Jane K. Marshall
This unit is planned as a sequel to a previous unit. “Poetry and Paintings: A Comparative Study”. “Poetry and Paintings”, enablsd this teacher to introduce poetry, with its complex vocabulary, through a natural coupling with a visual mode of expression (painting). Students learned of symbols, metaphors, rythmn, structure etc. through a study of an “acceptable” (to them) mode of exprsssion, and transferred this knowledge to the alien expression, poetry. Thus students who had previously been “turned off” by the mere word, poetry, were able to put aside prejudices, and accept/ enjoy ths previously misunderstood genre.
A secondary, although perhaps no less important, dividend became obvious to me in teaching via this method. Students were actively involved in an appreciation of “art”. Students appeared “ripe” for this experience, and unsolicitated positive comments were expressed. The broad-based humanities approach to learning is not new. Yet, somehow we, as teachers, often become bogged down in our own area of expertise. I was pleasantly surprised by students’ reactions to studying something they initially viewed as “nonEnglish”, and am convinced then that the method is valuable in two ways: 1. Students who are primarily visually oriented are able to transfer knowledge of a visual mode of expression to the written. 2. Students can be encouraged to view visual expressions of art analytically.
A comparative study of photography and poetry will enable students to learn to appreciate the art of photography. In addition, through the theme of New York—past and present, students will begin to consider the artist and his world. Students will also be exposed to various changes which have taken place in the City of New York during a time-span of a century or so.
It will be necessary to expose students to the genre of photography early in the unit. Students having already experienced painting in a previous unit, will start out having some sense of what goes into a visual representation: they will have a general notion of how to approach visual expression.
The first portion of the unit will consider differences between painting and photography through a study of photography. Students will become, aware of the limitations imposed upon the photographer. Unlike the painter; the photographer must deal with reality head on. His is a rapid medium which requires that he anticipate moments which represent the reality of his time. Students will learn that photography is an expression of symbols which define and illustrate our consciousness. It will be necessary to study such properties of photography as: detail, time, frame, and vantage point.
It is perhaps detail, more than any other property, which expresses the symbolic quality of the photograph. The photographer opens our eyes to that which was present yet unavailable to us. Through details the viewer is able to discover meanings which were previously over-looked by him.
Time is an ever-present phenomena for the viewer of photographs. We are aware of the capture of the moment, and yet are awed by the experience. The photographer himself enjoys a precarious relationship with time as he strives to anticipate the “decisive moment”. (It is important to realize, as Szarkowski indicates in
The Photographer’s Eye
, that the decisive moment is not the climax of the exterior event, but rather that of the juxtaposition of patterns which express clarity and balance.)
The frame, which defines the parameters of the photograph, allows the unexpected relationship as expression. The process of isolation of objects or event within a frame allows the photographer a statement of reality which would be all too forced or unreal in the context of a painting. That which has been purposely “left out” through the use of the frame also becomes important. Thus the photographer is able to make a statement through the process of omission.
Vantage point allows the photographer the freedom in which to make his statement. This property, perhaps more than any other, allows us a glimpse of the man behind the picture.
The second portion of this unit will consider changes which have occurred in New York City through a comparative study of poems and photographs. Through the theme of New York past and present, students will begin to consider the artist and his world. Artists’ works invariably reflect the world of which they are a part. Issues, problems, and dreams of society often form the cornerstone of a work of art. As men strive to understand their environment, the artist raises appropriate questions which must be addressed. Students will come to realize that the artist’s function is real, and that through works of art we are able to approach truth.
A study of the changing city, one hopes, will awaken students to pressures prevalent during various times in one of the United States’ most influential of cities. New York has been likened to a barometer which reflects the feelings of Americans. It is important for young people to realize that they are part of an ever-changing societal environment. One ought to understand outside pressures and their influence on every-day life. Students will be able to discern the issues of various times through symbols and themes present in each genre. One hopes that they will be able to transfer insights, gained through such a consideration, to their view of themselves and the world in which they live.
The unit will cover New York in three time periods, 1890-1930, 1930’s, and 1950’s-’60’s. Themes which are important in each time block will be discussed. Students will be exposed to a brief historical picture of each time period before they approach works of photography and poetry. Thus the reality of each period and resultant themes which concerned artists will be clear.
