Sunday, September 7, 2008
Luces de Raiz Negra
Mexicans and Colombians of African Descent. Photos by Manuel González de la Parra. An engaging set of portraits and candids of Afro Mexicanos y Afro Colombianos. These "maroons" have been subsumed by the Latin Myth that People of African, Indian and Afro-Indian descent don't exist in their world.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Veteran Photographer talks about Convention lessons
Veteran Photojournalist, Steve Simon, talks about covering The Democratic Convention for the Digital Journalist. The Digital Journalist is an on line publication directed at Photojournalists in the broader sense. The publication has dealt with multimedia issues for some years now, guiding photographers into the multi-media realm.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
LEAVING NO CHILD BEHIND by Erin Evans
Spring 2008
Students at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School are looking to win a testy battle. Between moments of excitement, students focus on how to divide—and conquer the difficulties of third grade math. In 2007, Stokes’ students performed at a mere 46 percent proficiency level on the math section of the DC-CAS, a test measuring “adequate yearly progress” in all D.C. public schools.
Reading and comprehension is another battle. Only 38 percent of its students are proficient in reading. Understanding language is a tall hurdle in this struggle. Over 50 percent of the students’ families have immigrated to the United States and are from homes where English is a second language.
Students from Howard, George Washington and Trinity universities guide Stokes’ students with educational and social mentorship in the school’s tutoring program.
Fresh faces are the sweetest present. Eyes filled with innocence. Minds so green that Transformers and Hannah Montana uphold the aesthetic of cool. Loose teeth and scratched faces are daily casualties. Laughs and cries give sound to their ups and downs.
It’s not all work and no play. Interaction between students is often fickle. They are friends on one day and enemies the next. Every day is a different story, a different feeling.
Roberto Medrano, a Howard alumnus, has been tutoring at Stokes for the past three years. He is one of five third grade tutors and the only male. The young boys look up to him in a big brother type of way. During a break in the lesson, Shaquan and Juan find time to act as human cyclones as they hold a tight grip in mid air.
They often find solace under a table. Pouts and tears are their own quick remedies to take a break from their lesson. After a long day in class, the last thing on an eight-year-old student’s mind is extending their day by another hour-and-a-half after the teacher says, “you’re dismissed.”
Students at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School are looking to win a testy battle. Between moments of excitement, students focus on how to divide—and conquer the difficulties of third grade math. In 2007, Stokes’ students performed at a mere 46 percent proficiency level on the math section of the DC-CAS, a test measuring “adequate yearly progress” in all D.C. public schools.
Reading and comprehension is another battle. Only 38 percent of its students are proficient in reading. Understanding language is a tall hurdle in this struggle. Over 50 percent of the students’ families have immigrated to the United States and are from homes where English is a second language.
Students from Howard, George Washington and Trinity universities guide Stokes’ students with educational and social mentorship in the school’s tutoring program.
Fresh faces are the sweetest present. Eyes filled with innocence. Minds so green that Transformers and Hannah Montana uphold the aesthetic of cool. Loose teeth and scratched faces are daily casualties. Laughs and cries give sound to their ups and downs.
It’s not all work and no play. Interaction between students is often fickle. They are friends on one day and enemies the next. Every day is a different story, a different feeling.
Roberto Medrano, a Howard alumnus, has been tutoring at Stokes for the past three years. He is one of five third grade tutors and the only male. The young boys look up to him in a big brother type of way. During a break in the lesson, Shaquan and Juan find time to act as human cyclones as they hold a tight grip in mid air.
They often find solace under a table. Pouts and tears are their own quick remedies to take a break from their lesson. After a long day in class, the last thing on an eight-year-old student’s mind is extending their day by another hour-and-a-half after the teacher says, “you’re dismissed.”
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Jazelle Hunt's pics
These pictures have been taken over time, and my "theme" or focus is relationships. Hope you like them!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Principles and Elements of Art
Here are the Elements of Art and the Principles of Art from two different sources, we will discuss these in class the week of February 11, 2008.
THE ELEMENTS OF ART
(http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/ElementsMain.htm)
The Elements Of Art are the building blocks of art creation. They can be analyzed, organized, and manipulated by artists. They are the VISUAL LANGUAGE of art. Each of the Elements is important. When looking at a work of art, see if you can identify which Elements of Art the artist stressed, organized or used to express a message or to create a mood.
LINE
How many types of lines can you make? How important are lines to our environment? The artist recognizes the power of the "Line" when he or she creates a work of art. Let's take a more detailed look at "Line" and its impact on our world and the world of art.
COLOR
Many people would argue that the Element of "Color" has the most effect on a work of art. Consider what our world would look like if everything was black, white and shades of gray? The effects of "Color" on humans has been studied many times. Artists have known that "Color" has a powerful effect on their works and on the impressions of the viewers. Let's see what "Color" is and just how it is used in the visual arts.
TEXTURE
An element of art which refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or simulated. Actual textures can be felt with the fingers, while simulated textures are suggested by the way the artist has painted certain areas of a picture.
SHAPE
Shapes are everywhere. More common ones are given names such as circle or square. There are an infinite amount of shape possibilities and combinations. Let's see what role "Shape" plays in works of art and just how an artist uses the Element "Shape".
FORM
Forms are often called the "three-dimensional shapes". Unlike flat, two-dimensional areas, Forms are represented as "three-dimensional". The great illustrators and sculptors of the world of art have mastered the Element Form. Let's see how they did it!
SPACE
Often we do not consider Space when we create a work of art. It often just seems to happen. Let's take a look at how Space effects a work of art and just how artists use Space to create interest in their works.
VALUE
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It also refers to how artists use other Elements Of Art to create a sense of light or dark.
THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
(http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/PrinciplesMain.htm)
The Principles Of Design refer to the organization of a work of art. Each Principle interprets how an artist uses the Elements of Art, composition and design to express their feelings and ideas. By studying these, your own work will become more sophisticated as you will begin to apply this new knowledge to your own works of art. Let's take a look at each one.
RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT
The words Rhythm and Movement are often associated with music, dance and sports. We think of steady marching rhythms, drum beats and the pulsing sound of the bass on the radio as types of rhythms. The darting of soccer players, the graceful flow of ballet dancers and the artful dodging of basketball players emphasize Movement. Art also has rhythm and movement, a visual rhythm, a rhythmic movement. Let's explore the Principles of Rhythm and Movement more.
BALANCE
As humans we experience the need for Balance in our everyday life. We use it as we walk or run and to carry things. Balance is also necessary in other ways. We need to balance our awake and sleeping periods, our food intake and energy exports, and relaxation and stress. Balance is also important to a work of art. A balanced artwork leaves the viewer feeling "visually comfortable". On the other hand, a work that is not balanced creates a sense of visual stress. Let's take a look!
PROPORTION
The word "Proportion" means one part in relation to another. All people have a sense of proportion concerning themselves as compared to others. "My nose is too long for my face". "She has long legs". "His eyes are wide set." All of these comments reinforce the idea that we see and have opinions about the relationships between one thing compared to another. Artists use their sense of Proportion to make statements or express a particular feeling about a subject in a work of art. Let's see some examples.
VARIETY AND EMPHASIS
Variety keeps life interesting. Imagine if everything in your life was the same, day in and day out. Imagine the monotony! Artists also understand the importance of Emphasis in their work. Usually one part or area is given more detail to enhance that section. Click here to see how artists use Variety and Emphasis in their work.
HARMONY AND UNITY
"Harmony" in music results in pleasing tones to the ears. "Harmony" in art results from a combination of related Elements of Art creating a pleasing work for the eye. "Unity" infers that the work of art is presented as a " whole". When a work of art has "Unity", the viewer sees the work as a whole, not in separate sections. Let's go on to see just how this works!
ELEMENTS OF ART
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_art)
SPACE
The use of space and room in a piece of art. This also is also inclusive of negative space.
VALUE
Sometimes combined with color, value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. [2]
SHAPE
The 2D representation of an object or idea.
LINE
Line is the movement of dots. In art we say there is no line in nature; it's only a color difference. There are three types of line
1. Actual line: It is form of line drawn by pen, pencil or color etc, it may be straight or curved
2. Implied line: It is not a proper line but helps eye to travel along the art piece. e.g. dotted line on road
3. Psychic line: This form of line has no physical value it is a psychologically created line e.g. when we are pointing something out, our eye travels from our hand to that object as if on a line.
FORM
Form is the three-dimensional counterpart to shape. There are two types of form. Illusionary form is the form created through use of concepts such as perspective in order to show form on a two dimensional work, whereas real form is the form seen in sculpture and other three dimensional art.
TEXTURE
Texture can be either real or perceived. Real texture is how a work of art actually feels, while perceived texture is how an artwork appears to feel.
PRINCIPLES OF ART
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_art)
MOVEMENT
Movement It is a way of combining elements to cause the viewers eye to move over the artwork in a specific direction. It should not be confused with actual portrayal of movement of an object within the artwork, such as a moving car.
UNITY
Unity is the perception of the parts of a piece and their relationship with the dominant or unifying element...
Compositional similarity, oneness, togetherness, or cohesion.
VARIETY
Variety is the quality or state of having different forms or types...
The differences which give a design visual and conceptual interest: notably use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size, and so forth.
BALANCE
Balance is stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis. Like nature, balance is essential. An example is the human body.
EMPHASIS
Focal Point (also called emphasis) is where the focus is concentrated through design principles or meaning. To do this one develops points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work
CONTRAST
Contrast usually describes characteristics of art elements in opposition from subtle to extreme or intense. For example, light areas in contrast to dark, highly textured areas vs smooth and contrast between complementary colors (those opposite on the color wheel).
PROPORTIONS
Proportion (sometimes called scale) describes the relative sizes and locations of objects in the artwork. It refers to the relationships of the size of objects in a body of work. Proportion gives a sense of size seen as a relationship of objects, such as smallness or largeness.[2]
PATTERN/ RHYTHM
Pattern
Showing consistency with colors or lines. Putting a red spiral at the bottom left and top right, for example will cause the eye to move from one spiral, to the other, and everything in between.
THE ELEMENTS OF ART
(http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/ElementsMain.htm)
The Elements Of Art are the building blocks of art creation. They can be analyzed, organized, and manipulated by artists. They are the VISUAL LANGUAGE of art. Each of the Elements is important. When looking at a work of art, see if you can identify which Elements of Art the artist stressed, organized or used to express a message or to create a mood.
LINE
How many types of lines can you make? How important are lines to our environment? The artist recognizes the power of the "Line" when he or she creates a work of art. Let's take a more detailed look at "Line" and its impact on our world and the world of art.
COLOR
Many people would argue that the Element of "Color" has the most effect on a work of art. Consider what our world would look like if everything was black, white and shades of gray? The effects of "Color" on humans has been studied many times. Artists have known that "Color" has a powerful effect on their works and on the impressions of the viewers. Let's see what "Color" is and just how it is used in the visual arts.
TEXTURE
An element of art which refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or simulated. Actual textures can be felt with the fingers, while simulated textures are suggested by the way the artist has painted certain areas of a picture.
SHAPE
Shapes are everywhere. More common ones are given names such as circle or square. There are an infinite amount of shape possibilities and combinations. Let's see what role "Shape" plays in works of art and just how an artist uses the Element "Shape".
FORM
Forms are often called the "three-dimensional shapes". Unlike flat, two-dimensional areas, Forms are represented as "three-dimensional". The great illustrators and sculptors of the world of art have mastered the Element Form. Let's see how they did it!
SPACE
Often we do not consider Space when we create a work of art. It often just seems to happen. Let's take a look at how Space effects a work of art and just how artists use Space to create interest in their works.
VALUE
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It also refers to how artists use other Elements Of Art to create a sense of light or dark.
THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
(http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/PrinciplesMain.htm)
The Principles Of Design refer to the organization of a work of art. Each Principle interprets how an artist uses the Elements of Art, composition and design to express their feelings and ideas. By studying these, your own work will become more sophisticated as you will begin to apply this new knowledge to your own works of art. Let's take a look at each one.
RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT
The words Rhythm and Movement are often associated with music, dance and sports. We think of steady marching rhythms, drum beats and the pulsing sound of the bass on the radio as types of rhythms. The darting of soccer players, the graceful flow of ballet dancers and the artful dodging of basketball players emphasize Movement. Art also has rhythm and movement, a visual rhythm, a rhythmic movement. Let's explore the Principles of Rhythm and Movement more.
BALANCE
As humans we experience the need for Balance in our everyday life. We use it as we walk or run and to carry things. Balance is also necessary in other ways. We need to balance our awake and sleeping periods, our food intake and energy exports, and relaxation and stress. Balance is also important to a work of art. A balanced artwork leaves the viewer feeling "visually comfortable". On the other hand, a work that is not balanced creates a sense of visual stress. Let's take a look!
PROPORTION
The word "Proportion" means one part in relation to another. All people have a sense of proportion concerning themselves as compared to others. "My nose is too long for my face". "She has long legs". "His eyes are wide set." All of these comments reinforce the idea that we see and have opinions about the relationships between one thing compared to another. Artists use their sense of Proportion to make statements or express a particular feeling about a subject in a work of art. Let's see some examples.
VARIETY AND EMPHASIS
Variety keeps life interesting. Imagine if everything in your life was the same, day in and day out. Imagine the monotony! Artists also understand the importance of Emphasis in their work. Usually one part or area is given more detail to enhance that section. Click here to see how artists use Variety and Emphasis in their work.
HARMONY AND UNITY
"Harmony" in music results in pleasing tones to the ears. "Harmony" in art results from a combination of related Elements of Art creating a pleasing work for the eye. "Unity" infers that the work of art is presented as a " whole". When a work of art has "Unity", the viewer sees the work as a whole, not in separate sections. Let's go on to see just how this works!
ELEMENTS OF ART
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_art)
SPACE
The use of space and room in a piece of art. This also is also inclusive of negative space.
VALUE
Sometimes combined with color, value describes the lightness or darkness of a color. [2]
SHAPE
The 2D representation of an object or idea.
LINE
Line is the movement of dots. In art we say there is no line in nature; it's only a color difference. There are three types of line
1. Actual line: It is form of line drawn by pen, pencil or color etc, it may be straight or curved
2. Implied line: It is not a proper line but helps eye to travel along the art piece. e.g. dotted line on road
3. Psychic line: This form of line has no physical value it is a psychologically created line e.g. when we are pointing something out, our eye travels from our hand to that object as if on a line.
FORM
Form is the three-dimensional counterpart to shape. There are two types of form. Illusionary form is the form created through use of concepts such as perspective in order to show form on a two dimensional work, whereas real form is the form seen in sculpture and other three dimensional art.
TEXTURE
Texture can be either real or perceived. Real texture is how a work of art actually feels, while perceived texture is how an artwork appears to feel.
PRINCIPLES OF ART
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_art)
MOVEMENT
Movement It is a way of combining elements to cause the viewers eye to move over the artwork in a specific direction. It should not be confused with actual portrayal of movement of an object within the artwork, such as a moving car.
UNITY
Unity is the perception of the parts of a piece and their relationship with the dominant or unifying element...
Compositional similarity, oneness, togetherness, or cohesion.
VARIETY
Variety is the quality or state of having different forms or types...
The differences which give a design visual and conceptual interest: notably use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size, and so forth.
BALANCE
Balance is stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis. Like nature, balance is essential. An example is the human body.
EMPHASIS
Focal Point (also called emphasis) is where the focus is concentrated through design principles or meaning. To do this one develops points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work
CONTRAST
Contrast usually describes characteristics of art elements in opposition from subtle to extreme or intense. For example, light areas in contrast to dark, highly textured areas vs smooth and contrast between complementary colors (those opposite on the color wheel).
PROPORTIONS
Proportion (sometimes called scale) describes the relative sizes and locations of objects in the artwork. It refers to the relationships of the size of objects in a body of work. Proportion gives a sense of size seen as a relationship of objects, such as smallness or largeness.[2]
PATTERN/ RHYTHM
Pattern
Showing consistency with colors or lines. Putting a red spiral at the bottom left and top right, for example will cause the eye to move from one spiral, to the other, and everything in between.
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