Urban Action Academy - Field Trip to Columbia University Photo Studios

02 Apr 2009, 2:15 PM by erasmussen, High School

photo by Monika McKnight

On March 19th, 2009, students from Urban Action Academy went on a field trip to Columbia University.

Photo by Kasheem "I bleed Hersheys" Ramos

The class visited with graduate students in the MFA photo program, Davida Nemeroff and Per Billgren, and saw their studios. 

They visited the darkrooms and learned to make photograms.

Thanks Columbia.  We had a great day!

PS 7 Photo Essays Part II!

09 Mar 2009, 6:56 PM by caitlinmeissner, Middle School

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... And now we get serious!

Ok, folks, we're back. After our goofy "practice" photo essays, the students are ready to declare their messages to the world! Here is our process:
 

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1) ME-WEBS!

Students created their own personal "me-webs," a Ms. Caitlin creation that colorfully explores what we are each care about in the world, from homeless issues to... candy. (I mean, who doesn't like candy?) Check out the awesome explorations below!

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2) POEMS

As an exercise in exploring these topics, students wrote poems. Basing their work off of Barbara Ras's brilliant poem, "You Can't Have It All," students were asked to write their own version and must include each item on their list. Here are a few examples. I was blown away!

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You Can't Have It All
by Pearl Baxter

but you can snuggle up with some hot chocolate
you can't have it all
but you can have a good friend to talk to
you can't have it all
but you can have a heart to keep you moving forward
you can't have it all
but you can have music to match your mood
you can't have it all
but you can have a significant other to turn to
you can't have it all
but you can have a sour candy to get you through it
you can't have it all
but you can have a mother's shoulder to cry on
you can't have it all
but you can have an A on a test to get a reward
you can't have it all
but you can have a school full of friends to tell jokes to
you can't have it all
but you can have a favorite animal to talk to
you can't have it all
but you can have a past relative relive the last
moments you spent together
you can't have it all
but you can have food to fill you up
you can't have it all
but you can have a warm slice of pizza with your family

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You Can't Have It All
by Katiria Altruz

But you can have your family
after a bad day at school
you can have love
when you feel left alone
you can have art
to show how you feel
you can have a freedom of speech
when you think something is wrong
you can have music
to make you feel better
you can have world peace
if you speak up
you can have a God if you believe
and go to church
you can have an elder
like your grandmother or grandfather
right next to you when you're going to sleep
you can have global warming
if you don't help the earth
you can have pizza when you want
something tasty and good

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You Can't Have It All
by Esther Gonzales

but you can have someone to protect you
you can hear classical music and relax
you can have the delicious strawberry ice cream melting in your mouth
you can have the freedom of going to your church and praising your God
you can have a school in which you can learn many subjects
you can have lots of food that fills your tummy
you can have a pack of M&M's and taste and share
you can have good health and watch what you eat
you can have delicious pizza from the shop on the corner
you can have a father and a mother
in which to protect you and love you
you can have lots of love in which to give
you can have a home in which to sleep and live in
you can have a career in which to learn and know from

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3) GROUP WEBS

In two groups, the students created a giant web of all of their cares and concerns. From these lists, two groups chose a handful of topics they wanted to focus on in the creation of their next set of photo essays.

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4) HAIKUS

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In groups, students studied the haiku form and looked at the work of famous haiku poets, such as Basho. Of course, we wrote our own! Here are a few. We don't want to give it ALL away just yet!

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The world is a TV
it's like a messed up channel
when will the world change?
- Katiria Altruz

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I beg in the streets
I cry all I want is bread
a few cents is good
- Esther Gonzales and Pearl Buckman

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Some people love cash
family matters to us
what matters to you
-- Quetzy Escobar and Cathy Campos

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5) FINAL PROJECT

We're not ready to show you yet, so stay tuned! But I will reveal that they are artful photo essays based off of A Softer World's work. Example posted below. (Don't tell them, but I think ours are better.)

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Check back next week!

Digital Photography Afterschool Program

12 Feb 2009, 2:35 PM by UrbanArtsAdmin, High School

During the first semester of the digital photography club, we asked the question "what does it mean to be an artist?". This slideshow is a response to that question. It's a work in progress, so look for the final version in a couple of months

MS131-City Hall Senior Center Collaboration

10 Feb 2009, 8:17 PM by Alice, Intergenerational Projects

On January 22, MS131 Students took a field trip to the Brooklyn Bridge.  We photographed the bridge’s architectural details, lines and shapes, and the lights beginning to come up in the city during “golden hour”. We hope to go with the seniors to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in the spring.

Ting Zhang, MS131

At 4:45p.m, this is a picture of Brooklyn Bridge in " Golden Hour".

It is beautiful because it is a memory of people who built up the bridge.

Ting Zhang MS131

At 4: 49p.m, it is a picture of a Brooklyn Bridge tower. 

It is cool that it shows the inside of the tower and it looks like an ancient castle. 

Ting Zhang, MS131

 At 4:50p.m, the American flag is on top of the Brooklyn Bridge tower.

it is a symbol that America is an independent nation.

Jing Li, MS131

The Manhattan bridge and the East River are beautiful looking from the Brooklyn Bridge in January, 2009. The light is beautiful when it's almost dark outside. The color of the sky is blue, a little pink, and a little bit of orange. 

Shan Shan Lin, MS131

This picture of the Brooklyn Bridge is beautiful, the  time  is  2009, January. I took the  

picture because the boat is very big.

MS131-City Hall Senior Center Collaboration

06 Feb 2009, 2:10 PM by Alice, Intergenerational Projects

The photo program at MS131 has been collaborating with the City Hall Senior Center, posing the question “What is your first memory of New York?” Both the seniors and the students answered, and these are some of their memories:

“My first time in NY it was noisy with a lot of people, everybody busy, The city was so dirty…But in the night NY was so enjoyable!  The Brooklyn Bridge, the cars all turned their lights on…everything just like in the movies!”  -Cheng Cheng Zhou, MS131 student
 

"When I first came to NY, everything was fresh and interesting.  Reading English was ok for me, but speaking English was so difficult.  Then I went to learn English.  Daytime, I worked.  At night I went to study English.  Every night I got home at 11pm.  Finally I got used to living in the U.S."

-Senior at City Hall Senior Center

The Night

The sun was gone,

the darkness covered the city.

The lights went on,

the day was over.

The memory of the first day

flashed in my mind:

sitting on the plane,

looking at the dark night.

It was quite beautiful.

By Denise M. (8th Grade, M.S. 131 After-School Photography Class)