Image from Spike Lee's Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke"
In class: Opening Journal: What aspects of Patricia Smith's writing resonated with your own experiences of the environment and of place? Smith's writing is loaded with sensory details that fleshes out New Orleans as a place--making the disaster that occurred there all the more tragic. Think about key experiences you've had of tragedy and environment. Write a snapshot of that experience.
Alternative: Write a snapshot of an environmental experiences, using the level of sensory detail Smith employs as a model.
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Blood Dazzler Discussion:
(Cayla Bullerman, Samuel Carlson)
Thinking about visual rhetoric: What are the implications of how we represent a place?
-Detroit--"Ruin Porn"
Look at the images from Time Magazine--http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089_1850980,00.html
-With a partner: Chose one image--what is being framed? What is the photographer's thesis?
“Telling Their Stories: The Lingering Legacy of the Hurricane Katrina Photographs” is the title of a new exhibit at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans. The exhibit is an emotional and moving retrospective of the powerful images made in the aftermath of Katrina.
Do you see the Hurricane Katrina photographs as similar to the Time Magazine Detroit photos? Different? Would it make a difference that the photographers come from New Orleans? What does that mean for Patricia Smith as an outsider? What gives someone license to write or photograph a place?
-In a group of two: Pick one image from one of the galleries (Time or the New Orleans exhibit) and analyze the visual rhetoric of it? What is the photographer's thesis? How is he/she framing it? (Comment on blog)
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Blood Dazzler Discussion:
-Break into small groups, pick and discuss a favorite poem from the readings so far to share with the class.
-Discuss: What is a poem? What can a poem do? What formal qualities define a poem? How would you replicate what Smith does.
-Discuss: What is a poem? What can a poem do? What formal qualities define a poem? How would you replicate what Smith does.
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Homework:
-Imitate one of Patricia Smith's poems integrating your own experience of place, disaster, home, or loss
-Blood Dazzler, by Patricia Smith, second half. (Journal)-JOURNALS COLLECTED
Kelsey Keiran & Matt Bogaard
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/08/24/129400381/telling-their-stories
Picture 11
The photographer's thesis appears to be focused on how there are efforts to help after the flooding, but they are just not enough, as evidenced by one small sandbag being lowered into this huge mass of water.
The framing of this image is very important because of how the camera is used to show this mass of water and all of the buildings and ruins converging on the place where this sandbag is being lowered. Even the helicopter and house in the corner seem to be moving towards the center of the ripples of water.
Because the framing is so specific, there is most likely a lot being left out of this image. There could be other helicopters on the way, they could each only be carrying one sandbag, the area may not be as big and the image makes it seem to be, because it does not show the edges of the water.
Steve Smallwood
ReplyDeleteChelsea Snell
Image 4
The picture we chose was the one where the family is pulling the children through the water in a big plastic tub. It show the devastation and how they have nothing. They can't even use a stroller. It also frames how far the family would go to keep the children safe and how they are trying to survive.
In the pictures we wondered what the photographer was doing. Was he or she helping or just snapping photos and waiting for the most tragic photo opp? It hard to imagine just standing around and not helping.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129400381&sc=fb&cc=fp
ReplyDeletePicture 5 of 22
The image depicts a woman who is alone in an "ocean" of water and oil. This photograph may have been cropped though to give this impression more so than the reality. What we don't see may change our attitude. She may not be alone in the floodwater and she may not be stranded in the middle of nowhere. But when the photographer limits your view, you are left to make your own conclusions.
Sam Carlson
Rebecca Smidt
Victoria Foerster, Long Nguyen
ReplyDeleteWe chose picture #7 in the Katrina album. It showed three people on a rooftop (one of which only had 1 leg). The photo depicts the basic instinct of humans to search for a way to survive no matter the circumstances. Both the physical and emotional strength of the group is shown; the photo made us think about how the man made it to the rooftop. It is hard to put the emotional side into words-you just get a feel of their state when you look at the photograph. The photographer took the picture from a higher angle. Although the job of the photographer was to capture the scene so that the rest of the world could feel and experience the victims' problems.
Tyler Main
ReplyDeleteI chose picture 4 of the Katrina exhibit. It depicts the devastation and power of the hurricane. A building appears to be ripped in half at the hands of the storm. What I don't understand is that during this incredibly strong storm, the photographer was brave enough to take the picture. I'm starting to question the severity of the storm at that time or at least the structural integrity of the building that was destroyed. If I see a storm of that magnitude, I don't stop and take the time to photograph it, I look for shelter.
Chelsey Branderhorst and Travis Truitt
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/08/24/129400381/telling-their-stories
The picture we chose to analyze was the one from New Orleans where a woman standing on a bridge, and in the water below her a body was floating. We think that the image replicates the people who have been lost in the disastorus storm. We noticed that the woman on the bridge is not even paying attention to the body floating, this shows how much the people have become immune to many types of tragedies because it is happening so frequently around them.
The photographer's thesis is that the will to help a fellow man is non-existant. The framing of the photo shows that this woman is preoccupied with her needs, due to the fact that she is surrounded by trash on the bridge and is watching out for her dog. The framing can also be misleading because this one woman was the only person on the bridge photographed, but in reality there could be other people on the bridge doing the opposite.
Camille Nelson & Timothy Landwehr - Image 2 of 22 - Hurricane Photos - We found this image interesting because the three people in the photo are struggling to fight against the wind and torrential rain yet the cameraperson had enough time to turn around and get a quick shot, as well as ask for the names and ages of each photographed. It seems like the photographer wants to show the depravity & wetness of the area yet his camera lens is dry. Where was he keeping a dry lens cloth to keep the image clear? Everyone in the photo is shoeless - did he have shoes?
ReplyDeleteWe chose picture nine from the Legacy of Hurricane Katrina, depicted in this picture is a woman faced down in a body of water, while another woman on a bridge is watering and feeding her dog. We feel the thesis of this picture is though her city has been demolished and citizens have died, she may care for the only thing she might have left, her dog. Another idea what may be seen is the fact that she doesn’t care much that she is seeing a dead body, and her only concern is herself and her dog.
ReplyDeleteJody Lohse
Clinton Hagedorn