US-born photographer holds first exhibit at Arnim's

Follow your dreams and life may take you to unexpected places.

That is the advice of 39-year-old filmmaker Mandela Gregoire, who speaks from experience, as his passion for film has led him to work with various celebrities and taken him around the world.

Born in Maryland, US, and based in New York, he is the son of a Dominican father and a Panamanian mother, executive director of the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) Dr Natalia Kanem.

Gregoire, who considers himself a director and cinematographer, has worked on many types of film projects, including music videos, commercials, travel documentaries, wildlife videos, fashion videos and shows, including some for fashion designer LaQuan Smith, a friend of his, whose creations have been worn by models and celebrities such as Beyonce, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian.

Gregoire is also a photographer and recently held his first photography exhibition, Wanderlust, at Arnim’s Art Galleria in Port of Spain. Although he is primarily a filmmaker, photography was his first love, so he has been waiting on an opportunity to exhibit his photos for a long time.

He said a friend was organising a show of Cuban art at Arnim’s and suggested he contribute some of his work from that country. One thing led to another and it became his exhibition. On display were about 30 wildlife and portrait pieces, mainly from Cuba and Africa, and a few from Asia and the Caribbean, including two from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

“It was truly a pleasure to do my first exhibition in Trinidad, a place that means a lot to me and my family, and has been so good to us for so many years.”

He explained that when he was three, family friends who lived in Arima – Mavis and Allan Williams from Dominica and Guyana – respectively, invited them to Trinidad for Carnival.

“My mom and I came down for Carnival and we both kind of fell in love with it. I mean, I was still pretty young, but it definitely was a vibe. We kept coming back for years and years and years, so I grew up with my mom playing mas, primarily (Peter) Minshall. Trinidad just kind of welcomed us with open arms and became a second home of sorts.

“From a young age I fell in love with the culture, the music and the people, so it's always been a very special place for us. And over the past 35 years, we've been coming there and my mom's been bringing friends from all over – from work, friends from Africa, friends from different parts of the world. She was just like, ‘You guys have got to come to Trinidad for Carnival.’"

Gregoire told Sunday Newsday he had an interest in photography from a young age, as his paternal grandfather was a professional photographer in Dominica and his father was an amateur photographer.

Although he grew up between Dominica, the US and Nigeria, his family was living in Nigeria when he got his first real camera at age ten. He said working with the Ford Foundation and later the UNFPA, his mother travelled a lot and often took him on her work trips, so he started doing travel photography as well as taking photos for friends.

That was how he developed his passion of travelling, seeing new things, and seeing the beauty the world had to offer in all its forms.

He recalled by the end of the 1990s movie DVDs included behind-the-scenes features which showed him how films were made, and he noted the gradual shift from film to digital filmmaking. As a self-taught programmer who was passionate about computer science at the time, the idea and process of digital filmmaking intrigued him.

His interest in film increased when he saw the 1999 movie The Matrix, which "blew his mind."

Around that time he also visited the studio of his mother’s friend, the documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, while he was editing a movie, and Gregoire was hooked.

Gregoire received his first video camera in 2001 and travelled to Australia, where he made his first short travel film. He decided to study film and started attending the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Film and Animation in 2002.

At that time, he said, his father was the Dominican ambassador to the UN and suggested he study international relations, as he did not see filmmaking as viable. Eventually, however, when he realised his son was making a living doing what he loved, his father "came around."

“In the end I went for my dreams and I found my bliss.

"Coincidentally, I am very passionate about global affairs. So I do take a lot of time to read what's going on around the world, particularly in politics. I'm interested in how art and politics intersect – how art can influence politics, how politics can influence art and the concept of soft power.”

He also attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and Marymount Manhattan College. Although he did not graduate, he felt he learned a lot from his courses.

“At the end of the day, I'm a big proponent of self-education and learning by doing. I think, particularly with film and photography, going out there and just shooting is the best approach.

“I ended up attending three different schools. I did learn different things at each school, and I'm grateful for that. But for me, the most meaningful part of me becoming a filmmaker was going out and doing it and going to some of the most interesting places in the world.”

In 2002 he went to Brazil with his mother and did his second film project about Carnival there. And in 2003 he returned to Trinidad and shot his first documentary film about TT Carnival.

Since then he has been making films and has found a way to incorporate his passion of travelling, which he does about six months out of the year, with his work of filmmaking and telling stories.

Some of career highlights include being hired by Hollywood director, screenwriter and producer John Singleton to film behind-the-scenes video of the film Illegal Tender in 2006. It was his first experience of working in the film industry.

In 2010-2011 he worked with Bajan pop star Rihanna as her personal photographer and videographer, shooting behind-the-scenes footage and images. And in June he worked with Jordan Brand and director Spike Lee at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

He said Jordan Brand hired him to capture Lee receiving Cannes’ first honorary Creative Maker of the Year award and the events surrounding it. Lee was one of his heroes, so it was great working with him.

“I had a lot of opportunities to chat with Spike. I think his journey is just so inspiring to so many young black filmmakers. It was a very exciting opportunity for me to get to work with him in this way.”

Over the years he has also worked with non-profit organisations and the UN. He is currently working on a documentary on climate change with Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles.

He has been visiting Panama for the past few years and believes it is a perfect place to make a movie.

“My ultimate goal is to direct feature films. I have a few ideas that I really believe in and I'm working out how to make it happen.

“I'm interested particularly in global stories within the African diaspora as well as Africa – South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

"But everywhere I go, I'm inspired in some way and I see potential for storytelling.”