Lesson 5: Neighborhood Photo Assignment

NNY blog post

In this class, we shared and talked about our work from the previous weeks. We looked at some beautiful doodles both hand-drawn, like Lori’s, and some created by using digital drawing programs, like Hong’s. We got to know each other a bit more as we shared important objects to us and shared more stories around our food zines. Lydia shared about her baked goods business and between that and Olivia’s zine, I think we all wanted some dessert! Avocados made appearances in many people’s work, one even came up in Yenti’s self-portrait assignment!

We also had some thought-provoking conversations around conceptual art while reviewing our last week’s homework. Conceptual art can really be any style and I love how so many of you addressed the prompt of making a “self-portrait” without depicting your face. Some people chose important aspects of their identity to highlight, some chose to use objects to convey personality traits. We looked at Hong’s work that was actually a map detailing places she’s lived and her migration story, Marie Claire’s still life photograph of bananas in which she wished to show how aging women are viewed by society and how it resembled a memento mori or Vanitas still life from the Northern Renaissance. Jillian’s beautiful scarves are soft and elegant like she sees herself and Fiona’s conceptual drawing about the journey of discovering herself. So many laughs and wonderful stories were shared through art, thank you all for your amazing artwork and for sharing parts of yourself!

Later in the class, we spoke a little about different neighborhoods and how, like people, they change and evolve. Some for better or worse. We tried to remember the places of our childhoods and I hope that the next time we meet we can see more photographs and look at those places now on google street view. Like us, neighbors have identities, almost like personalities. How can we as artists uncover and reveal those identities to others. How can actively looking at places that surround us, change how we view them? In taking photos, we are doing just that– actively looking. What do you notice? What story can your photographs tell?

Homework: Take at least 10 digital photographs of your neighborhood or a neighborhood you have a personal connection to. Try to show some unique aspects of that neighborhood, what makes it special? People, stores, signs, trash, nature– all of those things change depending on where you are. This is a 2-week assignment.

Remember, our next (and final) class is on March 17th