Anecdotes from the “picture guy”
Installment Two
Today is the culmination of the last full week of school before Thanksgiving break. This week I had the privilege to be in classes at all four of our current schools (sometimes even in one day) and saw programing ranging from Rube Goldberg machines, to making miniature gardens, video PSAs, and even to boat making. Here are some of the my highlight from the week:
This class started out with a “Murphy’s Law” beginning. The heat was temporarily out in their classroom, there was a substitute teacher, two of PAA’s three studio lights were inexplicably not working and we were supposed to do a live weather report in 19 degree weather. But with all of those strikes against us, our Artist-Educator Lauren and the kids worked incredibly hard to get the job done. This photo is of the outdoor live weather reporters in the frigid weather before nailing their final take minutes before the bell rang.
When I first took this photo, it took me a while to understand what was going on. I have recently upgraded cameras and with that transition I went from shooting from an LCD screen to a viewfinder so I had not experienced this before. After going through my photos a little later, I realized that this girl was doing what kindergardeners do. She was imitating the face that I was making while taking the photo of her. So in a way, this is a picture of me too.
These boys were not particularly excited about getting their faces painted, to put it bluntly. I was a little concerned. But once PAA Artist-Educator Dina started working on the “snake” paint and I was able to show them what they looked like on my camera, they were convinced. In most classes, I try to avoid showing kids their photos because of the distraction but for this class it turned out to help their engagement with it. They were all proud of how “raw” (the ultimate compliment) they looked and the day and project were a huge success.
Last year, kindergarden at Hannah Gibbons was one of my favorite classes I got to take photos of. So this week, it was a little strange not seeing those familiar faces. The new group of kids this year reminded me of why I had so much fun last year. Engaged but in a light-hearted environment, they worked on our Artist-Educator Jen’s project on weather and printmaking. This particular student, along with another boy, stood out as the star students. Both of their control over their paint brushes and care for their work was years beyond their young age.
Although this student does not appear to be having the best time, her hair clips give a better idea of her disposition. This class is doing PSA’s on the effects of fertilizer runoff in Lake Erie and the subsequent “Algae Bloom”. This student pictured is acting out the effects of drinking the contaminated water by pretending to be sick. It is hard to be gloomy when your hair is constantly reminding you to be “Happy”.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
