Weekly Recap

Monday
First class with the AEP Programme boys. We started with the same handshake contract as I had with the girls. I hadn't brought the battery charger that day, which proved to have been a bad decision once batteries started dying 20 minutes into the first of two one hour lessons. I promised that it wouldn't happen again, and the boys were all forgiving. We spent the rest of the first lesson learning the basics. Since I was still supposed to be teaching after lunch, I made up an activity on the spot. We spent the first half of the lesson in the classroom, storyboarding out a football (soccer) photo essay, and the second half on the field, staging and shooting it. There was some macho posturing from the older boys which caused some stress for me.

Wednesday
We started the first lesson with reviewing the football photo essay and talking about what was good about it and what could have been better. Actually, we started the first lesson talking about Obama's victory. We then moved onto reviewing handling of the cameras, and learning the different modes. We also talked about angles, which I demonstrated by shooting one of the older boys from above and one of the smaller boys from below. We talked about how a worm's eye view made the subject look big and powerful and how the bird's eye view had the opposite effect. I tried to impart the power one has as the person behind the camera. We ended the lesson with a review of zoom and focusing before shooting. After lunch, the boys went around the compound in pairs (matched for ability and temperament) and shot pictures of things that were visually interesting. I had asked them to try not to take a lot of pictures of one another and for the most part, they listened. They all came back to the classroom at the agreed upon time and the pictures were great. Things are going well with this group.

Saturday
We started by reviewing the pictures from the week before, which I had already coded. They seemed pleased to see the fruits of their labour. There are two new girls in living in the department since last week, and I hadn't brought the other two cameras so the girls had to work in pairs for one day. This worked out because one of the new girls had never taken a picture before. The two new girls did the handshake agreement, which served as an opportunity for the others to review their promises. We reviewed the basics and proper handling, left the cameras on 'easy mode' and went around the compound to shoot. When we were done shooting, I introduced the rule of thirds. I have found that despite the instructions, the majority of the photos are of people posing, most of which are vanity shots of themselves or each other. Instead of getting frustrated, I am chalking it up to where they are developmentally and accepting it. I was not intending to have any portraits of the photographers up in the show, as we were going to do video interviews. Now, based on the number of vanity shots and the discussions that we have had, I am starting to think that a wall of 4x6 portraits of them might be a more suitable representation of the artists for their group.

Sunday
A friend of mine from university who is also currently in Trinidad came along to help supervise our walk around Belmont, which has a reputation for not being a great neighbourhood. There was a staff shift change happening while we were there, so we started off by reviewing the photos from the previous day. I noticed that all of them had a tendency to cut off the tops of heads or people's feet, so I mentioned that. I also pointed out when they had used the rule of thirds well, or when their lighting was effective. I set all of their cameras to have a grid overlay in the LCD screen to facilitate the rule of thirds. Our group walk went well, but there was a delicate balance between independence and safety (which has actually been the theme of my time here). We stayed out for less time than initially anticipated because my friend and I were concerned that we were sitting ducks, 10 women with 9 digital cameras in a generally low income neighbourhood. Once we were back on site, the girls were left to take pictures around the compound. Some of them came back over half an hour late, but since their staff person was offsite running an errand, I was happy to stay later to supervise. I left the equipment on-site and will upload and code their pictures on Wednesday.