Youth Party

Yesterday the photo club went to a party...... Guess who's party? Russell Simmons'!!! We had so much fun we took pictures of the party. We saw kids perform: from dances to bands to poetry! There also were some famous celebrities that we saw: Fat Man Scoop, Young Beats and Jason Fox and more! Come check out our pictures!!!


By Domonique Jones

TRIP TO THE CLEMENTE SOTO MUSEUM

On december 6th our photography class went to Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center and we met Luis Cancel who guided us through art of the well known Lower East Side. Heres a direct link to the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center so you could check it out http://www.csvcenter.com/clemente.html We learned a lot about determined photographers who by photos showed the world what the Lower East Side was all about. The pictures were amazing and we learned about the theaters and the different races that represent the L.E.S.

this is all of us


This is Luis Cancel who guided us through the amazing pieces of work.

The Lower East Side and Mural Club

The Mural Club is good when it comes to painting, but who knew they would be great? I am part of the Photography Club. We had an assignment to go off and find the meaning of the Lower East Side. Me and a fellow photographer, Elizabeth, thought that the meaning of New York can be found with the Mural Club. Spray painting on buildings is one thing that New York is known for. So we headed off to the Tenement Museum. They started off bad, but ended up doing masterpieces. Well maybe I won't say masterpieces, but it's a start to great paintings. Everyone was having a blast and once it's finished we will let you know so you can see the great drawing of New Design High school students in the Mural Club.

by Kaylee

Losiaida Cultural Wire

I thought that when Ben, Dennis and I were going to the radio station that it would 105.1 or something like that. But it wasn't - it was a podcast, it was broadcast. This was my first experenice being on a radio show, not to mention a live broadcast. During the progress of getting interviewed you could hear what you just said minutes before. So while I was responding to Luis R. Cancel's questions, I was hearing what I had just 30 seconds before. If you go on the website at eastvillageradio.com you hear that there is a pause I did because I was so nosy I wanted to make sure I souded GOOD. Then I realized that I was supposed to be talking. I wound up saying "Uuummm."

Click here to hear the interview: http://www.eastvillageradio.com/modules.php?name=evrshow&showid=7

Click on the most recent show. We come on after about an hour, so you can listen to the whole thing or fast-forward to us.

by Elizabeth


Elizabeth, Ben and Dennis at East Village Radio

THE NEW SIDE OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE

We the Photo Club took pictures of the L.E.S. today and how much it has changed. We want to show how cultures have mixed together. In our pictures we showed how different culture's food and backgrounds came together and it's one big city. We showed pollution. Check out our pictures, they're awesome!!!!

Scavenger Hunt

Click on the picture to see more photos.

by Domonique Jones

We Have Two New Members!

Two new people joined our after-school! Here are their answers to the survey that Eliana and Jeannine made:

Name: Jonathan
Age: 15
Nationality: Puerto Rican/Black
Why im here in photo after-school: because it lookz fun
What makez me unique: im bright
Nickname:Jonny/Jonny Boy which eva workz 4 ya

Name: Shearn
Age: 15
Nationality: African-American/Black
Why am I in photo after-school: i'm here because i enjoy taking pictures of myself and friends and family, and being here i'm going to learn to enjoy taking pictures of other things.
What makes me unique?: I don't know, you tell me?
Nickname: I don't really have one, but I'd rather be called Shawn than Shearn.

And here are the self-portraits that they took:

More About the Presentation

We were really nervous because we didn’t want to look like fools and we really want the job. It means a lot to us because it's part of our school. We really worked hard and we think that if we don’t get the job that we are going to be upset. Most of us probably lost our train of thought. We had everything planned out, we knew what to say but when it all came down to it, to presenting it in front of the committee we just got nervous all of a sudden. But we were able to get our thoughts and ideas out to them. We really hope that we are able to get the job and keep working for other people, because we really want to try to make learning history very fun and interesting. We will keep you posted!!!!

Click here to see more photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/newdesignphoto/MuralPresentation

by Eliana

Showing our Mural Design to the Tenement Museum!

We showed our design to the mural committee at the Tenement Museum offices. We talked about history and how we’re going to relate it to current events and people now in the Lower East Side. We explained that we took pictures of how immigrants back in the day moved to the L.E.S. for the mural people to create and elaborate on their ideas.

In the mural we showed that the women working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were locked in the sweatshop by the owners. Then there was a short fuse and it started a fire and the women had no way to escape so they were burned. When the firemen came, some women jumped so they wouldn’t get burned. It shows the history and how women from the L.E.S. had jobs of sewing under bad working conditions.

The spool in thread in the mural shows the development of history and how working conditions changed. We put in the modern people to show the changes of the L.E.S. and people’s experiences: the connection to history.

by Eliana, Domonique, Nora, Jeannine, and Melanie

Sketchy

We printed our lovely photos and showed them to the mural class who used them in their mural design sketches (which will show up on this blog soon). There were some great ideas: flames to represent the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, a spool of thread unwinding to symbolize history and the garment industry, a skateboarder jumping to show the L.E.S. today. I can't wait to see the mural.

-Alice

Click on the photo to see our sketches.

From Mural Sketches

The Photo Class Interviews the Mural Class

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

"I'm sketching for the final draft of the mural."-Michelle
"Helping students develop ideas." -Ben
"Getting images from different people to get ideas." -Denise
"To incorporate the drawings I saw from the museum into the mural." -Dilyon
"Working on graffiti." -Thomas
"I am working on a mural piece." -Lisette

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PROJECT?

"It's a good project because we get to work with spray cans and materials, and it's a good chance to work with colors." -Michelle
"It's good, lots of ideas." -Ben
"It's good because I've never done something like this before." -Denise
"It's coming along, it has many good ideas." -Dilyon
"I think it's good because I get to do graffiti." -Thomas
"It's fun!" -Lisette

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING YOU'VE DONE?

"Sketching was fun." -Michelle
"Brainstorming and developing ideas for the mural." -Ben
"Spray painting for the first time." -Denise
"To go see the museum and working on the mural individually." -Dilyon
"Spray painting." -Thomas

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION TO DO THE MURAL?

"From the museum and daily life." -Michelle
"We got inspired from each other" -Ben
"I started drawing when I was little and I kept going. [I was inspired by] the stuff I saw in the museum." -Dilyon
"Because I like spray painting." -Thomas

-By Nora, Melanie and Domonique

Click here to see our photos:

From Working on Mu...

Street Photography

New photos!! We wanted to show today's version of the L.E.S. The photography group went out on the street and actually asked people to take pictures!!! We were so SCARED but eventually we overcame our fear. Come check out our new pictures they're really hot, we just wanted to show you the people how things have really changed over time. Learning things in school might of been boring but we decided to trying to show a new different way of learning, a fun and interesting way. We found a way to make it more fun and the thing that most people enjoy is graffiti, so we combined learning history with graffiti and so far things have been working out just fine. We will keep you posted.

By: Domonique and Eliana

Click on the photo to see our pictures.

Tenement Museum Photos!

We are awesome! Look at these awesome pics of the museum! Look at the exciting pics of what the people did and wore! We totally need a fashion update!! We took pictures about the people who were immigrants who lived in the Lower East Side. We took pictures because we are making a mural for the museum and we will use the photos to design the mural.

by Melanie, Nora, Domonique and Samantha

Click here to see our photos:

From Tenement Museum

Who Are We?

You're probably wondering who we are... Jeannine and Eliana made this survey to let you know.

Click here to see our self-portraits from the first day of class:

From Self-Portraits

Name: Jonathan
Age: 15
Nationality: Puerto Rican/Black
Why im here in photo after-school: becuase it lookz fun
what makez me unique: im bright
Nickname:Jonny/Jonny Boy which eva workz 4 ya

Name: Shearn
Age: 15
Nationality: African-American/Black
Why am I in photo after-school: i'm here because i enjoy taking pictures of myself and friends and family, and being here i'm going to learn to enjoy taking poictures of other things.
What makes me unique?: I don't know, you tell me?
Nickname: I dont really have one, but I rather be called Shawn than Shearn.

Name: Eliana
Age: 14
Nationality: Dominican (Hispanic)
Why I'm in photo after-school: Because I like taking pictures.
What makes me unique: I can always make you laugh & smile.
Nickname: Elie

Name: Jeannine
Age: 14
Nationality: Ecuadorian (Hispanic)
Why I'm in photo after-school: I like taking pictures of anything and everything I see.
What makes me unique: I have a good personality
Nickname: Chicken Little (only Eliana can call me that)

Name: Adrian
Age: 16
Nationality: Dominican (Hispanic)
Why I'm in photo after-school: Scott (the principal) made me take it.
What makes me unique: N/A
Nickname: Chicken Little N/A

Name: Domonique
Age: 16
Nationality: Black/White
Why I'm in photo after-school: Because it's fun and interesting.
What makes me unique: I don't know.
Nickname: Momo or Monique

Name: Samantha
Age: 14
Nationality: Puerto Rican
Why I'm in photo after-school: I don't know
What makes me unique: I don't know
Nickname: N/A

Name: Melanie
Age: 14
Nationality: Puerto Rican/Hondurian
Why I'm in photo after-school: To get credits for graduating
What makes me unique: I don't know (braces)
Nickname: Mel

Name: Nora
Age: 14
Nationality: Hondurian
Why I'm in photo after-school: Because I was interested in it.
What makes me unique: I don't know.
Nickname: N/A

Name: Alice
Age: 28
Nationality: American (Irish/Jewish)
Why I'm in photo after-school: I like taking a little thing and making it important [in photographs]. Photography relaxes me.
What makes me unique: I am funny, I read a lot, and I have a weird view of the world.
Nickname: Aiya

Model Artwork

So, in order to make great art, we need to study great art - what we call "Model Artwork." Here are a few examples by Lewis Hine, one of the first photojournalists:


Hine took this portrait on the Lower East Side. We'll be doing the same.


He took this photo of Italian immigrants at Ellis Island. We'll learn about the immigrants back then, and then take pictures of immigrants on the L.E.S. now.

Good, right? I can't wait to meet the students and see what they think.

Welcome to One of Working Playground's Network ArtSpace Blogs!

What is This?
This blog is a part of an afterschool digital photography and mural My New York model program at New Design High School.

Essential Question
How can we interpret to re-invent?

Foundation Statement
How do we learn history? How do the ways that we learn history change what we think about it? Which incidents become Important Historical Events? In this My New York after-school program, we will complete a commission for the Tenement Museum in collaboration with Ben Rojas’ mural class. Working as professional artists, we will use photography to research neighborhood history and the museum. We will use our photographs as source material for a mural that will reflect the Lower East Side’s immigration story as well as the museum’s programs. The mural will be painted on several metal pull-down gates at the museum and shared on this blog!

After presenting the mural design to the museum, we will move on to photographing the neighborhood’s contemporary immigrants and interviewing them about places that tell their stories. We will study photographic portraits and go to the Paley Center to create radio interviews. We document immigrant issues, communities, demographics and services in the Lower East Side. We will also experience documentation’s subjectivity and will draw our own conclusions, synthesizing our observations into historical documents.

When and Where?
New Design High School/The Tenement Museum
Lower East Side
New York, NY

Resources

Here are some DVDs I'd like to get and show my classes:


Reporting: America at War


The Fourth World War


American Photography: A Century of Images

And now for some books:


Subway by Bruce Davidson


Brooklyn Gang by Bruce Davidson


East Side Stories by Joe Rodriguez

And here are some dream field trips, when we have time:


Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art at the Brooklyn Museum


Jacob Lawrence at the Studio Museum


Gerda Taro at International Center of Photography

-Alice