Thursday, October 1, 2015

MY BK/NYC PHOTO SUMMATIVE #2 PART I

Photo Goals:
1.     Capture aspects of your Brooklyn/NYC. Remember at least 3 photos must accompany your essay.
2.     Use photo composition techniques

DIRECTIONS:
Practice the photocomposition techniques you learned from Salak’s powerpoint lecture.
Take a photo to answer at least seven of the questions below.  Remember to TAKE YOUR TIME in setting up your shot. Minimum 5 photos.

1.    What is in the frame and what is not in the frame?
2.    Where is the light coming from? (Lighting and Shadow)
3.    How far away or how close up do I have to be to take this photo?
4.    What works best for this shot putting the subject in the center, or off-center?
5.    How can I use lines to divide the photo?
6.    How can I use like colors or contrasting colors to take a better photo?
7.    How can I capture high contrast (dark darks and light lights)?
8.    Where can I emphasize color?
9.    How can I create strong shadows or silhouettes?
10. What can I do in this picture to create layers (things in the foreground, middle-ground and background)?

PHOTO SUMMATIVE PART II (At home)

DIRECTIONS:
Choose at least 5 photographs and upload it to Flickr.  Save it to your album with the tag myBKnyc. Add Titles and description (see description directions below).

1.    1-3 sentences explaining how the picture shows your BK/NYC and/or why you took the picture

2.    Describe the composition choices you made when taking this photo (which question did you answer, and how did you answer it in the photo?) in the “Description” space.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Personal Narrative (Summative Assignment)

Due Wednesday, October 7th

What is my relationship to NYC?  How is my identity shaped by where I am from and where I live?

Summative Assessment:  Personal Narrative writing piece and photo illustration

How do writers communicate their experiences of being a New Yorker?  After reading and analyzing personal essays by several New Yorkers describing their perceptions and relationships to where they live, write a narrative from your own perspective of living in New York that addresses your relationship to the city, and how living here shapes your identity.   Use imagery and sensory language to develop a narrative effect in your work.   Include personal anecdotes, reflection and details to support your ideas about what it means to live in the city.

Remember: You are writing for an audience.  This audience will be visiting our class exhibition in January and will be school and community members and will be meeting you through your pieces.

You will choose from 3 possible formats to craft your piece:

1.     Sensory Descriptions – for this you will talk about the sights, sounds, people and places that make up your NYC/Brooklyn. You must use details to bring these places to life for your reader. Also, make clear why these places are so important to you, how have they shaped you?

2.     Pivotal Moment(s) – A deeper look at a select few NYC/Brooklyn moment(s) that had a big impact on you


3.     Compare and Contrast to other places you have lived or spent time in – which feels more like you?

Anchor Texts:  One in 8 Million website, Colossus of New York, Colson Whitehead; The Bronx Remembered slideshow, David Gonzalez; + 1 from the immigrant experience

Guidelines:

  • The assignment should be 2 pages minimum and 4 pages maximum.
  • Typed, 12pt font and double spaced
  • Make sure to give your piece a title.
  • Essays should be submitted via google docs giving Salak edit privileges
  • Be Sure to proofread your essay

Friday, September 18, 2015

HW Due Monday 9.21.2015

Look through our class flickr site, comment on at least 3 photos. Be sure to put your first name at the end of the comment. Ways to comment:
1.Use photo terms
2.How is photo similar or different to your BK/NYC?

3.Pick most interesting photos and explain why?

One in 8 Million

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There are approximately 8 million people who live in NYC.  Meet 13 of them.

Joshua Febres: The Uncertain Gang Member
On probation for robbery and assault, Joshua, 17, is a senior at the Bronx Lab School and a member of the Crips.

John Keegan: The Ladies’ Man
A vegan and an actor fascinated by human behavior, Mr. Keegan, 35, hires himself out as a coach for men who want help meeting women.

David Vega: The Doorman-Boxer
A lobby attendant on the Upper West Side, Mr. Vega, 52, retired from boxing in 1986 but still earns extra money sparring.

Jesse Villanueva: The Sneaker Connoisseur
Since high school, Mr. Villanueva, 32, has obsessively collected sneakers; he now serves "sneaker heads" at Alife Rivington Club, a store on the Lower East Side.

May Wong Lee: The Adoptive Mother
With three biological sons, Ms. Wong Lee and her husband adopted a girl, Mebrat, from Ethiopia, who they thought was 3, but she was a malnourished 6-year-old.

Rivka Karasik: The Religious Runaway
At 21, the age at which she was expected to marry, Ms. Karasik left the Lubavitch community of Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Elizabeth Cousins: The Teenage Mother
A junior in high school, Ms. Cousins, 16, lives with her mother and her 19-month-old daughter, Mahniya, in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Nancy Bunche: The Mayoral Maid
As housekeeper of Gracie Mansion since 1983, Ms. Bunche, 69, has been a witness to history.

Ra Ruiz: The Pier Kid
Harassed by schoolmates, Ms. Ruiz, now 22, took refuge among the gay youth hanging out at the Christopher Street pier.

Marc Tremitiere: The Baby Deliverer
When his wife went into labor last summer, Mr. Tremitiere, 40, could not wait for the ambulance.

Omika Jikaria: The Type A Teenager
A sophomore at Stuyvesant High School, Omika, 15, has been competing in beauty pageants for 10 years.

Melissa Dixson: The Urban Taxidermist
A former painter, Ms. Dixson, 30, taught herself taxidermy, starting with a pair of deer feet.

Joel Karp: The Corner Druggist
Forty-five years after opening Columbia Drugs on the Lower East Side, Mr. Karp, 71, is still the general manager.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Personal Narrative Photo Essay Assignment - Due Wednesday 9/16

Task: take pictures of the character of your Brooklyn/NYC.

Character is what is defining and memorable about a room, street, building, neighborhood or city.”
-        Steven W. Semes

Identify and photograph the people, places and things that make up your Brooklyn/NY.

You can take as many photos as you want, on Wednesday when we return to school you will need to select 5-10 photos that best show what defines your Brooklyn/NY and/or what is most memorable about your Brooklyn/NY to upload to your Flickr photo portfolio