Photography

Winter Showcase at Brandeis High School

16 Dec 2011, 3:07 PM by keith, High School

Students in all three of UAP's 21st Century Community Learning Centers after school arts programs at Louis D. Brandeis High School recently presented their work at a showcase for family and friends.

First up was the Good Lookin' Photo Club led by teaching artist Yarrow Lutz, represented by a slideshow of students' images from recent projects, some of which involved the photo students collaborating with students in the Fashion Club run by The Leadership Program.  The images highlight not only their amazing creativity and technical skill, but also show their willingness to take risks with the camera.  The slideshow can be seen in video format below. 

The Drama Club and the Music Club also presented collaborative performance pieces.  Working with teaching artists Heather Acs and Erika Kapin, students jointly explored the theme of heroic love to create short scenes accompanied by live musical soundtrack.  Drama students presented two scenes backed by performers from the Music Club, which made for a truly unique experience for the audience.

"First we learned the keys and fingering and then we learned how to play the pieces.  We collaborated with the Drama Club.  We both had a theme of "heroic love," then put our parts together.  We shared our work, then we added some things and edited some stuff out.  I was nervous to perform, but I just acted like nobody was there and played my part.  Before the program I didn't know anything about piano.  I wish we could have the program for more days." - Quadry, 12th grade

"Our topic was heroic love.  Our group was all boys, so we did a scene that dealt with brotherly love from 'Boyz in Da Hood."  It was like a Broadway show to have the live music during the scene.  As an actor, it makes you feel it more.  i was influenced by mafia movies and actors I like.  This is what I want to be, so that's why I study it and work hard.  I love acting and drama and it's something I plan to do as I get older." - Raymond, 11th grade

"We've been working on heroic love and my scene involves drug dealers.  We chose this because it relates to life.  It's a story about when a character has to do something he doesn't ever imagine he would do.  We wanted the audience to think about how there are ways to get money and things you want, but you have to choose the good ways to do it." - Courtney, 11th grade

This year at Manhattan Acadmy of Arts & Language (MAAL), teaching artist Elise Rasmussen has been collaborating with Ms. Delgado in two Global History classes.  Throughout the year, students will be creating arts-based projects that use photography and visual arts to showcase their understanding of various historical concepts and eras from the curriculum.

In the Global History 3 class, students have been studying political revolutions from around the world to better understand the roots of revolution and how revolutions affect the lives of the people.  They worked in groups to create propaganda posters each related to a specific revolution, and then presented them to the class to explain the background, and important events and people involved.  Each poster included a slogan and at least one original photo that the students created to capture the spirit of the revolution.

The Global History 1 class has been exploring religions from around the world, and examining the differences and similarities across religions.  Students created and presented posters to communicate messages of non-discrimination based on religion, each using an original photo devised and shot by the group.  In these images, students experimented with using lighting techniques to help make their intended messages come across even more powerfully.

"We were learning about world cultures and religions and how we can all live together.  It's an important message because some people think that our differences are bad, and they might act weird.  My favorite part was taking the picture.  We're trying to say that we might come from different cultures, but really we're all the same." - Emelly, 9th grade

"My project is about how religions shouldn't make boarders between us.  My favorite part was how our picture uses hands to represent people of different cultures.  In the world, there are so many people, and so many religions." - Freddy, 9th grade

"My poster is about how there are no real differences between our color or religions.  This message is important because we are all equals.  My favorite part was taking our photo, because it shows that we can all be unified and equal." - Manuela, 9th grade

This week, we were pleased to welcome photographer Jan-Patrick Schmitz, CEO of Montblanc North America, into our new partner school, Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology, for a Master Class on portrait photography with students in the after school photo program with teaching artist Laurie Krupp. 

 

Jan-Patrick shared examples of his work and the techniques he used to achieve certain effects.

Students and Jan-Patrick discuss principles of light and strategies for shooting in both natural light and studio settings.

The students' work was uploaded for viewing and reflection toward the end of the class to discuss what tools they used to capture their subjects in different ways.  Examples of students' work from the shoot can be seen below: 

"We turned the room into a photo studio.  We used paper backgrounds to shoot portraits.  Lighting can show the details in people's faces, and I learned not to shine too much light into someone's face.  It can be a little bit hard.  I like taking pictures and talking about other people's work that's awesome and unique." - Danissa, 9th grade

"I was shooting portraits of a friend of mine.  Sometimes I shot them from different angles with different framing.  I tried some with natural lighting and some with hot lights.  My favorite part was taking pictures and manipulating the light to my advantage." - Kylan, 9th grade

"We were learning how to bend light to the best angel that suits our frame.  My favorite part was learning how to manipulate natural light to capture the moment.  I like how photography shows the common factors between different people.  I love the class." - Venitia, 9th grade

 

 

Spring Showcase at Brandeis HS

04 Jun 2011, 12:34 AM by keith, High School

Students from the three Urban Arts Partnership after school programs at Louis D. Brandeis High School recently came together for their annual Spring Showcase.  All three programs presented strong work and celebrated their accomplishments with family and friends in attendance.  We’re so proud of all the hard work and creativity from these young artists!

The String Ensemble performed three pieces they have been working on: "Pokerface” by Lady Gaga, the traditional hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing,” and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay.  They displayed confidence and technical skill in their playing, as well as a strong sense of cohesion as an ensemble.

“This year I learned how to play my instrument, how to practice better, and how to not get stage fright.  I will remember performing and being with the group.  It was my first year with Urban Arts and I had fun.” said 11th grader Alexis.

“We worked on a lot of different pieces… my favorites were Lady Gaga and “Viva La Vida.”  We learned how to listen to each other, how to tune our instruments, and how to perform without being nervous.” added 12th grader Regine.

The Good Lookin’ Photo Club presented several different projects they created during the year.  Students created comic panels using photos they had taken to create original stories and discussed their process.  The group also had a large display of students’ favorite shots taken during the year to show the diverse range of work produced.  The club also screened two stop-motion animations, both made in collaboration with the other two UAP programs at Brandeis.  With the Drama Club, students created original experimental scenes.  They also collaborated with the String Ensemble to create "moving portraits" of members of the String Ensemble, set to a recording of the ensemble's performance of "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay.  Check out this animation below: 

“We worked a lot on building a portfolio and taking pictures in different situations.  We learned about stop-motion animation and prop setups.  I liked shooting still life scenes.  Mine had different art supplies and other things from home.  My favorite things to shoot are portraits because I love getting people’s reactions.  I also like landscapes because the scene can change over time, and a picture can capture how things looked so people in the future can look back and see how it was.  I’m glad I joined the club.  I’m an artist and I like taking pictures of anything.” remarked 11th grader Jason.

The Drama Club students performed their original one-act play “American Dream,” which tells the story of a dysfunctional family coming apart.  The characters include a delusional mother who tries to pretend everything’s perfect, her prized plant TreeTree that she secretly talks to for advice and comfort, her troubled husband who is tormented with emotional instability and nightmares since returning from military duty, and her two daughters who argue constantly, one of whom finds solace in talking to her dog.  The play included humor, intrigue and surprising turns, as well as strong performances from all the actors.  “American Dream” is a unique and darkly funny vision from these young performing artists.

“Our play was about a family becoming psychotic.  I played the tree… he helps the main character, Barbara, by talking to her and gives her advice about her family.  I thought I wasn’t going to like acting and bring on stage, but I really liked it.” said 11th grader Joel. 

Fellow Drama Club member Ashley (11th grade) added, “I like acting because I get to be creative playing different characters and working with people.  Getting into character can be hard, but then I think about how the character acts throughout their day and what they’re thinking and feeling.  I learned how you get into character by focusing and bringing your emotions into it.  The play was awesome.  I liked the story most because we all put in our ideas.”

“I improved my acting skills and got to exercise something I love.  When you’re hungry for something, you have to do whatever it takes.  My character is a retired military man.  He has nightmares about who killed his friend.  He’s seeing a psychiatrist and eventually remembers that he actually killed his friend.  There’s a lot of emotions.  I think that connecting with my emotions and focusing helps me bring emotions to the stage.” said 12th grader Edwin.

Year End Celebration at IS 230

01 Jun 2011, 1:20 PM by keith, Middle School

Urban Arts Partnership’s two after school programs at IS 230 in Jackson Heights are both coming to a close for the school year.  The programs culminated with students showcasing work created during the year at a recent evening event for families and friends.  We’re proud of all the hard work and creativity that these amazing students have put into their projects this year!

Students in the Photo Club displayed “Epic Jackson Heights,” their original photo guidebook to their beloved neighborhood, as well as their individual photo portfolios of images taken during the year.  The book collects students’ original photos and articles about the community, including its attractions, food, culture and history.  Students presented selections from the book by reading their work aloud to the audience while images from the book were projected.  Each student received her own copy of “Epic Jackson Heights,” and a copy of the book was donated to the school library so that their work can live on within the school for years to come.



“We decided to make a book about our neighborhood, like a brochure about the neighborhood.  I really liked writing an article and taking the pictures.  I think our neighborhood is magnificent and beautiful, and the book is written in our own words.  It tells about how we feel about the neighborhood.” said 6th grader Kayla.

“I liked the way we learned different techniques to take photos that look cool.  I will remember my friends and our teacher by looking at the book we made.” remarked fellow 6th grader Amber.

“I like that our book shows how to get to Jackson Heights.  I want people who see the book to know how much work we did.  This year I learned how to take good pictures, and more about Jackson Heights.” added 7th grader Julissa.



The students also solicited book reviews from their classmates that were not part of the Photo Club:

“My favorite part of the book is how it shows and describes Jackson Heights.  I like how it’s organized.  I want people outside the area to know what Jackson Heights is like” – Syeda, 6th grade

“I like the part about the bowling alley because I go there a lot with my family.  I also like the biographies of the students because it reflects and shows how the kids are.  It’s interesting and helpful to check out the book to find out places to go.” – Ashley, 6th grade

Besides the Photo Club, students in the Mask Making Club also celebrated their accomplishments at the culminating event.  They displayed a large number of both large and small Vejigante masks that they created in paper mache.  Students painted and decorated the masks so that they represented various aspects of their personalities, interests and heritage.  The group also presented an animation they made featuring their masks, which can be seen below.    

 
“I learned how to make masks and paint them.  We also made sculptures and statues.  My favorite part was making the masks because it was fun.  I made a lizard mask with a long tongue and big eyes.” – Charlie, 7th grade

“This year I learned how to make a mask with a round shape out of recycled cardboard and newspaper.  I like painting the best because it was some time to think and decide which colors to use.  My favorite project was a sculpture of a person, and the little Vejigantes we made.” – Carolina, 6th grade

 

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