Over the past four weeks, I have been working with high school students from the Studio Museum in Harlem Expanding the Walls (ETW) program. This amazing program is for students that come from all over the New York area. It is an opportunity that allows the students to learn digital photography over the course of 8 months. They also participate in a variety of activities that help to inform their final photographic project such as museum and gallery visits.
The program approached us at Photography and Imaging because they wanted to expand the experience with photography by learning analog photography before diving into digital. That’s where I come in. Expanding the Walls needed an analog aficionado. I was up for the challenge. Starting in the beginning of February the students of ETW made the journey to the Photography & Imaging Department of NYU’s Tisch. During these weeks the students learned how to operate an analog camera, make compelling images, and enlarge their negatives in the darkroom.
I was so excited to introduce to these students my passion and it was a joy to see their engagement with the amazing art of photography. The workshop has come to an end, but I’m looking forward to working with these students until the end of the semester as they transition into digital. I hope to see the concepts they’ve learned to extend into their images as they work toward a final project.
To learn more about Expanding the Walls, check out their website.
