Winds of Project CHANGE!

I am considering a major shift in my project.  I have really enjoyed the courses and my work so far but I felt by now something more would be in place in my project that just hasn't solidified.  Maybe it's still lacking a 'critical' edge of an MA project, not sure. 

 Just this week I finally experienced the light bulb moment that I had been waiting for and it's more of a change than I imagined.  I was researching Wendy McMurdo again because I love her work and I came across some of her early work (1990's) when she first studied technology in the schools.  She ended up going to some museum field trips and capturing some images like this one:

                                             Fig. 1: McMurdo 1999. Girl With Bears

Mcmurdo talks about that moment of anxiety where the kids kept asking the guards, "Is it alive or not?" She then goes on to say they don't even do those museum trips anymore and kids now turn to technology for similar experiences (see my previous post about McMurdo's work here: https://sladecrj.blogspot.com/2019/07/wendy-mcmurdo.html)

This got me to thinking- those angst producing museum trips were once or twice a year, but with the current generation, excessive technology, and the bombardment of the constant image consumption- these children may be feeling that cognitive dissonance on a very regular basis. Without any guidance on what to do about it.  

Fig. 2: Wavebreakmedia

AT the same time I tuned into the 'Living Image Symposium' presented by Falmouth University when something Gary McLeod mentioned that caught my attention- it was the chart on visual literacy by Joanna Kedra. In fact I was so caught up in visual literacy that I went right to Joanna Kedra's research and didn't even listen to the rest (Sorry Gary! lol). You can see a copy of Kedra's chart here:

https://joannakedra.com/2018/08/16/what-does-it-mean-to-be-visually-literate/

That's when it connected altogether for me.  I would love to do some work with elementary children and emotional visual literacy.  This is a good match for my undergrad studies as well as I graduated in Elementary Education with certifications in both Instructional Media Technology and Literacy (I taught in the school system for 5 years before quitting to stay home with my own children). 

Not completely sure on my methodology or pedagogy but here is a VERY ROUGH outline of my idea:  

Children in today’s society are visually bombarded with images on a daily basis.  Use of multiple technologies, educational or otherwise, has offered them access to unlimited visual information to be consumed freely, often placing them before visuals, without guidance or instruction on how to understand, interpret, or process them.  

My project: would presume that age appropriate, intentional, cognitive guidance, both intellectually and emotionally (i.e. mental health) in processing images can be taught and developed with children in grades k+ to help them be self governing with a greater sense of self evaluation in their own image production and consumption.  

My study would: 

• Develop a method of assessing skills in emotional visual literacy in children
• Pre and Post assess a contained group (or multiple groups) of children and their current visual emotional literacy at the beginning and end of the program.
• Provide intentional instruction coupled with self exploration in the skills of understanding, interpreting, and thinking and learning with images, as well as recognizing a variety of emotions they may exhibit - which may be different for each child, based on personal experience.

Children would be given the opportunity to view and evaluate age appropriate images, and also given a device in which to create, and examine their own images.

Guidance instruction may include things like:

• How to express something visually (i.e. view and/or create photographs showing hunger, love, confusion, friendship, understanding, etc)
• Emotion Identification: how does an image feel to you (happy, sad, hungry, afraid, etc)
• Tell a story in a single image
• Write or express a story from a single image (not your own)
• How can awareness of 'context' change meaning and perception of an image (marketing, manipulation and media awareness could have some possibilities here).
• How to take charge of your own image viewing- analyze and act

Children will be able to create a personal collection in a portfolio of their own and also given the opportunity to present images in a public display, in their own community. 

Just beginning with all the research involved.  I am imagining to work with a small group of students (or a couple small groups of varying ages if necessary ) throughout the school year (August-May) - with some sort of community show at the end (possibly turning the school itself into a bit of a gallery).  Maybe even a book.  

  

Places to start:

•Core Standards - Each State in the United States has Core Curriculum or Standards that are to be taught in each grade or student level.  If I am hoping to work in the public school system then I must find a place for my Emotional Visual Literacy within these standards.  

•Contacting Local Schools and teachers to find a good fit for my research and program.

•Explore funding options for cameras, portfolios, prints, etc.  

•Research on Visual Literacy itself, and any other similar projects including pedagogy and methodology. 

•Also I would love to find some past examples of similar projects to research or ideas on creating an assessment of some sort.  Have to be pretty basic when working kids.  

So much to process!

Figure 1. Wendy MCMURDO. 1999. From: Dale Berning Sawa. 2018. 'Wendy McMurdo's Best Photograph: Two Bears Eye Up a Little Girl.' From: The Guardian 16 August [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/16/wendy-mcmurdo-best-photograph-girl-bears-museum [accessed 11 July 2019].

Figure 2. Wavebreakmedia. Happy Kids Using Technology While Sitting On the Couch.  Envato [online]. Available at: https://elements.envato.com/happy-kids-using-technology-while-sitting-on-the-PVAW45L [accessed with rights 15 July 2019].

Wendy McMurdo

Wendy McMurdo has always been interested in play and the unguarded space of the child's imagination.  In the early 1990's she began to be interested in how children were engaging with technology.  This led her to work with the elementary schools, and how the new technology was also affecting the traditional visits to the museums (Sawa 2018).

Fig. 1: McMurdo 1999. Girl With Bears

McMurdo expands on the sense of anxiety the children briefly experience when exposed to the unusual experience of close proximity to what they would deem an unnerving experience.  "Is it alive or is it dead?" They often ask the guards (Sawa 2018).

She then connects that children don't go to museums as frequent, or at all- now they turn to technology for that experience and learning.

Her study grows more and more poignant each year as society's children are no longer just exposed, but more accurately bombarded with technology in multiple forms, educationally or otherwise.

The angst and unsettling feeling of the 'unfamiliar' that children used to experience once or twice a year can now barrage them on a daily basis, from exotic lands to violent movie clips and games that kill for fun, perhaps leaving them constantly asking (as Suzanne Collins coined) "Real or Not Real" (2008).

With this new train of thought I may have just had an AHA! moment about my project.   Stay tuned!

Figure 1. Wendy MCMURDO. 1999. From: Dale Berning Sawa. 2018. 'Wendy McMurdo's Best Photograph: Two Bears Eye Up a Little Girl.' From: The Guardian 16 August [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/16/wendy-mcmurdo-best-photograph-girl-bears-museum [accessed 11 July 2010].


Collins, Suzanne. 2008. The Hunger Games. Scholastic Press.

SAWA, Dale Berning. 2018. 'Wendy McMurdo's Best Photograph: Two Bears Eye Up a Little Girl.' The Guardian 16 August [online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/16/wendy-mcmurdo-best-photograph-girl-bears-museum [accessed 11 July 2010].

Workshops

I skipped week 6 and 7 and jumped straight into 8 (although I will go back to the other two later) since I am going to jump out my comfort zone this course and .... (gasp!) try leading a workshop!

Fig. 1: Michelangeloop. 

I can imagine there will be some planning (there has already been some things in the works) and LOTS of details to work out... so I'm plunging in.

Fig. 2: Rawpixel

I am also thinking about adding an element of respondent generated images into my Final Major Project and thought this workshop, though it's focus will be different, might be a good chance for a little dabble in that as well.

My Big Question(s):

How do I create a learning experience for both me, the photographers, and the participating children? 
What will be their expectations, and my expectations?

Here is what I am learning about WORKSHOPS combined with my current workshop ideas...

Workshops are a group of people coming together, in a flexible and instructional environment, to better themselves in a particular area, usually completing a 'challenge' they arrive on together (Morgan et al 1963: 61 cited Sork 1984).

I am imagining my workshop will not be too large- maybe 4-8 photographers, and around 10-15 children (ok that's a lot of kids - but I am a total master of chaos control and 10-15 kids does not overwhelm me at all).

Benefits of a workshop: Low time commitment, simple and pointed, hands on and immediate practical application, the novice and professional learn from each other and problem solve together.

My workshop is just a trial.  It will be one day, maybe 1-4 hours total (must take into account the involvement of young children and their time capabilities- note: I was a public elementary school teacher, I know what happens with young children when their focus is held too long.... be prepared to run, or have popsicles to offer.)

Things to avoid:

Information Overload- less that will 'stick' is better than lots that fall by the wayside.
Exhaustion (see note above about popsicles)
Lack of Individual Feedback (one on one post-sessions may be useful here- another benefit to keeping numbers smaller)

Things to keep in mind:
The process is more important then the outcome.

Who could I help vs. who could help me?

I have several photographers interested in what I have to offer.  I hope to contain within the workshop, a novice, an amateur, a portrait and lifestyle professional, and a hobbyist.  I think their variety of perspectives and experiences will increase the learning within the group.  I also would like to expand my own experience with lifestyle and portraits and look forward to their knowledge sharing, while they glean from my experience in imagination emotion capturing in children and storytelling.  

What will the workshop be based on that will hold the interest of everyone involved:

The focus could be the emotion of the imagination and storytelling.  These two subjects are often overlooked and cross every level of age and expertise.

What will be the means and the mode?

The adults will use their own device, the children will uses phones or ipads, or cameras if they have them. The children will play the role of both photographer and model, alternatively.  

In a collaborative workshop for the blind, visually impaired, and sighted, where ipads were used for the photography instruction and practice found that specialized camera's were still preferred (Hayhoe 2017).  However the test subjects were adults and the majority of which preferred the cameras actually owned the equipment themselves.  Children, particularly of this current generation, are more likely to have experience with ipad or phones than actual cameras, especially DSLR, and their comfort level should be higher.

What will my role be?

I hope to be the facilitator, and a little bit teacher, a little bit learner.  The administrator and director but also a part of things.  



"Powerful photography can be an art form, but it can also be a language to persuade, amuse or inform (Record, 2018)."









Figure 1. Michelangeloop. Participants in Photography Course. Envato [online] available at: https://elements.envato.com/participants-in-photography-course-NXTCE6V [accessed with rights July 2019]

Figure 2. Rawpixel. Teenage Girls Wearing 3D Movie Glasses Surprised Scared and Watching TW. Envato [online] available at:https://elements.envato.com/teenage-girls-wearing-3d-movie-eyeglasses-PK8B3N7 [accessed with rights July 2019]

Hayhoe, S., Pena-Sanchez, N. and Bentley, K. (2017) Evaluation of a collaborative photography workshop using the iPad 2 as an accessible technology for participants who are blind, visually impaired and sighted working collaboratively. Consumer Communications & Networking Conference. pp. 1077-1082. ISSN 2331- 9860.

RECORD, St. Augustine. 2018. Teen Photography Workshops Teach How and Why. The (FL), Entertainmentlife, 2pp

Sork, T. J. (1984) 'The Workshop as a Unique Instructional Format', in: T. J. Sork (1984) Designing and Implementing Effective Workshops. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. pp.3–10.

Shooting Shooting Shooting

Because my project works with entire families, scheduling can be difficult.  Often there are work schedules, therapy visits or medical checkups to work around, not to mention all the summer activities (both their family's and mine) thrown it- its like pinning down a flock of butterflies simultaneously, sometimes.

When an open date becomes available I am willing to rearrange our own family events (if it doesn't interfere with anything major) to accommodate since I recognize their participation in my project is completely optional for them, and I strive to make it as non-intrusive as possible into their family feng shui.

So sometimes that means I won't have any shoots lined up for a few weeks, then multiple shoots all at once!  And that has been my most recent experience as within week and a half I participated in 4 major shoots.

PROCESS:

My photo sessions are not the kind that you just meet up and take pictures-

•First: because storytelling is key, wardrobe is very particular.  So I don't even approach the families until I have all the props and wardrobe pieces secure. Beg, borrow, steal.  Ok I don't steal.

•Next- location matters:  For some special needs I make sure I can shoot where is the safest and most familiar to the child, usually their own home, but that means I need to make special preparations to know that their home environment and background base for my image will coordinate, usually by altering one or the other. 

•Pre- compositions: for composites I typically have a good sense of the goal final image, usually in the form of a rough pencil drawing.  I have to know exactly what pictures I need, what angles and distance, and I have to keep the lighting consistent.  Working with kids, I have learned there has to be flexibility in poses and expressions.  They will give what they will give and the image becomes more natural this way. 

•3rd party involvement: sometimes a shoot is in a public or business location and third party arrangements need to be made.  The third image below was taken at the local fire station. This meant coordination with the fire chief, moving of trucks and other items, and having the whole fire station on alert of the situation in case of a call-in.  They also arranged to have a back up truck brought in, so they wouldn't be short one truck in case of a large emergency.  THEY WERE AMAZING TO WORK WITH! I mean, really, I brought in 9 KIDS and 2 DOGS and they didn't bat an eye. 


Here are some screenshots of my sooc files.  Each has a story attached, and a tableau to create, and I can't wait to get into editing of each.  Because my editing is such a labor intensive process it will be quite a process to get to them all.

These are just the tip of the ice-burg of course.  There are many more images to examine, sort, and then compose together.  Combined with coursework and final major project research, (not to mention summer life, and business) having so many pictures in queue = STRESS!

I just keep thinking-
one thing at a time,
one thing at a time.

My Roadmap

Where will this semester take me? 

Once in college my roommate and I sat down on New Years Eve and created 'predictions' for each other in the year to come.  It was crazy how many actually happened.  There must be some power in writing things down (isn't that why we are continually encouraged to put our goals on paper!)  So here is my roadmap for this semester:


Working Title: Project Healing Hope Images

Methodology I will be exploring: Workshops and respondent generated images, also more full camera images and backgrounds.

Shoots: 4-6


Possible outcome: I'm hoping for greater understanding in how children process the world around them and express it through imagination based images.

Where to show them:  Since viewing in the community where created is highly valued as culmination of respondent generated images I hope to put them on display local- perhaps a place where children often frequent.

Relationship to my MA: Exploring respondent generated images may or may not result in a focus shift of my current project and practices.

Repeat Photography

My attempt at repeat photography (in less than 180 words):



This is my attempt at 'Repeat Photography.'  I chose this image because it was among the first created for this program, nearly 1 year ago, and I thought, per my style of imagery, the greater gap in time would be of interest here. Re-creating this image nearly a year later reminded me of the 'Up' Series (Seven Up, 7 Plus 7, 21 Up etc) directed Michael Apted in 1964, wherein the same group of children were interviewed every 7 years on a variety of subjects.  Children change, both physically and emotionally, very quickly.  Since my world is imaginary, I tried to maintain the same base and only let the subjects advance. 

Screenshot of Livvy + 1year later

See more about the UP series here: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/movies/michael-apted-keeping-up-with-the-up-series.html