Multimedia Reporting Fall 2017

On September 17, 2017, I took an exciting adventure into the many crates filled with breathtaking stories captured by determined, phenomenal photographers. A crate I favored was Women Photograph & United Photo Industries’s “INSIDER/OUTSIDER” exhibit that was hosted by photographer, Cassandra Giraldo.

Giraldo is a representative for Women Photograph; its mission is to change the gender perceptions of the photojournalism community and promote diversity in all aspects.

Giraldo told me that “photos are part of a dialogue.” Photographers transition from outsiders to insiders through bonding with the people they’re documenting. Hence, the exhibit’s title “INSIDER/OUTSIDER.”

Another crate capturing my interest was Sylvain Cherkaoui’s 5 Women for 5 Countries exhibit.

Cherkaoui documented the stories of 5 powerful women from Senegal, Gineua, Niger, Nigeria, and Liberia.

Safia Ibrahim of Zinder, Niger fights against child marriages despite how normalized that is in Niger. She doesn’t want children to encounter that experience like she had, thus she helps other women in similar predicaments through creating workshops and providing them education.

Jeanette Kebe Lamah of Koula, Guinea was impeccable in recruiting a workforce of women to help promote peace and profitable income when there was war occurring in her village.

Jumama Varmah of Goernodean, Liberia is 32 with 8 children. She decided to return to school, and just finished 12th grade. She is also fighting against corporations to keep her land.

I met Maah Koudia Keita of Dakar, Senegal who plays for a famous band in Senegal with her brothers. She is also hugely apart of the association, Care Albinos, which supports the minority groups of African albinos.

Uduak Isong Oguamanam of Lagos, Nigeria is a Nollywood self-made writer and producer that advocates for feminism. She wants her daughter to follow her passion and choose whatever profession she wants without adhering to society’s expectations.

Announcement: 

Instead of holding class on Wednesday, I’ll be taking those of you who are available to the opening day of Photoville, the annual photo festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Unfortunately, it doesn’t kick off until 4pm, slightly later than class time, so I understand that some of you may not be able to make it.

As a class, we’ll chat with a couple of photographers about their exhibitions; then we’ll split off from each other so you can each pick one exhibition to focus on. Take a few photos, ask the photographer some questions (“How long did you work on this?” “How did you get access?” “What was the hardest part?” “How did you fund this?” etc.), and write a short blog post (200-300 words) about it, with your photos. Be prepared to present it in class next week.

If you’re unable to attend the festival on Wednesday with the rest of the class, you can always go on a different day and do the assignment on your own. It runs for about two weeks:

Wednesday September 13: Open to the Public 4pm – 10pm + Opening Night Celebration (7pm – 10pm)
Thursday, September 14: 12pm – 10pm + Education Day (10am-1:30pm and 4-6pm for After School sessions)
Friday, September 15: 12pm – 10pm + Photoshelter’s Luminance Professional Development Seminar (10am – 6pm)
Saturday, September 16: 12pm – 10pm + Talks at St. Ann’s Warehouse (12pm – 7pm)
Sunday, September 17: 12pm – 10pm + Talks at St. Ann’s Warehouse (12pm – 6pm)

Monday, September 18 – September 20: PHOTOVILLE TAKES A BREAK

Thursday, September 21: 12pm – 10pm + Exhibitions, Beer Garden & Activities
Friday, September 22: 12pm – 10pm + Exhibitions, Beer Garden & Activities
Saturday, September 23: 12pm – 10pm + Exhibitions, Beer Garden & Activities
Sunday, September 24: 12pm – 8pm + Exhibitions, Beer Garden & Activities

If for some reason you are unable to go on any of the days I’ve listed, let me know and I’ll come up with an alternative, but related assignment for you to do instead.

An Introduction to DSLR Photography

In-class assignment: Photo Scavenger Hunt

An image that captures at least one of each of the following elements of composition (some images will include multiple elements):

1. Leading lines
2. Monochromatic colors
3. Layers that tell a story
4. Repeated patterns
5. The decisive moment
6. Portrait
7. Contrasting colors
8. Movement (could be artistic blur or crisp action shot, your choice)
9. Rule of thirds

Bring these photos back to class and we’ll edit them together in Lightroom. You may use a school camera if you will also be using it to work on your photo essay this week (remember that they are limited in number) but you are also welcome to use your own camera or your phone for this assignment. (If you would prefer to leave early and do this assignment in your own neighborhood or out and about in the city, you’re welcome to, but make sure you send me your images by midnight tonight.)

Sorry for the delay.

DUMBO is a neighborhood in Brooklyn and is an acronym for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The neighborhood has seen dramatic change with Brooklyn Bridge Park and many new condos. On Thursday evenings, there is a concert series located under what they name The Archway. It is located directly under the Manhattan Bridge and is a public space that holds many different events.

Thursday the 14th, there is live hip Jazz music by a local band that has over 1 million view online. Thursday the 21st, there is a DJ who composes beats that raked up over 10 million views online. I’m not fully sure which one I am going to attend yet or I might even go to both but I will make time to be there.

When it comes to composition, I feel like with Jazz music will be a crowd full of well dressed fans from the period. The band itself has that 1930s vibe which would like great on camera. With the DJ, the crowd will probably be more mellow taking in all the beats. Either way, the venue is a beautifully shaped arched. I want to incorporate the neighborhood and how music brings the community together.

UPDATE: There wasn’t much going on at this concert for a full story. My photo assignment was done on The Medieval Festival instead.

I have two ideas that I can’t decide between for this photo essay.

1. Since we’re in the season of US Open tennis, I decided to visit Arthur Ashe Stadium and the surrounding tennis courts to document the going-ons this weekend. Being a huge tennis fan, especially when the major is brought to America this time of year, I thought that it would make sense for me head to Queens to photograph this event. This would also be a prime opportunity given that there is a large possibility that two American women could be playing in the final this Saturday. This also means that there will be more fans, and people who will or won’t know who to root for. Furthermore, since it will be two American women at the only tennis major in America, there will definitely be a buzz at the courts that will be great to document. Although I don’t have tickets to any of the matches, it is free to go onto some of the smaller courts, and there are always large crowds that gather outside of the bigger courts to watch the game on some of the large screens outside. The women’s singles final takes place this Saturday @ 4:00.

2. My second idea is to visit the Smorgasburg food market in Williamsburg. Being an avid food lover, I would like to document all of the different foods that will be featured at the market. There will also be a large number of food vendors there that I could interview. Possible questions could be what food are you selling, why did you decide to come to Smorgasburg to sell your food, and what do you hope to get out of this experience? Smorgasburg is a free event, so it will be easy to go there and photograph all of the different food and vendors there. I of course plan to take pictures of the food, as well as the vendors I will try interview and possibly patrons who are there to just try out the different foods.

With all the turmoil and animosity going on these last couple of day over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and now the Trump Administration wanting to “wind down”/ end the program. I feel for my the photo essay, I want my to display the sentiments of people over this action. Being raised by an immigrant parent and seeing their dreams unfold because they were given the opportunity to come to the United States, bring concerns that these children who are here in the United States through DACA program won’t be given the same possibility. If were are a nation that boost its ego on its care for children well then the ending of the program is a major contradiction to that and is damaging the children and our future.

1. Im still waiting for confirmation on my subject. I plan on doing a day in the life of a FDNY paramedic. A good friend of mine is a paramedic in the city, and is always telling me about the crazy stuff he encounters on a daily basis.

My intention is to capture that “craziness” in a complete narrative. I will be using Manhattan as the back drop for my essay. I hope to convey, the stress involved in being an paramedic, as well as the fulfillment of helping others and saving lives. My ultimate goal is to capture the grittiness of the job, it’s highs and lows.

For my photo essay, I have a few ideas I am considering.

The first is to profile a couple up-and-coming designers and either attend their shows or accompany them to events during Fashion Week to observe how they are network and work on expanding their brands in the industry, as well as the challenges that they face. I have contacted two designers who are relatively low-profile and both are willing to have me interview them and work with me to get the material I would need for this project.

The second is to profile a Georgia native DJ that immigrated to the US via a talent visa. He struggled for a couple years to sustain himself without documentation whilst working on on his music career, miles away from his family. He recently gained citizenship and is now signed to a label and has been booking numbers of shows. For this story, I’d like to address not only the struggles he faced when he immigrated to the country but also his pathway to success in his music career. I have contacted him to inquire whether he has any upcoming shows I would be able to attend.

The third is to cover the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, which is taking place September 9-10 at Washington Square Park. This annual exhibit features hundreds of artists, young and old, who come together to display their paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry, woodcraft, and everything in between. The photo essay would feature some of the artists and the reasons they have chosen to dedicate themselves to their artistic careers, despite the difficulties to break through and sustain oneself as an artist.

For my photo essay I plan on attending the 2017 Peace Lanterns Festival taking place on Saturday, September 16 in Gantry Plaza State Park. The event is hosted by HarborLab and The Buddhist Council of New York to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace. It is an event for all cultures and religions to enjoy consisting of a day full of different activities such as meditation, yoga, painting, dance, kayaking, and of course creating and setting afloat the paper lanterns. The purpose of this event is to unite as a community and promote peace. There is no special access needed for this event as it is open to the public. I think this event focused unity and peace is much needed considering the all the violent events and general aggression occurring not only in our country, but around the world. I hope to express this using photographs of the different activities and all the different groups of people. Of course I will also capture the lit lanterns on the water at night. This event relies heavily on volunteers that I will interview, as well as speakers, to understand what the event means to them.

While Central Park is a citywide landmark and enclave for conservation its charm is in its escapism. New York City high rises peek over treetops; airplanes etch contrails in the sky; but this park represents a refuge for nature, not an attempt at integration with the surrounding metropolis. For this reason the piers that circumscribe Manhattan, especially by the Hudson River, offer a more striking image of nature’s place within the concrete jungle. And the bike paths that trace this region aren’t just a tourist’s best friend but a miniature highway rubbing shoulders with the real thing. It’s more than a convenient bike lane: there’s a lot to see and do by the Hudson. Scenic vistas are peppered with restaurants; biking along the underpass you’ll see the whole gamut of sports being played, from basket- to baseball and soccer, in the typical New Yorker pickup style; like the rest of the city there’s a niche for everyone, and I want to help others find theirs.

I want to reproduce what I’d consider a typical Hudson River experience with this photo essay. However, this is more than acting as a tour guide—for me it’s about capturing the immediacy of these experiences. My plan is to record myself biking up and down the Hudson’s bike path. My photos will contrast the Hudson River freeway with the sights and sounds of its adjacent piers. I already have a trail mapped out in my head: I would start my journey on Fifty-fifth street Twelfth avenue and bike up the Greenway, as the path is called, towards Ninety-sixth street. Between these two points are basketball courts, gymnastic rings, several interesting modern sculptures, and tons of geese. But what’s just as important to me is how the public uses it all; I want people interacting with the environment to bring these experiences to life. Hopefully I will also be allowed to interview the people I photograph, so I can learn why they choose to spend their time here by the Hudson. This will also add a more human element to my tableau that will, I hope, further impress the intersectional nature of this other environmental enclave.

For my photojournalism assignment, I plan on doing a piece at the World Trade Center for the anniversary of September 11th. As someone who lost a lot on that fateful day over a decade and a half ago, this is a story that speaks to me personally as a journalist. There is so much material that is possible to capture at this site, including the museum, the memorial, the new World Trade Center, places around the site, and the many people affected by this tragedy. Sixteen years after the worst day in American history, I would like to hear the stories of New Yorkers who lived through that day and get their opinions on the political climate of the city, the country, and the world in 2017. The goal of my story is to reflect back on what happened, tell the stories of real New Yorkers, and reflect on how much has changed/stayed the same all these years later.