Primary School Photography Workshop

[Wyno]

Congratulations Nicole and very well done to the students. If only the people running tertiary institutions would do something like this, then maybe they would provide for their own future employment and the future of the insitution. Unfortunately, I think they are all too short sighted for that.
Mike

[Nicole]

Thank you Thomas. I'll see what I can do and be back shortly.

Mike, there needs to be MUCH more support in Australia for The Arts.


I wrote to the big media moguls earlier this year asking for more exposure to art in the mainstream. Specifically - to have prime time news, sport and also a few minutes on the latest in The Arts and Science. I received an instant 2 line email response telling me sport was the tradition and there is no room for other stuff that people aren't interested in. Such short sighted views are inconceivable!

The problem is (as my mother so eloquently said), if you stick a bunch of people on a remote island (such as Australia) and only feed them chicken and beef, they'll either love chicken or beef - because they don't know anything else! This is what's happening to Australians through the Australian media. We need to be exposed to more variety (especially The Arts & Science), not just sport and sensationalised news. Sure there is Art on TV and in society, but you have to know what you're looking for and go searching for it.

Art and Science should be mainstream, to encourage more creative thinking, compassion and progress in society. Surely we can be more educated and intellectual than what the shortsighted media determines us viewers want or need.

Art is a creative language for the soul at any age - a language we can all easily learn to appreciate, understand and speak fluently. All this requires is exposure to art in our everyday environment, as a viewer or/and as a creator.

I'll keep sending my letters, run photography workshops (including at primary schools), keep introducing arts festivals in schools and parks and now busy curating a collaboration of collectable fine art photography at a big annual arts event in Perth, WA.

So, the solution is easy: We can ALL do something about this. We can all write to the media, the government, our primary/high/tertiary schools, etc... telling them we want more exposure to The Arts and Science (if that's your cup of tea) - not just one reality tv show after the other, or repeats of the same comedy shows each year. Not just the news, sports and weather report day in and day out. The big guns need to "see and hear" that we no longer want just chicken or beef!

[Ross Chambers]

I'm pleased that it worked out so well Nicole. It brought back memories of leading a small group of primary school kids at a tiny rural New Zealand school through the process of making a super 8mm movie.

As alternative life styler crafty types we had been approached to take a craft day in leatherwork, but I thought that my relatively better film making skills might work better (and preserve a few fingers from very sharp knives; they needed them for milking)

I don't know about the kids, but it was a real learning exercise for me, so many personalities to adapt to. We decided that every kid would shoot one shot and it was quite hard to persuade the meeker and less confident ones to do that. I could only reflect on what chance they had in the regular classes--fortunately by virtue of its small size of the school they would not be completely lost in the crowd.

The storytelling part i.e. editing had them lost; they were quite interested in the splicer, but not why two shots followed each other.

We also went seriously over budget, and had to fall back on leatherwork, making 2 belts which, when raffled, brought in ten dollars and put the production back into profit.

The parents loved the result.

My apologies if this isn't quite germane to your post, I hope it's of interest.

I agree vehemently with your appeal for more support for arts in schools, particularly music. There has been some agitiation in the eastern states and a seriously concerning report on ABC RN Background Briefing

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2009/2612176.htm

Regards - Ross

[Nicole]

Home run, Nicole! Great job on the whole project!

I would LOVE to see these prints as more than thumbnails. Is there any chance that we can see them as individual scans or digisnapped?

Here are the interpretations for the genres by some of the students in primary school years 5 & 6:
Self Portrait | Abstract | Family Portrait | Landscape | Movement

[Fireguy2002]

You can do it!!!

[Nicole]

I'm pleased that it worked out so well Nicole. It brought back memories of leading a small group of primary school kids at a tiny rural New Zealand school through the process of making a super 8mm movie.

As alternative life styler crafty types we had been approached to take a craft day in leatherwork, but I thought that my relatively better film making skills might work better (and preserve a few fingers from very sharp knives; they needed them for milking)

I don't know about the kids, but it was a real learning exercise for me, so many personalities to adapt to. We decided that every kid would shoot one shot and it was quite hard to persuade the meeker and less confident ones to do that. I could only reflect on what chance they had in the regular classes--fortunately by virtue of its small size of the school they would not be completely lost in the crowd.

The storytelling part i.e. editing had them lost; they were quite interested in the splicer, but not why two shots followed each other.

We also went seriously over budget, and had to fall back on leatherwork, making 2 belts which, when raffled, brought in ten dollars and put the production back into profit.

The parents loved the result.

My apologies if this isn't quite germane to your post, I hope it's of interest.

I agree vehemently with your appeal for more support for arts in schools, particularly music. There has been some agitiation in the eastern states and a seriously concerning report on ABC RN Background Briefing

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stories/2009/2612176.htm

Regards - Ross

Hi Ross, thank you for sharing your experience. I agree, you learn a lot (even about your own work) whilst running a workshop. Especially for younger students. Thank you, I'll listen to that report later tonight. We have a long way to go.

[Nicole]

The local newspaper is running a story on this photography workshop this week. My article can be found here:
http://nicoleboenigmcgrade.blogspot.com/2009/10/young-artists-rising.html

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Thanks for posting those, Nicole! There is some remarkable work there, for sure. And a pretty decent printer too... ;)

- Thomas


Here are the interpretations for the genres by some of the students in primary school years 5 & 6:
Self Portrait | Abstract | Family Portrait | Landscape | Movement

[Ross Chambers]

I wish that I could articulate why the family portrait appeals so much to me. It's just zany. They are all great.

Regards - Ross

[Mick Fagan]

I agree with Ross, the family portrait is a real humdinger!

Congratulations Nicole.

Mick.

[Wyno]

I like the family portrait, but for me the best one is the last...Movement. Not because there is no one in it, but because it's a great interpretion of the theme. If you can get them to continue, the future of photography should be bright.
Mike

[Vaughn]

Very Good, Nicole! And very cool!

I have taught some photography to grade school (12 year old to 14 yrs old) and also the 14 to 18 year old students. That photopaper can just disappear once they get a hold of the idea! We always started of with handmade pinhole cameras and cyanotypes, then moving quickly on to film (the classes were two weeks long.)

Vaughn