workshops for at risk youth

11/20/10 5:48 PMWorkshops for at-risk youth

of 4http://www.tomrchambers.com/wfary.html

Workshops for at-risk youth

I. Polaroid Power: An Instant Look at Ourselves (1988)

This six-week photographic workshop was conducted for inner-City youth at theWhitmarsh House, Providence, Rhode Island as a part of the Metro Arts program, asubstance-abuse prevention program through the Arts. The Polaroid medium wasutilized to offer instant results as visual concepts were pursued. This "quick" imagewas instrumental in providing stimulus and accessibility to analysis. A materials grant(cameras and film) was obtained from the Polaroid Foundation. Each sessionprogressed through visualization levels to offer the core-group members guidance re:portraiture, composition, shape and form, foreground/background relationship,depth-of-field, juxtaposition, collage/montage and documentary.

Session A:

A core-group member was utilized as the sole subject, as his colleagues madephotographs (one per member) at their discretion. The portraits differ, even thoughthey are of the same individual, and reveal a multiform subject as perceived by theother members. The subject evolves as a flesh object, determined by each colleague'sapproach to visualization of his co-member. A remote-control device was held by thesubject to make his own photograph through self-portraiture. The camera was placedin-hand (per member) for the first time and through familiarity and friendship withinthe core-group, the visualization process began.

Session B:

The core-group members continued portraiture through team activity. Two teamsmade photographs (one camera per team) at their own discretion, and they workedindependently of each other. It's interesting that many of the images involved aparticular colleague. This is due, possibly, to his personality and his willingness to bephotographed and his rapport with the members or a combination thereof. A fewmembers chose to document the environs of the classroom. Two of the images displayslow-shutter-speed/camera-movement technique that conjures-up the esprit, andreveals passage of time. The camera was placed in-hand (per member) for the secondtime and through team approach, photographs were made in a consultative manneror discussion between the members.

Session C:

The core-group members moved outdoors, and formed two teams (one camera perteam). They pursued site documentation at their own discretion, but based uponclassroom discussion re: portraiture, composition, shape and form,foreground/background relationship, depth-of-field, juxtaposition, collage/montageand documentary. Various images display a premeditated approach to thesubject(s)/object(s), and impart knowledge of the value of the visual. One image inparticular - hands and arms extended in front of a brick wall - is a good example ofsuperimposition, pattern, contrast, coloration, shape/form and animate/inanimatecomparison. Other images - subjects jumping from entrance steps - exemplify thepassage of time (blurred movement) and the stoppage of time (frozen movement).The outdoors extended the boundaries ad infinitum, and afforded greater flexibilityfor documentation.

Session D:

The core-group members moved outdoors, and worked as a unit in response toassignment documentation. The colleagues worked through four assignments at theirown discretion: 1) object/automobile - shape/form and image design; 2)subject/staff aide - environmental portraiture and candid; 3) subject(s)/childrenplaying soccer - documentary; 4) object/facility and windows - shape/form and

http://www3.providenceri.com/

http://www.ri.gov/

http://www.whitmarshcorp.org/



architectural. When the images (per assignment category) are seen as a collection,they represent unit (entire core-group) coverage, and make us aware that eventhough the objects/subjects are perceived differently per individual, visualrelationships exist to convey meaning. Parts make up a whole and in this case, eachcore-group member contributed a visual part to the whole re: assignmentdocumentation.

Session E:

The core-group members moved outdoors, and formed two teams (two cameras perteam). A member was designated team leader (per team), and was asked to makeassignments at his own discretion. A particular group of images involves shadow-play, and imparts an otherworldliness. It represents a good example of a shape/formstudy, and displays the arrangement of parts composed. Another group of images -automobile surfaces and emblems - is a good example of a shape/form study, and itevokes moodiness through soft-focus and catch-lighting from the flash attachmenton the camera. The two images of the sky - one without a reference point and theother with one (top corner of a building) - are a good example of documentation ofthe latter needing the former to convey meaning, and provide correct identification.Task responsibility increased for the team leaders as they not only pursued self-visualization, but also guided the colleagues through their visualization process.

Session F:

The core-group members moved outdoors, and formed four teams (one camera perteam). They worked independently of each other. Photographs were made ofobjects/subjects at each team's discretion, but based upon classroom discussion ofvisualization and analysis of images made during previous sessions. The two imagesof foliage, the image of the toilet and the image of a dirt-floor room conjured-up for aparticular member, the Vietnam War and plight of the POWs. The images of hand-playand composite Polaroids on the automobile surface impart an aesthetic study of theproducers (the core-group members) and the product (Polaroid prints).

Session G:

The core-group members pursued exposures in assembled sequences that challengethe single-instant, single-viewpoint image. This is in keeping with David Hockney'collages involving instant prints. The members made photographs of one another andthe instructor by visually sectioning the subject into thirds, then arranging thesections (per subject) to make a collage portrait. The group moved outdoors tocontinue the sectioning technique and collage approach to objects and sites. Thecollage of the house displays a vertical panorama; the collage of the door to awomen's restroom is reminiscent of Western paintings and photographs of adobestructures due to simplistic design and coloration of the doorway and wall; and thecollages of the automobiles are reminiscent of the two-fold and three-fold ads inmagazines. This sectioning of subjects, locations and objects forced the core-groupmembers to view the documentation area over and over for increased awareness tovisualization; and the placing of the images to form meaningful collages reinforcedthe members' minds-eye re: parts make up a whole.

Session H:

The core-group members moved outdoors as a unit (one camera per member), andpursued assignment documentation throughout the neighborhood. As the groupmoved from location to location, they asked various individuals and groups ofindividuals in the neighborhood to be a part of the documentation process. Themembers made documentary photographs of a family relaxing on their front porch, aman walking down a street listening to police and fire calls on his portable scanner, afamily of older siblings taking care of younger ones in front of their home, a motherwatching over her children while sitting on a street curb, a man going over



documents at his automobile, a group of children gathered on top of an automobiletrunk and a woman and child inside her automobile while waiting for relatives to jointhem.

II. Our Third Eye: A Polaroid Project (1990)

This four-week, photographic workshop was taught for inner-City youth at the SmithHill Center, Providence, Rhode Island as a part of the Metro Arts program, asubstance-abuse prevention program through the Arts. The Polaroid medium wasutilized to record our third eye, and to offer instant results as visual concepts werepursued. A materials grant (cameras and film) was obtained from the PolaroidFoundation. Each session progressed through visualization levels to offer the core-group members guidance re: visualization/evaluation of their surroundings andconfidence-building for the interactive process.

Sessions A & B:

The core-group members moved outside and remained in the immediate vicinity ofSmith Hill Center. They approached an area/situation as a team, and made oneexposure each. This team- or group-approach provided a comparative study of theirthird eye or ability to visualize/evaluate through a medium. As the core-groupmembers ventured from site to site, but still within the immediate vicinity of theCenter, directions were given to not only visualize/evaluate an area/situation, butalso manipulate or introduce a factor that would change the documentary result. Thisinteractive process within an area or as a part of a situation began to instill a greaterconfidence within the core-group as they journeyed onward. Ten areas/situationsreflect the core-group's ability to begin to visualize/evaluate with their third eye. Theinteractive process is seen as a part of: shadow-play, gentleman in an auto, towels,trash cans and no parking anytime sign.

Session C:

The core-group members ventured farther away from the Smith Hill Center facility,and moved into an activity at a local grocery store parking lot. They continued theirteam approach per area/situation as it relates to visualization/evaluation and to theinteractive process. Each grouping of photographs shows either the human elementor an object that relates to the activity: in this case, Valueland's Special Events Day.One of the core-group members acted as group leader to determine area/situation fordocumentation. The core group moved away from the previous activity, and ventureddown the street. Still under the leadership of the same core-group member, variousareas/items/objects and a situation were visualized/evaluated for documentation.These groupings of images concentrate on item/object documentation, and enhanceconsiderations for perspective, lighting and shape/form. The core-group shifted frominanimate to inanimate.

Session D:

The core-group members ventured even farther away from the Smith Hill Centerfacility, and moved into the neighborhood of one of the members. This memberbecame group leader, and determined the area/situation for team documentation.These groupings of images show an overview of the group leader's neighborhood: hishome and sister, aunt, grandmother, friends and other neighborhood homes. The coregroup moved into the neighborhood of another member. Group leadership shifted tothis member for team documentation of the area/situation. These groupings ofimages show an overview of the group leader's neighborhood: political/retail signs,homes and foliage. Additional coverage continued later as a part of the annualProvidence Waterfront Festival and as an extension of the workshop process. Thecore-group members provided documentation with a certain self-confidence andskill-level that were acquired as a part of the workshop process.



News coverage: Inner-City youths who said yes to the arts will march anddemonstrate their crafts (Taking charge of their lives): Visitors to the 1990Providence Waterfront Festival will want to keep their eyes peeled and their watchessynchronized for a unique parade scheduled for 2pm tomorrow. That's when a troupeof about 60 children from the City's Metro-Arts program will wind their way throughthe festival crowd, carrying brightly colored banners and performing juggling andacrobatic tricks. "We've got clowns and jugglers and all kinds of things," says Metro-Arts coordinator, Thomas Russack. "The kids have worked especially hard becausethey know they are going to have a big audience." The parade will eventually work itsway back to the eastern edge of India Point Park, where the Metro-Arts program alsois sponsoring a demonstration of African drumming and a mural-painting workshop.Both the demonstration and the workshop are free and open to the public. The paradealso will call attention to one of the State's most innovative programs for dealing withthe problem of teenage substance abuse. Founded in 1985 at the Smith Hill Center inProvidence, Metro-Arts organizes regular arts and crafts workshops for children ages8 to 14, who are considered to be at risk from temptations of drugs and alcohol. "Wetry to show them that there are alternatives to things like crack and booze," Russacksays. "If we can teach them to have confidence in their own abilities - if we can getthem to believe in themselves - then there's less chance that they'll reach for somekind of crutch. We use the Arts as a way of getting them to take charge of their lives."The program currently serves seven Providence neighborhoods, including Elmwood,Federal Hill, Fox Point, South Providence and the West End. Workshops are held inlocal community centers, such as the Fox Point Boys and Girls Club on the East Sideand the Hartford Park Community Center in Olneyville, and are run by professionalartists whose interests range from theater and photography to juggling and balloon-making. The parade and other Metro-Arts activities will be captured on film by a teamof fledgling photojournalists under the supervision of Tom R. Chambers, Providenceartist and photographer. Using cameras donated by the Polaroid Foundation,Chambers recently held a four-week workshop at the Smith Hill Center that exploredthe styles and techniques of photojournalism. "I think I got as much out of it as theydid," Chambers says. "They have so much energy and enthusiasm. Partly, it'sdiscovering something new, like how to work a camera or how to think the way anews photographer thinks. But it's also a thrill for them to be challenged in a creativeway. I think that's something they don't really get enough of." (Bill Van Siclen, ArtsWriter, The Providence Journal-Bulletin, Providence, Rhode Island, September 7,1990)

(Please note: images re: the workshops are not available at this time due to non-access of originals that reside at the Smith Hill Center.)

III. Street Kids In Action (SKIA) Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa (1993-1995)

http://www.tomrchambers.com/index-5.html

workshops for at risk youth

Documents