The reason I started this blog was to have a place to write. The reason I continue to write on this blog is to have a place to reflect. Words continue to be important to me and while I know that my method, which is to wake up each morning, write for an hour, and publish, leads to a higher number of typos than I'm happy with, I strive for it to be the best writing I'm capable of producing each day.
The reason I started taking photos at school was because I found them to be useful "bookmarks" for the things I wanted to write about. My relationship to photography has been an uncomfortable one. While I appreciate that photos document moments that are there and gone forever, I hate the idea of experiencing those moments through a view finder. I've tended, therefore, to use photography merely as a functional art. I'm perfectly satisfied using the camera built into my phone. I use an app that allows me to take pictures by tapping anywhere on the screen, which allows me, at least a little, to stay more present in a moment even as I record it.
I typically only take, at most, a handful of photos each day, but one day this week, I took a lot. Today, I wanted to turn this blog upside down and minimize the words and just share some highlights from my photo stream. It kind of amazes me how much we do in a single day.
And this is only a glimpse. We did so much more on that day. Is there any wonder I love my job?
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I love seeing the amazing things you do with your students! It is an inspiration to this inner city elementary art teacher in middle America!
ReplyDeleteI have always been struck by your ability to photograph the children in your school without making their faces clearly identifiable. As a 30-year middle/high school teacher, virtually every one of the thousands of (not-digital) photos I have of my students features faces, faces and more faces. Because the kids knew that their picture was being taken and--posed.
ReplyDeleteI finally figured out that it was easy for you to snap photos without having a distinct face front and center because your kiddos are engaged in the very important work they are doing. They are busy, too busy to be distracted, too diligent about their work to care about some dude walking around with a phone in his pocket.
Well done.