I had a thought. I don't think that many of my viewers know why I am exactly doing this project. So I figured I should give you all a little information.
When I was in the second grade I received my first camera, a Polaroid. I was mesmerized by that moment, I was a photographer for life. I was usually in charge of taking the photos for family and friend occasions, or so I thought, and I sometimes am to this day. I currently attend Stephens College for Film and continue to take photos of my own things on the side. I even have a separate
blog for the food I make and photograph.
I think art education is very important to teach young children, it hurts my heart when I hear that music and art education is being cut from schools. One thing that I love about Columbia is that the community is very supportive in the arts and education of it. There is even a school dedicated to the education at the elementary level,
Lee Elementary.
Because I believe that art education is important and I have benefited from it, I want to give back to my community and teach children the art of photography. Not only will the children be experiencing the art of photography, but they will be teaching me about the 2011 3rd grade experience. I believe that both the children and I have a lot to learn from each other, as well as the community. Something I am wanting to do with this project is not only teach the children and give them the experience of taking photos and sharing them with each other, but also to share this experience with the community around Columbia, MO.
The more specific details of this project are that I will be teaching the children through the guidance of
Ann Mehr, several times through out the semester about photography as an art. The 3rd grade classes of
Carissa Seek and
Kathleen Corley after learning about photography will be given a disposable camera for 1 day and be asked to document their entire day from beginning to end. Along with the photos each student will be asked to write a story about their day, together the students and I will compile a book of everyones work to share with each member of the class. I am hoping this experience will affect them to look at their lives in a different way. These children already have a step ahead of many, looking at life through an artistic lens, but what I hope to do is to make them look at every aspect of their life through a photographic almost documentary lens. I feel many people do not view life in such a manner, they allow the small things to easily slip from their minds, I tend to find these to be the most beautiful things.
I am very excited about this project and hope that those of you who read this become as excited about it as I am. I will be using this page as an outlet to educate the community and viewers about the project and my progress physically and mentally. There will be many events throughout the community to be involved in and a fundraising page set to launch in mid to late February. Coming soon is and event at the
Blue Fugue on
FEBRUARY THE 5TH with bands and other fun activities that will help purchase the cameras and development of the film.
This project will only be possible with the help from the community members who participate.
To those of you who donate I am forever grateful, as are the children and Lee Elementary.
Feel free to pass this site on to those who may be interested, and to contact me with questions via comments on this site or my email. WyndstormN@gmail.com
Thank you so much for your time and participation.
Wynde
for my first lesson I taught the kids about contrast and values, something to keep in mind when taking pictures. In order to help them think about it we did some painting with only white and black. The second lesson we learned about framing and did quite a bit of writing. I had them free write about their day. They were to use descriptive words to explain their day as if the were writing to a friend on the other side of the world. From the writing we were able to pull things to take pictures of and how. One example I used was from a kid who had a dog that needed training, I told her that a great way of showing this would be to have her finger in the frame reprimanding the dog with an demeaning angle of her pooch. She liked this idea and drew further upon it which is good.
Beyond teaching I sandwiched some T/F Film Festival. I helped Vanessa Andrew with the doors into the Windsor/ Hive entrance, we spent 8 hours on Wednesday night before the festival. 
here is a look at one of the pictures I took on my phone.
It has been really fun teaching and I have one more class to teach photo and I can't wait to see the images! This is such an exciting experience. 
this is a picture from the first class I taught. This lesson was about me and my ideas as an artist. it was a combination class with both Seek and Corley. This class was intended to be an introduction to the project, myself- their teacher, and some history about photographers that have influenced my interest in photography.