Weekly Recap

Wednesday
I meant to teach a lesson during the first period and to take the kids out after lunch, but that didn't work with the staff's schedule so we flipped it. We took the AEP boys through Belmont, much like I'd done with the St. Kateri girls on Sunday. Actually, we just walked along the street that the home is on until we reached Belmont park, spent some time there and then walked back. I showed the boys their pictures from the week before while everyone ate lunch. The second session, which I knew would be a problem, took a very long time to settle into and the boys were very worn out from the morning's excitement. We had a quick talk about settings and angles we could use for different animals, as we were going to the zoo the next day. They learned how to turn off the flash for the animals behind plastic, and we dismissed them early.

Thursday
I came in a little bit earlier than normal and the kids' lunches were already made. We packed into three of the staff members' cars and drove to the zoo, which is nearby. The boys were essentially left to wander the zoo in their pairs, with staff initially roaming around to ask leading questions and help out. Eventually, we all sat down in the picnic area and the kids came to us when they were done or needed us. They took pictures for ages, running around and getting low to get their shots. Eventually, when all of the 12 batteries had run out (for 5 cameras), the boys ate picnic style. One pair had taken 410 pictures. Somewhere in the middle of the day, one of the staff had bought them all ice cream. They agreed that it was a good day. We drove back to the home and dismissed them immediately.

Friday
The AEP staff have been having professional development days on Fridays for a few weeks. This was my first involvement in the process. I facilitated a 3 hour workshop on the language of photography, camera basics and visual literacy. I didn't seek out feedback from the group, but I heard that it was generally successful, which was nice. It was a lot of information that I presented to them in a very short period of time, and everyone was coming with a different level of knowledge. I gave Mr. Mader a copy of the power point presentation so that concepts can be revisited later.

Saturday
I was supposed to take the St. Kateri girls to the zoo, but it has been very rainy lately. And not just one rainfall midday, like usual, but several throughout the day. To make matters worse, my friend who helps out with supervision was out of town and some of the girls had stayed up late to watch tv and were dead on their feet. We decided to raincheck the zoo and have a catch up kind of day. I accidentally replaced two of the girls' photos from the first day, so they went out to take some shots, along with the girls who have moved into the house since the beginning of the program. Two of the girls who I know well and who have been there since the beginning stayed back with me to look at their photos so far, as well as my personal pictures from my time with them in the summer 2007. We even found videos of them dancing in their living room that I didn't know I still had. When the group came back, they all watched them together and laughed. They proceeded to make several new dancing videos that I have yet to upload, but I look forward to the accompanying giggles.

The girls and I all wanted to go take some shots at a nearby beach. I had discussed the idea with administration, who were facilitating transportation. Then admin let me know that the girls might have a brunch to go to on Sunday, but if not, transportation was available. The girls didn't know anything about it on Saturday. We agreed to go to Chagaramas if possible, and to do a fashion photo shoot at the house as a plan B. I went back to admin to see what was up, and it turned out that some of them were going to the brunch, they just weren't aware of it yet. I asked about taking them to the beach afterwards, which I was told would be fine, but that no one had discussed transportation with them so I was on my own.

Sunday
I was woken up at 8:30 am, and I promptly called the St. Kateri house to tell the staff that I would be by at 3 pm to take their headshots and to ask the staff to tell the kids to be dressed and ready for when I got there. At 3 pm, there were some girls lying around the living room and colouring. The rest were in their rooms. No one was dressed; no one had told them to get ready. I gave them 30 minutes to prepare. They proceeded to model one by one in front on flowered curtains. The shots are cute, but they are stilted and despite my best attempts at lighting, the necessary flash had a harsh effect on a lot of the girls. They are not bad pictures, but portraits taken in natural light would have been ideal. But the girls had fun and I think they enjoyed the attention. We talked a bit about the art show and they seem to be excited about it.

As requested, here are a few notable photos taken by participants in the last couple of weeks:

by Angel

By Victory and Christian

By Akeel and Marlon

by Akile

Exhibition Venue

Although I haven't spoken to anyone about this yet, I assume that I have access to the Home's auditorium for the art show. However, I know from experience with the girls that there is more meaning for them when things happen off-site. I have, therefore, scoured the internet, looking for possible venues for the show. At last count, I had sent out five emails to galleries, one to the national museum and one to the national art society. It has been less than 24 hours and I have not received any replies as yet. I'm not particularly optimistic, but I needed to try.

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.

The Transition girls were all a having so-so day because the party in their house this evening was causing them some stress. Once we started using the cameras, though, the ones who are the least outgoing were absolutely shining. (So were the outgoing ones, but it was less remarkable to see.) Their pride in their pictures and how careful they were with the equipment- we had handshake agreements about our respective responsibilities- was really wonderful. We only did a total of one hour of learning and shooting in and around their house, as there were preparations to be made for the fête. We will do three hours of lessons and shooting around the compound next Saturday, and I am aiming to take them offsite for the day next Sunday.

I was unable to upload the pictures to my external hard drive, as I do not have access to the computers on the weekend, but I very much look forward to doing so on Monday.

I met with the staff of the AEP Programme today to present the Visual Literacy and Communication project. I think I hit on all of the key points regarding the aims of the project and the staff's role. They were receptive and mostly enthusiastic by the end of the meeting. Some of them had never used a digital camera before today, and their smiles have me feeling that the AEP students will enjoy digital photography as well.

I stayed back in the teachers' resource room and put together a 25 point photographic language slide show, complete with a few activities to keep things interesting. I am doing a 3 hour visual literacy workshop with the AEP staff on the 14th, and I guess having met with them had me focused on that task. I was highly productive, but it was somewhat foolish not to be working on the lesson plan for tomorrow's session with the Transition girls. Luckily, it turns out that there's a party at their house today smack in the middle of our session, so we're going to learn the basics of the camera and then document the party via experiential learning.

I was on site for less than an hour today. I met with the house mother of the Transition Girls, who is a woman I know from my work last summer. She is very supportive, if not severe. She seems enthusiastic about the project and willing to assist where necessary. The other house staff person was lovely.

Of the six girls I am working with, there are two that I have not worked with previously. One of them was around quite often last year, and she greeted me with a hug. The other one was shy but seems very intelligent. I suspect that one of the girls I worked with last year will be the most challenging of the group, but with the 1:6 ratio, I am hoping we will make progress.