be like going to New York . I would do deliberately because you know , new York is , like you know , the mecca of street photography and whatnot .
Speaker 1So you know , going through your gallery of photos , one of the things that I know that I had seen some of your own personal videos talking about selling art and I think it's hard to do , especially photography . It's like a hard industry , but so many of your photos , I think are . I would imagine them being on the news . Honestly , you know you're covering demonstrations and very unique exhibits . You know people you know for the Black Lives Matter or you know any type of thing . You're there and you capture so much feeling in some of these photos .
Speaker 3I feel like a lot of them have this fierce energy that just leap out at you . You can't not look . I mean they're very well-crafted . Yeah , they hook you and you want to know the story and it doesn't even matter what the context .
Speaker 2But I give you at least why they like that Before I was taking pictures , I had an assortment of mental health issues , among other things , all kinds of stuff that I definitely would .
Speaker 2I mean , I love talking about , but I don't want to darken this interview by getting into all that , suffice to say , there was a period of time when I just I didn't interact with people , not so much antisocialsocial , it's just not social . I was , I was hidden in , you know . I mean , I'm a graphic designer , I'm a music producer , I was doing stuff for tv and film . Everything I did , I did it out the house , so I didn't have to go anywhere , right ? So I didn't , I didn't really interact too much , go to parties , network , do this kind of stuff .
Speaker 2So I had not just just um , been , you know , in the dark , for that , for that amount of time I didn't have any , any connections to anybody . You know what I mean . I went to family functions and that's about it . You know , the the friends I hung out with were the very close friends , but most people just , I mean , I'm in this town since 78 .
Speaker 2And after a period of time , after high school , after you know some time , nobody knew who I was anymore , you know what I mean , because the neighborhood changed and whatnot . The thing about the way I'm taking these pictures is that I felt like I need to get back into things , I need to start communicating and stuff like that . But it was such an awkward thing to do because you leave high school and all this time goes by and you don't feel accomplished . And then you got to run into everybody , you know , and everybody's making moves and doing things and I just felt like I had nothing to offer the conversation so I would just sit there , you know , really , really , really awkward , really uncomfortable and not be able to communicate and didn't know what to do with that .
Speaker 3You know what I mean . I just didn't .
Speaker 2I wasn't enjoying anything , but what ended up happening is is just taking pictures . Allowed me to like what you were saying . This pass that you get when you , when you just walk into a crowd full of people , and I have the option of taking pictures , because that's what I'm there to do , but I also have the option of talking to people if I want to , but if I don't , it's not weird , right ?
Speaker 2he's the camera guy , you know , so he doesn't have to talk , but so I can get into a conversation I can enjoy , I can join a conversation without saying a word and nobody's going to think anything of it , and this allowed me to kind of see where people's heads are . What are we talking about these days ? You know like what's the vibe and whatnot , and it did a lot to help me . You know , open up communications with people and get out here and start doing something more productive .
Speaker 3That's incredible . Yeah , that's really an interesting way that you found to get out .
Speaker 2I'm sorry but that's why the pictures are emotional or those kind of feelings , because I'm looking for that I'm trying to communicate with you .
Speaker 1I really relate to and appreciate the light touch that you're like . I was disconnected and I found my way back through this medium and it's such an impressive way to take care of yourself . I love that story that you've told there and I think that me , being a graphic artist and also working from home kind of like you were since 1999 , before it was like the thing to do , and I think it's important that we get this message out to people that , as people are becoming more and more at home workers or , you know , disconnected , that we do need these type of ways to connect back , because you do lose connection .
Speaker 2It's the . I didn't realize what I was missing until until , like I said , it became obvious to me to be in spaces and going . I don't know what's going on here , I don't know how to talk to these people and as the extent of my networking , when I was doing graphic because I was also technically have been a computer technician by trade this is back in the 90s I went to school for it and I went from computers to music production and making myself an artist , which led to me doing graphic design , because I wanted to package my own stuff and it was expensive to hire somebody to design your covers and all that stuff . And then I had to learn how to do web design because I needed to get the music out to the world . So everything I learned I learned out of necessity and prior to that it was all kind of basic you walk into a room , you give somebody a card , hey , I'm so-and-so , I do this , and that was sort of like the extent of the network and so it was like it was simple , but it didn't foster any kind of connection to anybody .
Speaker 2Now I wanted to have a broader , like a more , a deeper connection with people , which is why I do things the way that I do them now , like there's nothing . I mean , I guess the most conventional my exhibit is is that is that there's pictures that you know in the the exhibit , that you go to a place and look at the stuff Like that's conventional . But most of what I'm doing out here is about connecting people and connecting to people and putting us together in a room , especially if we're of the same sort of energy .
Speaker 2And one thing about having this
Creating Meaningful Exhibits and Community
Speaker 2kind of energy or any for that matter is like whatever your energy is , you can spot your energy in the room when you walk in there . If you see somebody else , you know exactly who's on your wavelength , who you could talk to .
Speaker 3You know what I mean .
Speaker 2So that's what my exhibits are about . Yes , I would like to sell work . I pay bills this way . Yeah , luckily , I have event photography and other spinoffs of that , so it's not like I'm just a gallery artist . Yeah , the main thing is to put a certain quality of people in the room , you know , so that people who are just there to see the art experience a different kind of energy than they're used to .
Speaker 2It's not like going to the typical exhibit , basically curating that into a space in the context of my art and bringing people that I've come to love . They come to love me based on this place that we are in our heads . Come to love me based on this place that we are in our heads . I'm not the only one who's awkward . I'm not the only one who had the issues and whatnot . I'm not the only person who's actually used art to sort of medicate in a way .
Speaker 2You know what I mean , and so I bring these people together and then the people who just come to an exhibit get to have an entirely different experience than they were expecting . You know what I mean . So it's just like trying to tie the humanity and people together into a space where you know where you're seeing something that you know represents , like my perspective on the world . It's a beautiful thing and you may recognize yourself in this , sometimes literally . You know , I've had people walk into the exhibit and see their picture on the wall and they're like whoa , like what are they ? You know , how did you do that .
Speaker 2I didn't know I was going to be on exhibit you know what I mean Like my first exhibit at Claire's Story . I did it intentionally . I don't know if you remember when Claire's Story was here on Church Street . Claire's Story Fine Art , no , art , no , no . I don't remember that .
Speaker 2So that that's an important time in my life because I wanted to be a gallery artist but I had the damnedest time trying to talk to anybody about how to go about it . You know , you walk into organizations in town . They don't treat you like like they're interested at all , in , in in this , in in the arts , in the way you know . It's just . You know , do I , do you serve a purpose ? Are you somebody well-known or are you willing to pay to sort of be involved in this thing ? You know , and that's unfortunate , I get it , it's a business model , it's a hustle , but getting into it was tough , you know , because nobody gave me the time of day until I started going to this gallery called Gallery L and there was a couple there . Luke and Lauren ran it . They were artists themselves and they specifically opened the gallery because of that type of environment . So when I walked into them , I just walked into their receptions and I would just take pictures . They didn't ask me to be there , of course , you know , and I just walked in , took pictures and after about two or three receptions I started getting followed by Lady Catherine who owned Claire's Story .
Speaker 2She followed my work for some period of time to when one random like I think it was like it might have been New Year's Eve , it was like close to the end of the year , and I can't tell you how low I was at that time because there was so much going on . You know , she reaches out to me and she says listen , I'm opening the gallery . You know , and I've been following your work for X amount of months I think she said seven months or something like that and she's like , would you be interested in exhibiting ? You know , and I just thought , wow , that's crazy . Like I'm minding my business . I go around looking for this , like , hey , how can I get involved in this ? And nobody's really pulling me any mind , and that's tough . I mean . I love that she didn't know me from anything . All she knew was my work .
Speaker 1And that was enough . We have to have that . We have to have people that do that , that are giving people a chance their early start . I think that our community and all of us and people can still appreciate how talented you are and also now , having spoken to you , understand the connection that we're getting from this , what we're seeing , and I love learning that backstory , so we really appreciate you coming on and giving us this . You know behind the lens , look at the heart and the mind behind these photos .
Speaker 2Thank you so much .
Speaker 1Now I have two questions to ask you as we close out . Okay , One , is your hat now like part of your style ? Because I looked for photos of you without your hat on and I have not found one Good luck . So I love that . I love that you have like a what do they call it ? You have like a signature item now Signature .
Speaker 3Look , yeah , they're funny .
Speaker 2But just two things about the hat . One is that the original reason I got the hat I started wearing the hat was because my granddaughter , on a whim , saw one at the store . She said I want to buy that for pop-up . So she bought me this hat , like it wasn't this one . I have a bunch of them . But she just came home one day you know what I'm saying With a grandmother and said you know , your granddaughter bought you a hat and I put it on . I'm going you know what I don't actually look . I don't wear hats any .
Speaker 2I didn't used to wear hats that look crazy in them , in most of them and so I said I don't , I kind of look normal , I feel , I feel okay in this hat and then , before I knew it , I was , I was wearing them all the time . The second reason is , you know , and the funnier reason is because you know , I'm I mean , I'm 52 . I started wearing these a few years ago but my hairline has long ago vanished , you know , from here and it's not so , and it's not so many , it's not too many options . I'm not doing comb overs and and weird stuff like that . It's like , you know , this part of my face looks pretty normal . I said , let me do , let me just , you know , cover it up . So so yeah , you'd be hard pressed to catch me without the hat on because I got the most . I got the like the George Jefferson , george Constanza kind of combination up here Like , like you know , you don't want to look at that .
Speaker 1Yeah , it serves many purposes this hat and it looks good .
Speaker 3I love it , I love it .
Speaker 1Well , as we close out , we ask all of our guests to give a shout out to a person , place or thing that they love about New Jersey . So we ask you I know it's going to be hard for you , because of all the things that you celebrate and take photos of and lift up , it'd be hard to pick one . So what can you narrow it down to ?
Speaker 2Yeah , no , yeah , that was absolutely tough , like I got . I have
Family History and Sandy Hook Memories
Speaker 2too many people that I could possibly name , so I won't even go there If I can get , if I can get kind of sentimental in a way . Like my family is Cuba and they came up to Cuba , weirdly , via Chicago , into Newark and then up to Montclair and you know , because of my father trying to go buy the house in Montclair and everything he was working at Ford at the time , I mean he spent all this time . He got up , you know , 4 o'clock in the morning and he wasn't back home until 7 at night . So there wasn't a whole lot that we did together . I mean almost nothing really . But but two things that we did was we had kind of like a game night on Saturday where we played dominoes and and and and put together puzzles .
Speaker 2But the other thing we did during the summer would be we go down to Sandy Hook . So in terms of places that mean something to me , like that's literally the only thing we did as a family . You know , outside the house we didn't go to people's houses for get-togethers or parties and nothing like that . I mean we didn't know anybody . You know , as far as my family . You know , moving up here we didn't socialize with other families , yeah , but Sandy Hook was , you know , my first experience with the beach and it was the one place we always went me , my sister , um , my mother and father , a bag full of hot dogs , uh , you know , some kind of soda and whatever , and then we just sit there for hours digging up holes and and and that kind of a thing .
Speaker 1so it's sandy hook , as as a place , actually means something to me that's great I would have to say that might be my favorite yeah thing I love about new jersey comment . It was really it's got . It's got so much heart and it's just got so much visual to it as well with the bag of hot dogs .
Speaker 3I totally imagine it . Yeah , that's awesome .
Speaker 1That's great Well thank you so much for sharing that great story . Towards the end of the podcast , I hope that we bump into you somewhere in town in maybe one of these cool things .
Speaker 2Hopefully at the exhibit which is up until the end of the month .
Speaker 3Okay , great , perfect , give you a chance to actually see some of this stuff in person .
Speaker 2And of course purchase something if you like , you know .
Speaker 1That's right . Support the arts people .
Speaker 3Well , we'll put the info about the exhibit also in the show notes , so that everybody who listens to this can make sure that they can go .
Speaker 2And you have the flyer that I texted you last week . Who listens to this can make sure that they can go . And you have the flyer that I texted you last week .
Speaker 1Yeah , I do , I do so . We'll put that in there as well . So that's great . Well , thank you for coming on Lost in Jersey .
Speaker 3It's been a pleasure to meet you and learn about your backstory .
Speaker 1It's a great one , and also I hope you enjoy the Porch Fest . Yes , have fun at Porch Fest .
Speaker 2Good luck to your son's band . Thanks so much , guys .
Speaker 3I appreciate it . This podcast was produced by Rachel Martens and Jeanette Afsharian . You can find us on Spotify , itunes and Buzzsprout . Thanks for listening . See you next week .
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