Assignment #8

Deanna Nokes

Assignment #8

Faces of Education

Picture One-A plot holder and the daughter of a servant

            The first thing that struck me about this picture was their eyes. The young girls eyes seem to be piercing through the camera and looking right at me. The old mans eyes appear white and glazed over almost like a blind man. The use of natural sunlight from the window gives the picture a very old fashioned and proper feel. The girl is casting a shadow against the wall. Her hand is on her face as if she is trying to hide it. She is clearly uncomfortable. The picture in the background is a portrait of the old man when he was in the army. Every detail included in the frame seems to be very well thought out and tells a very distinct story.

Picture Two- At a meeting of the Voortrekkers in the suburb of Witfield

            The first question that arose for me in this picture was, what is the relationship between the woman and the three boys? Is she their mother, babysitter, or maybe a teacher? They all seem to be having a good time together. The depth of field in this picture allows us to focus on the people. We know they are in a park but it is not the focal point of our attention. The focus is on the relationship. We wonder what joke she is telling and wish we could be apart of it.

Picture Three- New Year’s Dat picnic at Hartebeespoort Dam

            There is so much going on in this picture, I don’t know what I am supposed to look at. I am drawn to people so I naturally looked at the sleeping child first and then the boy holding the baby second. But then, I noticed all the clutter around them, the blankets, the towels, the boxes, etc. I can’t help but wonder why he decided to include so much in the frame? Why not just the sleeping child? Why include so much of the car? To me, it feels like the calm within the storm.

Picture Four-A farmer’s son and his nursemaid

            The relationship is explained in the title, “A farmer’s son and his nursemaid.” The boy seems to be rather happy but the woman appears to be very uncomfortable. It looks like she is shying away from the boys touch. Her smile looks forced and she comes across very nervous. Neither one of them are wearing shoes which kind of give them a carefree look. Once I again I wondered about the framing of this picture. Including so much of the background allows us to place the characters in a rural setting, which makes us easier to imagine the time period they are in.

Picture Five- Girl in her new tutu on the stoep

            This picture is my favorite. I love the use of shadows and lines! When I think of ballerinas, I think of stick straight serious girls that are very linear. I think this captures that image perfectly. The lines all around her really compliment the lines in her body. Her facial expression is somewhat surprising. Perhaps it is because of my assumption that ballerinas are extremely serious and dedicated. The joy on her face seemed somewhat out of place. But then I read the caption, “girl in new tutu”, and the expression was clear. She is excited about her new tutu and wants to show it off.

Just a start...

Lyle Kane- Enviornmental Portrait

 

            I interviewed Lyle Kane, the founder and executive director of Reel Lives. “Reel Lives is a 501(c)3 non-profit filmmaking program teaching marginalized, refugee and war-affected youth to find an authentic voice through the medium of film”(reel-lives.org). Lyle primarily works with 15-20 year olds, helping them to create their own documentary films about issues that are important to them. The films usually run about 10-13 minutes and are shot, directed, and edited by the students. The 24-week program involves a lot of hard work and dedication from the students as well as the staff.

            Almost all of the students have absolutely no film or media experience whatsoever, so Reel Lives starts from the beginning to teach these kids how to make a documentary. When asked about the editing process, Lyle said, “That's the magic moment with these kids. When they're shooting, they're really distracted with the whole technical end of it. But when they're sitting down and looking at the footage, they start to find the bits that are important and put it together to form the narrative. That is where the catharsis happens of these people grappling with their own stories.”

            I asked Lyle about his childhood.  I found out that he dropped out of school when he was 11. Eventually, the state found him and put him in a reform school where he very nearly failed to graduate.  As a child, he found it difficult to be engaged with his education.  After high school, he took two years off to travel the world and figure out what he wanted to do with it. During that time, he decided he wanted to go into education. He received his undergrad at City College, his masters at Columbia, and is currently finishing his doctorate at the University of Oxford.

I asked Lyle what he envisioned for the future of Reel Lives, and he spoke predominantly of using different programs such as Avid and getting more computers and camera equipment.  He said, “I don’t think we’re ever going to be a program that services and trains 100 filmmakers a year. I am a strong believer in depth over breadth”(Personal Communication, Oct. 19^th, 2011). Ultimately, he imagines master classes for graduate students, college credit for students who complete the program, film festivals, and eventually taking the program international.

            Lyle told me about his exceptionally difficult childhood, but immediately brushed it off, calling it, “mundane compared to some of the things, some of the problems that the kids I work with have faced”(Personal Communication, Oct. 19^th, 2011).  I asked him what the greatest challenge in his life has been, and he responded, “I think it was hard, and I don’t know if I’ve done it yet, to learn how to be a man and an adult without any real guidance. I’ve been pretty much on my own since I was 12, more or less (Personal Communication, Oct. 19^th, 2011). “

I think that Lyle hopes to help these kids in any way he can, whether it is being the male figure that they don’t have at home, the counselor who will actually listen to them, the friend they can hang out with, or just a role model that they can look up to.   And I think he has succeeded.

Work Cited

·      Kane, Lyle. Reel Lives. Web. <http://www.reel-lives.org>.

·      Kane, Lyle. "Enviornmental Portrait Interview." Personal interview. 19. Oct. 2011

·      Sharpe, Bruce. "Lyle Kane of Reel Lives: Filmmaking Education for Marginalized Youth." 25-Hour Day. 6 July 2011. Web. <http://brucesharpe.blogspot.com/2011/07/lyle-kane-of-reel-lives-filmmaking_06.html>.

Trip to the zoo

Exhibition Review

 

Deanna Nokes

Exhibition Review

Faces of Education

                  I visited Pieter Hugo’s Permanent Error exhibition at the Yossi Milo Gallery. Hugo photographed, “Agbogloshie, a massive dump site for technological waste on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital city.”(Artist statement)

I noticed that most of his photographs showed a single boy in the center of the picture, looking directly at the camera with destruction all around him. The photo that stood out to me was the photo of the young boy in the red beanie with iPod headphones. It appears as though the iPod itself is tucked into the red beanie. He seems to have a Captain Morgan rum commercial-styled pose with one leg bent and propped up. Behind him are smoke, fire and young boys walking right through it.

                  In each photo, it appears as though there is no beauty for miles. Everything is dead, broken, on fire, charred and black. There are no buildings, no houses, and no smiles on any faces. The boy in the red beanie is standing with his arms crossed appearing tough and uncaring. He is wearing flip-flops and a nice watch. He can’t be more than 15 years old.

                  In Pieter Hugo’s statement, he talks about why Agbogloshie looks the way it does. It has become a major dump site for all of our old cell phones, computers, game boys, pagers, Nintendo’s, watches, etc. All of these were sent to Agbogloshie as “donations” from the West. Families from nearby towns send their sons who, “burn down the components to extract bits of copper, brass, aluminum and zinc for resale.”(Artist statement) These “donations” aren’t helping the people of Agbogbloshie. Instead, the burning down of the technological waste is poisoning their water and soil, and eventually their health.

My other favorite was a close-up photo. It showed a very dark boy kneeling down with sweat running down his face. I think one of the reasons that Pieter’s photos are so powerful is because all of his subjects are staring directly into the camera. When the viewer is looking at the photos it feels like they are making eye contact with the boys. Something about the picture of the boy kneeling made me so incredibly sad. The bags under his eyes and the sweat running down his face just show how painful the work he has to do. His eyes seem to be asking for help but have a mix of hopelessness. This museum made me feel both helpless and guilty, for not knowing his story, for feeling like there is nothing I can do to help. I wanted to reach out and hug the kneeling boy. I wanted to take him out of that situation. Then I thought, even if I could help the kneeling boy, what about the rest of the boys? And once again, I felt even more helpless.

I also recognize how incredible it is that a photograph can make me feel all of these mixed emotions. I think it would be difficult for me to photograph something like that without wanting to step in and change it. Pieter’s photographs wouldn’t be so powerful if he had intervened. It is the photographer’s job to photograph what is really going on and show the unaltered truth.

1 person- 10 photos

I photographed my little brother, Jacob Nokes. He just turned 21 on September 9th and flew from my hometown in Portland, OR to come visit me in New York! We are extremely different people and have very recently become friends. I actually enjoy hanging out with him now and we have a lot of fun together. I love him very much and it was really awesome being able to photograph him.

Best photo I have ever taken

I took this photo while I was on a bus tour in Edinburgh, Scotland.