Sara E. Thomas
I would like students to practice this process of analyzing artwork with a variety of different images. To focus on architectural photography I would like students to look at the images of the Oak Street Neighborhood in
Images of America
on page 32. These two images were taken before the Oak Street Connector was built and leveled the neighborhood. They were used to justify tearing down the buildings. I would like students to view them and go through Feldman’s method -- paying careful attention to their description. I think it will be very important for students to be cognizant of the fact that the photographer is taking the photo with a specific purpose in mind. These photographs clearly show what living in the neighborhood was like at that time -- deplorable living conditions, juxtaposed with images of new, clean housing projects.
The image on the top of page 32 shows a storefront called Midtown Antiques, next to Nelson’s Antiques. The buildings are brick and do not look like they have been well kept. The store looks like it is no longer open, and in the display windows piles of miscellaneous objects can be seen. The objects look as though they were thrown there haphazardly in a garbage pile, as opposed to being lined up in a nice display. The awning is tattered and torn, and there is also a pile of garbage collecting in the doorway.
The image on the bottom of the page shows an old three-story apartment building, with clothes hanging out on the line to dry. The building looks like it is falling apart. Even more striking is the foreground of the photograph, an empty lot next to the apartment building that looks like it has become a dumping ground. There’s wood, cloth and garbage piling up.
Once students have created a class interpretation of these two images we will begin to brainstorm questions that students have about these images, in order to make a more informed interpretation. I hope that they will begin to ask things like -- Who lived here? Why would you want to capture a neighborhood in this light? Why didn’t they fix the existing homes? I am sure students will begin to see parallels to things going on in their neighborhoods currently.
Once students have created a list of questions we will go to the historical society to do some research about each neighborhood, based on the questions they have compiled.
To do this research we will make use of the photograph collection at the New Haven Museum and Historical Society. Students will be given collections of images from different years of the same specific blocks in their neighborhoods. I will work with the librarian at the museum to put together groups of these images beforehand -- to make sure that enough of them exist. I will also make copies of the images for students to use in the classroom. There may be some logistical problems here because this class usually meets at 8AM, so we may have trouble accessing the library’s collection but I would like to arrange for someone from the Museum to come into the classroom.
Each group of students will look at photographs of street corners, shops and houses in their neighborhood throughout time. We will try to focus on the five different time periods that students included on their maps of the boundaries of that particular neighborhood. While students are looking at the maps I would like them to be aware of buildings that have lasted since the inception of the neighborhood, and also to look for buildings that look like they are centers in the neighborhood. I would like students to then add images of the important buildings throughout time to their Google my maps. They can add the buildings as place markers, and can add images to the pop up bubbles that go with those place markers. (I need to talk to the librarian about copyright issues.) Next, students will go out into those neighborhoods and photograph the buildings as they appear currently.