Month: October 2021

Host Intro: With students across the globe returning back to classes,  Koko N’sougan spoke with Cristine Trimarco, a CUNY journalism student, about her favorite pastimes.

 

TRACK: I’m here with Cristine Triamarco in our JRN 3510 class, located at the vertical campus, while she props up in her seat. Cristine is a journalism major and is still undecided about her minor. One thing she enjoys is photography.

 

ACT: CRISTINE: I’m a journalism major and I haven’t chosen my minor yet. I got into photography at the age of like 11 or 12.

 

TRACK: While photography is her favorite hobby, she also does art and writing.

 

ACT: CRISTINE: Which leads me to my favorite hobbies, which are photography, art, and writing. Any type of art.

 

TRACK: Cristine offers some advice to others who are starting out in the field of photography.

 

ACT:CRISTINE: Take any opportunity you can get. Don’t shut anything down. Don’t shut any criticism because it’s important to grow.

 

TRACK: Cristine explains how she got into photography then discusses a photography course she took at Borough of Manhattan Community College, or BMCC.

 

ACT: CRISTINE: At first I was self-taught until I got to BMCC. I had my first photography class.

 

TRACK: She discusses her Instagram, where she posts her photos and mentions her portfolio.

 

ACT:CRISTINE: Yes, I do use social media to share my photos. I have an Instagram and also a portfolio on a site called 500 px.com

 

TRACK: Photography can be both exciting and challenging at times. Cristine lets me in with her most memorable photo of Colbie Caillat, as well as her worst, which was overexposed.

 

ACT:CRISTINE: The best picture I’ve taken. I’m not sure. But most notable, probably of Colbie Caillat, at one of her concerts. My worst would be when I wasn’t really good with settings, and there was overexposure, during a maternity shoot for my friend from high school. I just couldn’t save the photo. It would have been really cute, but it was garbage. I have since learned.

 

TRACK: Cristine, like most people with a great love for art, sees herself in the field of photography in a few years.

ACT:CRISTINE: In a few years, I hope to become a photojournalist somewhere. Just out in the field doing interviews. Anything in journalism and photography, I hope to be doing that. And, being paid for it.

 

TRACK: She expresses her thoughts on journalists who manipulate their photographs in order to stand out.

 

ACT: CRISTINE: Well ethically, you are not supposed to do that. You can get fired from the publication you’re working with and I’ve never manipulated my photos. Not once. Edit it in lightroom, but never photoshop.

 

TRACK: Cristine loves snapping photos regardless of what device she is on.

 

ACT: CRISTINE: I guess I take photos weekly. Whether it’s on my camera or on my phone. I’m always taking photos.

 

TRACK: Cristine Trimarco will continue fulfilling her passion by capturing memorable moments. For Baruch College, I’m Koko Nsougan.

 

https://soundcloud.com/ramennoodled/practice-radio-audio/s-5jrek5GVdiH?si=6ee59b0cf3e74ef18b0f44a5d5c788aa

I attended the “Fighting Misinformation and Protecting Image Creators and Consumers Through Attribution and Provenance” Photoville webinar. The online event took place on October 14th and featured Santiago Lyon as the speaker.

We had discussed ethics a bit in class and how certain photo edits may be considered unethical. This was the subject of the webinar, and Lyon spoke about a program that can be used to detect and create a history of what edits were made to a particular photo. This allows people to trust the photo and the content knowing that it was not edited in a way that could spread misinformation. Other things like the location of the image and the original photographer’s name could be attached to the photo so that viewers would know who took it and where.

Lyon also showcased some of his works and told stories about his life as a journalist. He showed images he took in Lisbon, El Salvador, and Afghanistan. I found it interesting that he was served as the Chair of the Jury for the World Press Photo Contest in 2013. We discussed the controversy around the winning photo of that year in class.

I knew that photo editing was a part of photography, but I never realized how photo editing could ethically compromise an image. When I thought of photo editing, I always just thought of changing the lighting slightly and making the image look its best. I never knew that some professionally taken photos may have been edited to portray a different story or “impossible conditions.” I think about the phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it”, and how sometimes you cannot believe what you see in images sometimes.

I hope that the Content Authenticity Initiative is successful in fighting misinformation because photography is an integral part of how people receive information today.

“Signs of Your Identity”

I visited the Photoville exhibit located in Brookfield Place’s Winter Forrest. The exhibit was titled “Signs of Your Identity” and was created to exemplify the forced assimilation of Indigenous people into western boarding schools. It featured a number of brightly colored portraits of members of the Indigenous community.

One portrait included above was of a man named Peter Atchak. He was sent to St. Mary’s Mission School because his family “understood western culture was coming.” They wanted someone in the family to learn to speak English and be able to do well for themselves. Atchak spoke of his initial disdain towards the school. Eventually, however, he grew used to it, explaining how the nuns took good care of him and he made friends.

It was very enlightening to learn about the various perspectives on this issue. Atchak’s story was one of the more positive experiences. Because the exhibit was created to draw attention to the hardships faced during periods of assimilation, many of the accounts were honestly very upsetting. I think artistic expression like this, especially through multimedia mediums, are a moving way of capturing such an often overlooked part of history. The eye catching portraits are bound to grab the attention of passerbys. 

Host Intro: Baruch College Student Stephanie Norales spoke to her classmate Yan Jiang about her hobbies

TRACK: I’m here with Yan in the hallway of the 7th floor at the main campus while doing an assignment for our Multimedia Reporting. When we found a quiet spot I ask her what are her favorite hobby. And she tells me that she has more than one.

ACT: Yan: So I have have a lot of hobbies. I like to dance I use to take dance classes like Jazz and Hip Hop. And also I like painting, drawing I do like sketches, watercolor and oil pastel I usually do it when I have free time from work.

TRACK: Yan has other hobbies like trying to learn music instruments as part of her other interests.

ACT:YAN: Also I like instruments. I know a little bit of piano and I have a guitar at home but I don’t know how to play guitar so I have a lot of hobbies.

TRACK: For Yan’s Hobbies, She could get more opportunities to apply for future careers. For Baruch College, I’m Stephanie Norales.