Growing up in New York City is not something that I have personally experienced, but now it is something I can learn about through photographed documents of the lives of others. Starting in January, a dozen teens became a part of a program called Expanding the Walls at the Studio Museum in Harlem. They were given professional cameras and asked to document their lives growing up in New York City. This program ran for seven months and allowed teens from Harlem and other underserved neighborhoods to work with curators and educators from the museum.
The teenagers in this program were all encouraged to photograph the things that are most important to them, and after two months, the results already varied widely based on the different struggles these teens have faced growing up. Photographer James Van Der Zee had many photographs depicting Harlem in the 20th century and the teens used him as their study model so that they could “show their subjects with the same dignity and class as he did and to photograph them in their natural settings”.
The Studio Museum in Harlem located on West 125th Street, across from the Harlem State Office Building is open Wednesday through Sunday. I think it would be interesting to go and see the different types of photographs depicting the lifestyles and hardships these teens had to face growing up in New York City.
click here to see the article!
I thought some of these pictures demonstrated an artistic “eye,” but quite a few were just unintersting. I wonder if we could have a discussion of this in class. It might be useful to have some parameters for the “Snapshot” day when you all have to go out and take pictures.
I think projects like this are beneficial for teaching young people about art. It allows freedom of expression, and sometimes the results are unexpectedly gorgeous. Of course, there are also going to be pictures that are not as aesthetically pleasing, because after all, the photographers are not experienced. However, who’s to say that the lesser popular images are not art? The definition of such a concept is very vague.
I loved this piece! I thought the the personal narratives added a lot. To me, this represented art and perspective that I don’t usually see. I loved the mixture of personal voice with artistic expression. These photos made me realize that life is beautiful when you look at it through a new lens. It transformed the mundane into the art.