Katie DelaVaughn

Community Service Learning

2011-07-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Peace Corps Fellows Program at Teachers College, Columbia University recently hired me to photograph eight different service learning projects at NYC public schools in Brooklyn, Manhattan & the Bronx. It was a fascinating assignment watching passionate students engage in meaningful service learning experiences. This image of Brooklyn high school girl in a contemporary issues class is one of my favorites from the eight shoots.

Breasts Feeding

2011-05-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Honored to be a part of this great exhibit that opens today. My image, Breasts Feeding, is a hand printed silver gelatin photograph from the series entitled The Women Left Behind.

Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts Grant

2011-01-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

2011 is off to a great start! The Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) Community Arts Regrant Program and the BAC Board of Directors awarded me a generous grant to do a personal & collaborative photography project. Details about the project coming soon! My project will be funded by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). Below is additional information about the Brooklyn Arts Council.

ABOUT BAC

WHO WE ARE
We are the arts council for the borough of Brooklyn. We bring leadership and energy to every part of Brooklyn’s arts scene, supporting and connecting it all. It doesn’t matter where you fit into the arts—artist, audience member, participant, venue, educator or supporter—we want you to create and experience the arts in every neighborhood of Brooklyn.

What drives us? Our impassioned belief in the intrinsic value of the arts and artists, as well as what they can do. Art has a unique ability to bridge cultures, inspiring positive transformation in individual lives and entire communities.

WHAT WE DO
BAC gives grants, presents free and affordable arts events, trains artists and arts professionals, teaches students, incubates new projects and promotes artists and cultural groups across our borough. Brooklyn’s cultural anchor since 1966, BAC has also been the catalyst helping the arts community grow. We continually evaluate and evolve what we do to meet the changing times, and keep our commitment to community engagement, diversity and inclusion when it comes to the arts in our borough.

It's a dreamy lens kind of day

2010-12-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Magical NYC Blizzard

Borough of Manhattan Community College Lecture

2010-11-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hope you can make my lecture-Arts and Education for the Latino Community- Thursday 2-4pm at BMCC-Borough of Manhattan Community College highlighting the photography and literacy work I have done for the past 10 years.

Faith Ringgold

2010-09-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

In the POP curriculum for 1st and 2nd grade, we always read and used Faith Ringgold's books as an inspiration and springboard for our POP projects. She will be at ACA gallery on September 16 from 6-8pm for the opening of her show- Faith Ringgold: Coming to Jones Road, Part II & Other Story Quilts. Her layered work combining painting, quilted fabric and storytelling is a must see!

Contemporarius Exhibit in Alabama

2010-09-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

"Contemporarious...we are a web of photographers, whose work belongs in the present. media has connected us and we are connected to it as we embrace or resist it's pull on our creative pulse, we come together in time."

I have 35 images represented in 9 photographs in the exhibit, "Contemporarious" that opened last night, September 3rd, at the Eastern Arts Center in Fairhope, Alabamba. The exhibit will be on exhibit until October 2nd. The Eastern Arts Center is located at 401 Oak Street.

My images were selected by curator and photographer Kristy Johnson-Snell. She selected 5 images from my Nicaragua series and 30 hipstamatic images taken on my camera phone and montaged the images into 4 photographs with 5 images each.

Hipstamatic Montage

Below is my artist statement and images for sale in the exhibit.

My photographs in this exhibit reveal personal moments, contemporary moments that are still breathing and antiquated ones once so real but only alive as images yet still evoking present-day emotions.

These moments were captured with a film camera, a simple digital point and shoot camera, and a mobile camera phone. I take these pictures as a first time mother, a wife, a Californian living in New York, and a Peace Corps volunteer in love with Nicaragua and her people.

My hipstamatic prints taken on my camera phone document 2010 summer adventures with my son and husband in our current temporary home of Brooklyn, New York.

Summer Brooklyn

Summer Brooklyn and Summer Diversions shows how much Yo Amo NY from brownstones in Bed-Stuy, to views of the island. I love NY in the sounds of sirens, the sight of sunsets, the taste ofSu ice cream and the thrill of a full moon roller coaster ride in Coney Island while humming MJ’s Remember the Time. Longing for a taste of Latin America, a place once so familiar sends me to the Red Hook Ballparks to eat traditional Salvadoran Pupusas (corn tortillas filled with beans and cheese) and drink Mexican horchata (cinnamon rice milk) and agua de flor de jamaica (hibiscus tea).

Summer Diversions

Summer Baby shows my beautiful baby, my sweet Wendell B, and his first summer...from tummy time to sleepy time, to silly faces, spit bubbles and discovering his hands. Lets not forget my belly and her beauty marks to remember where my baby boy grew for 9 months, his home last summer. I could photograph my son and document motherhood all day!

Summer Baby

Summer Junctures are fleeting moments from when summer just began and now summer is being locked away just like those preschool bikes. Remembering our first trip to the National Zoo in DC, World Cup fever on the NY subway and the security fence next to our former apartment building. The summer series ends with a weathered balloon, once wishing someone a Happy Birthday finding a resting place.

Summer Junctures

My Nicaraguan photographs are from 2003-2006 taken in the towns of Karawala, Bluefields and Altagracia where my husband and I served as Peace Corps Volunteers and fell in love with our son’s namesake, the writer Wendell Berry. These images were taken with both my film camera and a simple digital point and shoot camera. These images while of the past could communicate an emotion parallel to that of the recent gulf disaster-a calm before the storm.

Melvin on the Wharf of Karawala

Melvin on the Wharf of Karawala shows the entrance to the Miskito village on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. The Miskitos are Native Americans from the Mosquito Coast. Many Karawalans were mixed African-Indigenous Central Americans speaking Ulwa, Miskitu, Creole and Spanish. Melvin was my best friend Rosa’s son. In the background you can see the wooden homes on stilts made from the pine trees in the basukra. Unfortunately in November of 2009 Hurricane Ida landed in Karawala destroying 80% of these homes.

Basukra

Basukra is the home to the beautiful pine trees out in the bush of Karawala. Melvin and his cousin Luis are jumping off a makeshift bridge that was destroyed by a previous Hurricane in 2004- Hurricane Beta. Busukra is where I got my Karawalan nickname, Liwa Mairin, mermaid in Miskitu.

Sara the Midwife

Sara the Midwife is Melvin's grandma. This photograph was taken in Bluefields Nicaragua, which is the port city on the Atlantic Coast. Sara’s sister Flora moved to Bluefields after Flora’s three young daughters all had babies. Sara went to help deliver her grandnieces. I had the honor of naming the baby next to Sara in the image. She was born on July 27. One of best childhood friends growing up was born on the same day so a Karawalan baby born in Bluefields is named after her, Baby Audrey. I wish Sara could have delivered my baby.

Maribel's Braids

Maribel's Braids. Maribel is actually not related to Melvin and his family, well not that I know of. Maribel and her daughter Gina lived across the grass from me. Maribel could plait your hair tighter than anyone in town. Whenever I would leave Karawala, Maribel would offer to plait my hair so I could leave town with beautiful braids and always stay a Karawalan girl.

Girls and Dolls

We did have to leave town and after a year and a half on the beautiful Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua we were transferred to Altagracia a town in the middle of an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua in southern Nicaragua. It was devastating to leave Karawala but we quickly fell in love with Altagracia and her island. Girls and Dolls was taken in Lake Nicaragua near the town of San Jose del Sur. The girls in the photograph were my students who lived at Los Quinchos, a home for exploited young women. After lunch, the girls would bathe in the lake and bathe their dolls. As an observer, I always felt the girls were regaining a lost innocence the tender way the cared for their dolls.

From a Nicaraguan island, once isolated from media to a New York Island, saturated with media, my images are now connected via Contemporarious.

POP presentation/exhibit at BMCC

2010-09-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Save the date New Yorkers- In November POP will have an exhibit and do a presentation during Hispanic Heritage Month at BMCC- Borough of Manhattan Community College. POP alumni are invited to present. November 4th 2pm. Thanks to professor Rosario Torres Guevara for the invitation.

POP Published in World Savvy's New Curriculum- Sustainable Communities

2010-09-04T11:53:00.001-07:00

POP loves World Savvy and has two images featured in their upcoming curriculum/collaborators guide on Sustainable Communities. Stayed Tuned! The images are from a POP project called Shout out for Peace from the South Bronx in 2007.

Here's what World Savvy has to say,"We are so excited to introduce your inspiring artwork to our students in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and beyond. We know that the ideas and important inquiries your work presents will spark many a discussion and creation around issues of sustainability in our local and global communities!"

Artist Resume- Katie DelaVaughn

2010-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

I love my livebooks website. As an educator and photographer, it is a great simple platform to showcase my work. Unfortunately since I use livebooks.edu, content is limited and I can not publish my CV on my website. So here is an updated version for all interested in viewing my artist resume.

EDUCATION:

2008 MA Bilingual/Bicultural Education. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

2001 Graduate Certificate, Documentary Photography Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Portland, ME

2000 BA Spanish, Sociology, Leadership, Nonprofit Management, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA

Continuing Education Classes at International Center for Photography, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, Adorama, B&H, VII, PDN and En Foco Seminars, New York, NY, Eddie Adams Workshop, Jefferson NY, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA, Center for Documentary Studies, Durham, NC, 2007-2010

EXHIBITIONS:

2010
Contemporarious, Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL
Picture Hope: Doctors Without Borders Haiti Benefit Exhibit, Soulcatcher Studio, Santa Fe, NM
Pedagogy of Photography @ NYC Creative Week, New York, NY
Inwood Pop Portraits and Poetry, New York Public Library, New York, NY
Pedagogy of Photography Permanent Exhibit Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY

2009
Pedagogy of Photography Permanent Exhibit Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
American Photography 25,Online Tribute Gallery (www.ai-ap.com) Juried by Kathy Ryan, The New York Times Magazine; Stacy Baker, More; Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Projects Inc.; David Carthas, Blender; Gary Koepke, Modernista!; Robert Priest, Portfolio; and Fred Woodward, GQ
Caliente/Hot, Juried by José Torres-Tama, New Orleans Photo Alliance, New Orleans, LA
Forever Hold Your Peace, Juried by Sylvia Plachy, New Orleans Photo Alliance, New Orleans, LA
New York Photo Festival, Powerhouse Books, Brooklyn, NY
BED, Juried by Harvey Stein, Umbrella Arts Gallery, New York, NY
Phases of Existence, NYU Rosenburg Gallery, New York, NY
Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry Community Exhibit, New York, NY*
Immigrant Jukebox Journey, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY

2008
artHARLEM H.O.A.S.T. (Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour), New York, NY
Peace Corps Photography Exhibition, Juried by Dr. Anthony Bannon (director of George Eastman House), Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Soho Photo National Competition Exhibition, Juried by Charles Traub, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
STAC’s 29th Annual Juried Photography Exhibition, Juried by Christopher James, Mill Pond House Gallery, St. James, NY
Circling the Globe Through Women’s Lives, Mill Pond House Gallery, St. James, NY
Educational Equity, Policy, and Transformation in the Americas, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY*

2007
Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders, Promises and Hopes of the 21st Century. The ‘Government of Change’ and the Mexican Exodus to the United States 2000-2006, International Center in New York, NY
Facing the Educational Challenges of the Americas, The important link between art and education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY*

2006
Celebraciones, Museo del Altagracia, Ometepe, Nicaragua*
Crossing The Line, CYO Retreat Center, Occidental, CA*

2003
Fractured Families, University of San Diego Peace and Justice Institute, San Diego, CA*
Fractured Families, World Beat Cultural Center, San Diego, CA*
Fractured Families, Linda Vista Multicultural Fair, San Diego, CA*
Fractured Families, Association for Borderland Studies Conference, Las Vegas, NV*
Freedom in America? War, Peace and Justice, University of San Diego Social Issues Conference, San Diego, CA *

2002
Cotton Harvest, Tower Theater, Fresno CA
Resilient Nicaragua, Tower Theater, Fresno, CA*
Resilient Nicaragua, University of San Diego Peace and Justice Institute, San Diego, CA*

2001
Secret Sorrow, Salt Institute for Documentary Studies Gallery, Portland, ME

2000
Tijuana Border, Casa del Migrantes, Tijuana, Mexico*
Tijuana Border, "Challenging Injustice with Peaceful Solutions", University of San Diego Social Issues Conference, San Diego, CA *
Tijuana Border, Borderland Studies Conference: Bi-national Links for Community Service Learning, Western Social Science Association, San Diego CA*

STUDENT EXHIBITIONS:

2009
Celebrando Quince Años con Si a La Vida, Casa José Maria, Altagracia, Nicaragua*
Interpreting Realities, Negotiating Perspectives, and Exploring Complexities, Columbia University, NY*
Global Youth Media and Arts Festival, New York University, New York, NY
Phases of Existence, The New York City Public Library (NYPL), Bronx, NY*
Dare to Dream Immigrant Heritage Week Art Festival, Caribbean Cultural Center, New York NY
Immigrant Jukebox Journey, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY
Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry, Amistad Dual Language School and Inwood Community, New York, NY

2008
artHARLEM H.O.A.S.T. (Harlem Open Artist Studio Tour), New York, NY
Educational Equity, Policy, and Transformation in the Americas, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY*
Our Identities Exhibition, The New York City Public Library (NYPL), Bronx, NY*
Global Youth Media and Arts Exhibition, NYU Commons Gallery, New York, NY
Gurlz Roll Deep, Franklin D Whalen Campus, Bronx, NY*
Pedagogy of Photography with Youth in the Bronx, Milbank Chapel, New York NY*

2007
Nuestros Colores Community Installation, E 138th Street, South Bronx NY *
Shout out for Peace, E 139th Street, South Bronx NY*

2005
Fruits & Roots, Karawala Library, RAAS, Nicaragua*

2003
Searching Inside with Spanish, Creole, and Miskitu Teens, Saint Martín Community Center, Bluefields, Nicaragua*
3:23 Exploring 23 Cultures Within a 3 Mile Radius, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA

2002
El Jardin, Biola Pershing Elementary, Biola, CA*
Nuestras Visiónes, McCabe Junior High School, Mendota, CA*

2001
Spindleworks, Gallery Local 188, Portland, ME*

2000
Mi Tijuana, Hogar Infantil La Gloria and University of San Diego, San Diego, CA *

Solo Exhibits*

COLLECTIONS:

La Vieja Iglesia Parroquial de Altagracia, Nicaragua
Si A La Vida, Managua, Nicaragua
Student Press Initiative, Morse Center for the Professional Education of Teachers, New York, NY
Center of Teacher Education, Peace Corps Fellows, Columbia University, New York, NY
Youth Noise, San Francisco, CA
World Savvy, New York, NY
Bronx River Alliance, New York, NY
SBCSICA, South Bronx, NY
Karawala Library, Karawala, Nicaragua
Catholic Charities, Fresno, CA
International Rescue Committee, San Diego, CA
Transborder Institute, San Diego, CA
Casa del Migrante, Tijuana, Mexico

GRANTS/ AWARDS/ RECOGNITION:

2010
Cover photographs in the February and July issues of the Sun Magazine

2009
New York Times Lens Blog features my photograph from the BED exhibit
American Photography 25, Juried by Kathy Ryan, The New York Times Magazine; Stacy Baker, More; Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Projects Inc.; David Carthas, Blender; Gary Koepke, Modernista!; Robert Priest, Portfolio; and Fred Woodward, GQ
Community Service Learning Mentorship/Professional Development Grant
World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Educator

2008
Eddie Adams Workshop Barnstorm XXI Student Photographer
Two Honorable Mentions at STAC’s 29th Annual Juried Photography Exhibition, Juried by Christopher James, Mill Pond House Gallery, St. James, NY
World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Educator
Resources for Classrooms Grant (to fund “Our Identities” photography exhibit at NYPL)

2007
Center for Environmental Research and Conservation Fellowship- Teacher Training in the Dominican Republic

2006-2007
Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Service Learning Grants (awarded three times for Pedagogy of Photography projects)

2005
San Diego Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Association Grant (for community health, education, art campaign)

2004
Lea Libros Grant (to fund books for Pedagogy of Photography library project in Nicaragua)

2002-2003

Transborder Institute Photography Grant (to photograph Fractured Families in Mexico)
Central Valley Photo Contest, Grand Prize

2000
Associated Students Academic Research Grant (to photograph Resilient Nicaragua in Nicaragua)
Community Diversity Grant (exhibit photographs of the Tijuana Border)

PUBLICATIONS:

The New York Times Lens Blog
The Sun Magazine
Manhattan Times
World Savvy Collaborators Guide
The New Yorker (Episcopal)
Portland Phoenix
Riverdale Press
Migrante Magazine
Great Valley Center
Peace Corps Fellows Times
Cover Photograph of Book: Triumphant Moments: Reflections on Peace Corps Fellows’ First Years of Teaching, Columbia University
University of San Diego Voices
University of San Diego Study Abroad Magazine
University of San Diego Asylum Magazine
InSite

BIOGRAPHY:

Peace Corps Fellows Times, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2009
Manhattan Times, July 3 2009
Fellows in Focus, Peace Corps Fellows Program, 2008
Impact, Combining Service with Art, Spring 2008
LiFE, Resources for Schools and Teachers, Office of School and Community Partnerships, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2007
University of San Diego Voices, “Every Picture Tells a Story, Vol. 5, Issue 2, pp. 4, December, 2001

PRESENTATIONS:

Arts and Education for the Latino Community, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY 2010
Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry, Amistad Dual Language School, New York, NY
Education Across the Americas Conference, Voices of Immigrant Youth: Using New Media and Technologies as tools for Self-Expression and Identity-Making, Columbia University, 2009
Annual National Service Learning Conference Growing Hope, Cultivating Change, Pedagogy of Photography: Linking Community Service, Nashville, TN, 2009
Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Literacy Through Photography Conference, Durham, NC, 2008
Rethinking Food, Health, and the Environment: Making Learning Connections, The Center for Ecoliteracy and Teachers College Columbia University Professional Development Institute, 2008
Educational Equity, Policy, and Transformation in the Americas Conference, Columbia University, 2008
The New York City Public Library (NYPL), Pedagogy of Photography (POP) Our Identities, 2008
Peace Corps Fellows Community Service Learning Workshop, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2007-2008

July Cover On My Favorite Magazine

2010-07-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

So many of my loves converged today -Nicaragua, SUN Magazine, Photography, Peace Corps, Sacred Celebrations and a Mothers love for her Son. It is such an honor to have a photograph taken en mi querida Nicaragua on the July cover of SUN Magazine & my sweet babe is mentioned in the on the cover blurb. Click here to view it and here to read about my photograph.

"KATIE DelaVAUGHN lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is smitten with her infant son, Wendell, born in February. She took this month’s cover photograph in 2008 in Altagracia, Nicaragua, where she had been a Peace Corps volunteer. The children are part of a wedding procession that is about to go from the bride’s house to the church in the town square."

If you would like a copy of this magical magazine you can get a free trial offer here or you can find it at a store near you here.

It was so great to hear from so many Peace Corps friends who received the SUN in their mailbox or who contacted me after they saw Peace Corps tweet about it on twitter or the SUN post it on their facebook page. Who would of thought that 7 years ago in my first Peace Corps site where we lived without running water or electricity, where I hauled water from the well to develop my negatives from a film camera and where we had to travel 5 hours by boat to check email that I would get in touch immediately with former RPCV's (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers)and Nicaraguan friends when my photography is tweeted and faceboked about. I look forward to returning to Nicaragua to give the families copies of the magazine where they beautifully grace the cover and introduce them to the newest addition to our family!

More about the SUN

"The Sun is an ad-free monthly magazine that features some of the most radically intimate and socially conscious writing being published today. It’s not a “literary” magazine, though we publish heartfelt fiction and personal essays about the human condition. Nor is it a “political” magazine, though each issue features an interview with someone who invites us to see the world differently. And it’s not a “spiritual” magazine, though writing in The Sun honors the mystery at the heart of existence. In short, The Sun is a magazine unlike any other: always authentic, always personal, always relevant."

Creative Week NYC

2010-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thrilled that POP was asked to participate in Creative Week NYC
Check out the event details below
Pedaogogy of Photography (POP) Community Exhibit

Crowdsourcing goes global: The NYT’s “Moment in Time”

2010-05-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

I loved this article by the Nieman Journalism Lab, a project from Harvard University.

Here's a snippet

“A Moment in Time” (and, with that, I’ll try not to use the project’s name again in this post — so that you won’t, as I did, get something unfortunate stuck in your head as a result of repeated exposure) is aesthetically compelling and socially revealing. It also suggests the Times’ openness to exploring avenues of documentation and expression that don’t fall into the neat categories of traditional journalism.

“I was driving to work, and it just hit me: Okay, we’ll get thousands of people around the world to take a photograph at the same moment,” Estrin told me of the project’s inception. And the goals of the project mix the artistic and the journalistic to the point that it’s difficult to tell where the journalism ends and the aesthetic begins: first, to produce a valuable document, one that records — to an extent — a particular moment as it’s lived out across the world. Second, from the social media angle, to facilitate the sense of shared identity that comes with “doing things as a community around the world — doing the same things at the same time.” Ultimately, Estrin says, the project was about “the intentional profundity of the moment.”

Whether the feature represents journalism, or something more, or something less, the reaction it’s received from Times users offers a lesson for news organizations chasing after the holy grail-and-sometimes-white-whale that is reader engagement. If the project’s participatory outpouring is any indication, it has struck a nerve with Times users. In a good way. And the ‘why’ in that is instructive. The project involved an assignment with specific instructions; users weren’t merely being asked for something — a hazy invitation to contribute — but to provide something specific, and easily attainable. And to provide something, moreover, that would be part of a project with a clearly defined, but also inspiring, purpose: to document the world, via its many corners, at a particular moment. That mix of depth and breadth, of pragmatism and idealism, can be a potent incitement to action — a fact evidenced by the thousands of images currently blanketing the globe over at the Lens blog.

A Moment in Time- NYTimes Lens Blog

2010-05-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's up and it's incredible! I can't wait to view these global images!!!

“Here it is, Earth, covered by stacks of thousands of virtual photographs, corresponding in location to where they were taken by Lens readers at one ‘Moment in Time.’”

When I heard that the NY Times Lens Blog was calling photographers of all levels to simultaneous record a moment of their lives, I couldn't wait to participate and encourage my students & photo enthusiasts to do the same. As a photographer and educator, this is what I am talking about, a moment to create art at the same time with lovers of photography all over the world, to click the shutter at the same time as my former students in San Diego, Nicaragua and the Bronx, at the same time as family and friends in Peru and California. To feel connected with not only those behind the camera but to the moments that they record.

What image(s) could I possibly take that could encapsulate this intimate feeling of a global photographic communion. Communion? Communion? Communion! Alright, I'll be literal! I received my First Holy Communion May 4th 1986 (I will always remember the date because it was Brian Finnegans 7th Birthday). There must be a First Holy Communion Mass the first Sunday of May around 15:00 hours (U.T.C.). And there was, just a few miles away. Alleluia!

While photographers all over the world were in communion with each other, Emma celebrates her First Holy Communion in Brooklyn, New York.

Click here to view the interactive gallery on the New York Times Lens Blog.

Click here to view my image.

Mothers Day!

2010-05-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Mama's Day! I had to take this pic while reading the following by Annie Dillard. Such a sacred moment. It is amazing that you can take and edit a pic on your phone.

" -Until you have a baby, her mother said, you don’t know what love is! Her mother volunteered this on the day of Lou’s one and only wedding. –Oh, Lou wanted to say, go soak your head. After Lou brought forth Petie, she at once recalled her mothers words, forgave and endorsed them. That her mother was so often right no longer irked her. As she would never irk Petie, now joyful in her arms, he sucked her nose. Later his pointy fingers made faces with her face. She never put him down. She must feel his skin on her, feel his cranium in her arm’s crook, his belly on her belly, and smell his breath, his scalp, etc. He obviously felt the same way. They were pieces of each other foully parted. When they had to separate, she took ever deeper- breaths as if the air had no use. Her sternum and central torso and arms ached. Maytree had some horseshoe magnets in the kitchen. She gave each of them a wrench to hold.

She and Petie laughed to flout fate by smashing together thigmotropic. Or they met staring forehead to forehead, then twisted and laughed.

Lou saw that she had hitherto wasted her life. When he was six months old, she asked Maytree, Can we have more?"

-Annie Dillard "The Maytrees"

From Many Instants, A Moment

2010-05-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Over 10,000 photographs were submitted the first day! We have till Friday so ya'll know when my photo will arrive ;)

Read about it on the New York Times Lens Blog.

Don't Forget!!! No Te Olvides

2010-05-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

Contribute to the New York Times Lens Blog!!!

A Timely Global Mosaic, Created by All of Us

2010-04-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Photo of POP student, Mario's hand, at American Natural History Museum, NYC.

Contribute to the New York Times Lens Blog!!!
I can't wait to see your beautiful and unique images. POP students you can even use your camera phones! Teachers, what a perfect homework assignment!

Where will you be on Sunday, May 2, at 15:00 hours (U.T.C.) ?

Wherever you are, we hope you’ll have a camera — or a camera phone — in hand. And we hope you’ll be taking a picture to send to Lens that will capture this singular instant in whatever way you think would add to a marvelous global mosaic; a Web-built image of one moment in time across the world.

We extend the invitation to everyone, everywhere. Amateurs. Students. Pros. People who’ve been photographing for a lifetime or who just started yesterday.

What matters more than technique is the thought behind the picture, because you’ll only be sending us one. So please do think beforehand about where you will want to be and what you will want to focus on. Here are the general topics:

Religion
Play
Nature and the Environment
Family
Work
Arts and Entertainment
Money and the Economy
Community
Social Issues

In New York, it will be 11 o’clock on Sunday morning when the clock for Coordinated Universal Time — which carries the neither-English-nor-French abbreviation U.T.C. (it’s formerly Greenwich Mean Time) — reaches 15:00 hours. So some people will be settled into church pews while others prepare to head out to the park, if not the beach. Los Angeles will be a good deal quieter at such an early hour, except for some hard-partying types unwilling to concede that it’s no longer Saturday night. Lunch time will be at hand in Rio de Janeiro, dinner time in Cape Town. Dusk will be bringing an end to another tough day in Afghanistan, while midnight strikes in Beijing. For Australians, it will already be first thing Monday morning.

After you take your photo, please send it as soon as possible to submit.nytimes.com/moment (the link should be active at 15:00 U.T.C.). On the Web form, you’ll be asked to categorize your photo by location and subject (the topic list shown above) and to include caption information. We don’t expect everyone to hit 15:00 exactly, but we do ask that you try to stay within a few minutes of that targeted time.

The photos will appear quickly on the Lens blog and on NYTimes.com, and — if you’d like — you’ll be able to arrange them by country, by topic or by how they were ranked by other readers. Or you can just view them randomly. Some will almost certainly be spotlighted on the Lens blog.

pictureHOPE exhibit update

2010-02-18T08:43:00.001-08:00

pictureHOPE exhibition update: We have now sold 207 photographs! So far we have raised $10,350.00 for Doctors Without Borders!!! Thank you all so much for supporting our cause and making this lofty goal of ours become a reality! We now have only 55 prints left in stock. If we sell them all that will be $13,100.00 raised. LET'S DO IT!

Click Here to purchase my photograph for only $50.

He's Here!

2010-02-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world my beautiful boy!
Wendell B DelaVaughn
Born February 9, 2010 at 2:05pm
8lb 8oz 21.5 inches long
I love you!

I'm Ready

2010-02-04T14:18:00.001-08:00

Breastfeeding by Candlelight -Polaroid Emulsion Lift taken in San Jorge Nuchita, Oaxaca, 2002

No Singing Allowed: Flamenco and Photography

2010-02-04T11:41:00.001-08:00

Photograph by Xavier Miserachs

This exhibit opens today at the Aperture Gallery and Amster Yard Gallery at Instituto Cervantes ! I can't wait to see it! I think it will be the baby's first exhibit!

New York, New York

No Singing Allowed: Flamenco and Photography

Opening reception:
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 6:00–8:00 pm

Exhibition on view:
Friday, February 5, 2010 –Thursday, April 1, 2010

FREE

Aperture Foundation
547 West 27 Street, 4th floor
New York, New York
(212) 505-5555

Aperture Foundation, a non-profit arts institution dedicated to promoting photography in all its forms, and Instituto Cervantes, a non-profit organization that contributes to the cultural advancement of Spanish-speaking countries, have partnered to celebrate and interpret the art of flamenco through photography in two concurrent exhibitions at Aperture Gallery and Instituto Cervantes. This exhibition in two parts features such artists as Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Brassaï, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Francesc Catalá Roca, Inge Morath, Martin Parr, Man Ray, and Miguel Rio Branco.

Whether as social phenomenon or musical expression, flamenco has been of enduring interest and inspiration to photographers from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. While some photographers from outside of Spain went in search of it or encountered it by chance, to others flamenco and its practitioners are an essential, if not innate, aspect of their cultural heritage and their photographic work. This artistic form—also considered a way of life or being—has generated fascination in cultured urban circles, remaining one of the most secret, mysterious, and seductive manifestations of twentieth-century European popular art. Marginalized and ostracized, the world of flamenco took root in an economically backward region of southern Europe, culturally peripheral and marked by a history of authoritarianism and local despotisms. This exhibition of more than one hundred and fifty years of images, frequently taken by foreigners rather than Spaniards, is an extensive survey of how photographers of different eras have approached the universe of flamenco, whether documenting the dance itself, gestures that recall it, or the culture that is developed around it.

This exhibition is coproduced by Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo and Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, with the collaboration of Centro Andaluz de Flamenco, and is made possible thanks to the generous support of Antonio Banderas Fragrances by PUIG. The exhibition debuted at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Sevilla in April 2009 and is curated by José Lebrero Stals.

pictureHOPE exhibit update

2010-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

pictureHOPE exhibition update: We have raised $9,400.00 for Doctors Without Borders in just 1 week. Our goal is $10,000.00. We are only 12 print sales away (only $50 each)! Help us make it happen! Thanks for purchasing a photograph and or sharing these links!

http://www.soulcatcherstudio.com/exhibitions/haiti/index.htm
http://www.soulcatcherstudio.com/exhibitions/haiti/delavaughn.html

A Simple Letter

2010-02-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

I received this lovely letter today and was touched that someone took the time to reach out and share the emotions my photograph evoked in them.

Picturetaker,

Your photo on the cover of Sun is
wonderful. It stirred me deeply, and
deeper still after returning to it several
times as I skimmed the pages, the black
and white haunting me to look deeper after
each glance. And then the vision cleared and
I saw the picture - no words here to tell a story, just
a feeling. We're so lucky. Thank you.

A Sun reader

There have been so many people who have created works of art that have touched me but I never made the time to let them know. I am so grateful this Sun reader did. It fuels me (at 40 weeks pregnant) to keep recording life as I see it.

pictureHOPE exhibition update

2010-02-02T06:06:00.000-08:00

pictureHOPE exhibition update: We started with 260 photographic prints for sale. We now have only 89 left in stock. We have raised $8,650.00 for Doctors Without Borders in just 5 days. Our goal is $10,000.00. It is within reach. Help us make it happen.

Click here to view the online exhibit and fine art photography sale

Click here to view my photograph

$50 per fine art photograph. All proceeds go to Doctors without Borders to benefit the people of Haiti!

PictureHOPE Exhibit Update

2010-01-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

pictureHOPE exhibition update: As of this moment we have sold a total of 160 photographs to benefit Doctors Without Borders. That's $8,000.00 raised so far! Please revisit our exhibition and consider purchasing a print.

To purchase my photograph (only $50) taken in Nicaragua, click here.
All proceeds go to Doctors without Borders to benefit the people of Haiti.

PICTURE HOPE FOR HAITI: Women Photographers Benefit Doctors Without Borders

2010-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Soulcatcher Studio is honored to present "picture HOPE", our exhibition and sale of limited edition fine art photographs, benefiting the people of Haiti through Doctors Without Borders USA.

Limited edition fine art photographs from amazing female artists, all for only $50.00 each! 100% of the proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders to support their work in Haiti. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

On January 28, 2010, the opening day of this exhibition,105 prints sold! That adds up to $5,250.00 for Doctors Without Borders!

Today, January 29,2010 they will be adding one of my images, Nicaraguan Angel, to the exhibit. I took this photograph on Christmas Eve, 2008 outside of San Martin Church in Bluefields, Nicaragua. I lived in the town of Bluefields for 3 months during my Peace Corps Training and did my youth development preparation work (a Pedagogy of Photography project) at San Martin Church. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua from 2003-2006.

Here is what Eric J Keller, Gallery Director of Soul Catcher Studio is saying about the online benefit exhibit.

On January 12, 2010 a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, causing catastrophic damage and casualties. The quake was followed by several aftershocks with magnitudes over 5.0. The Haitian government has said more than 111,000 people died in the earthquake.

On January 21, 2010, I began to reach out to female fine art photographers from around the country, asking for their kind assistance in producing a benefit exhibition and sale of limited edition photographs. The premise was simple: Offer a limited edition print from each artist, in a numbered edition of ten prints, and sell them for just $50.00 each with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

Their response was immediate, and now, just seven days later, I am very pleased to present the work of the following group of photographers:

Angela Bacon-Kidwell (Wichita Falls, TX)
Brigitte Carnochan (Portola Valley, CA)
Katie DelaVaughan (Brooklyn, NY)
Desiree Edkins (Scottsdale, AZ)
Cat Gwynn (Los Angeles, CA)
Jessica M. Kaufman (New York, NY)
Karen Keating (Washington, D.C.)
Laurie Lambrecht (Bridgehampton, NY)
Lisa Levine (Alameda, CA)
Heather McClintock (Boone, NC)
Meg Madison (Los Angeles, CA)
Karen Morgan (Chicago, IL)
Ann Pallesen (Seattle, WA)
Sarah Renkes (Chicago, IL)
Lauren Rosenbaum (San Francisco, CA)
Jennifer Schlesinger (Santa Fe, NM)
Jennifer Shaw (New Orleans, LA)
Joni Sternbach (New York, NY)
Melissa Weiss Steele (Santa Fe, NM)
Sarah Wilson (Austin, TX)
Natalie Young (Los Angeles, CA)

Every one of these photographers has my eternal gratitude for answering the call to donate, and for their assistance in getting this exhibition together so quickly. - Eric J. Keller, Soulcatcher Studio Gallery Director

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The official death toll from this disaster rises every day. The people of Haiti need our help now more than ever. Please consider supporting our cause by purchasing a limited edition fine art photographic print today.

Print Information: All prints are priced at just $50.00 each (plus $15.00 shipping within the USA). Orders of multiple prints will incur the same base rate of $15.00 for shipping. International clients may inquire about overseas shipping costs. Click on the thumbnail images below to view enlarged print examples and detailed print information.

We expect these limited editions to sell out quickly, so please call Soulcatcher Studio at 505-310-7685 to purchase yours today. We can take your VISA, Mastercard or American Express information over the phone, or if you prefer we can send you an electronic invoice to complete your secure transaction online through PayPal.com.

A message from Doctors Without Borders:

We are incredibly grateful for the generous support from our donors for the emergency in Haiti.

MSF/DWB has been working in Haiti for 19 years, most recently operating three emergency hospitals in Port-au-Prince, and is mobilizing a large emergency response to this disaster. Our immediate response in the first hours following the disaster in Haiti was only possible because of private unrestricted donations from around the world received before the earthquake struck. We are currently reinforcing our teams on the ground in order to respond to the immediate medical needs and to assess the humanitarian needs that MSF/DWB will be addressing in the months ahead.

We are now asking our donors to give to our Emergency Relief Fund. These types of funds ensure that our medical teams can react to the Haiti emergency and other humanitarian crises all over the world, particularly neglected crises that remain outside the media spotlight. Your gift via this website will be earmarked for our Emergency Relief Fund.

If you prefer, you may make a direct donation to Doctors Without Borders by phone at their toll-free number: 1-888-392-0392 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We hope you enjoy this benefit exhibition and sale of extraordinary fine art photographs

February Issue- SUN Magazine

2010-01-28T12:01:00.001-08:00

An analog photograph I took over ten years ago in the fall of 1999 was selected to be on the February 2010 cover of The SUN magazine. This is my third photograph published in the magazine (June'09 & October'09) and my first SUN cover!

In my archives I titled this photograph, "Father/Son" because I felt the image, moment and embrace evoked sentiments of a paternal bond. Perfect timing as we are about to enter parenthood at any moment!!!

Here is the ON THE COVER description of the photograph on the contributors page. Click on the link to order the issue.

KATIE DELAVAUGHN took this month’s cover photograph when she went to Julian, California, to try some of the town’s famous apple pie at a local diner. Upon leaving, she was moved by the tender embrace of a man and boy and asked if she could take their picture. She is the founder and director of Pedagogy of Photography, a project designed to increase literacy skills through photography and poetry. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

www.katiedelavaughn.com

ABOUT THE SUN

The Sun is an independent, ad-free monthly magazine that for more than thirty years has used words and photographs to invoke the splendor and heartache of being human. The Sun celebrates life, but not in a way that ignores its complexity. The personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs that appear in its pages explore the challenges we face and the moments when we rise to meet those challenges.

The Sun publishes the work of emerging and established artists who are striving to be thoughtful and authentic. Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize, been published in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays, and been broadcast on National Public Radio.

The Sun invites readers to consider an array of political, social, and philosophical ideas and then to join the conversation. Each issue includes a section devoted entirely to writing by readers, who address topics as varied as Telling the Truth, Neighbors, Hiding Places, Second Chances, and Gambling.

From its idealistic, unlikely inception in 1974 to its current incarnation as a nonprofit magazine with more than 70,000 subscribers, The Sun has attempted to marry the personal and political; to honor the genuine and the spiritual; to see what kind of roommates beauty and truth can be; and to show that powerful teaching can be found in the lives of ordinary people.

The Sun Publishing Company, Inc. is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and is supported primarily by subscriptions and reader contributions. Donations to The Sun are tax-deductible.

Upon presenting The Sun its Alternative Press Award for General Excellence, Utne Reader said: "No other magazine provides quite the same atmosphere of intimacy as The Sun. It's a magazine completely unlike any other, always personal, always meaningful, always unexpected."

Published Photograph to Published Painting

2010-01-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

I received a kind email from Martha Lavoué, an avid SUN reader who wrote to ask permission to publish a drawing she created inspired by my photograph in the June 2009 issue of the SUN magazine. The painting will appear in the upcoming issue of the Boston Literary Gazette.

¡Feliz Día De Los Reyes!

2010-01-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 3 Kings Day! Today I am remembering the beautiful processions I witnessed celebrating this day in Nicaragua during my three years working there. After spending the following two 3 Kings Day teaching in the Bronx, I was lucky enough to return to Nicaragua last year and document my close friends participating in this festive event. Wish I could be there this again year but I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my own lil' king.

Tis' the Season

2009-12-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from New York City!
I couldn't resist braving the storm to capture this image of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. Enjoy!

Support SUN Magazine

2009-12-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

The SUN Magazine is having a great holiday offer. Click here to view the offer. I look forward to my SUN's arrival every month and was honored to have two photographs featured this past year in their magazine. You can still save 30% (until 1/15/10) and your first issue will be February 2010 (my first SUN cover!!!)

Mama Kati

2009-11-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm Pregnant! Two months to go! I am starting to slow down and take less assignments as I reach the end of my pregnancy. I will start back up in the spring/summer with Pedagogy of Photography and other fine art, documentary and commissioned projects so feel free to contact me to schedule sessions. Until then, I am going nurture this growing belly and hibernate with my beautiful baby boy!

Patricia Lay-Dorsey

2009-11-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

Photograph by Patricia Lay-Dorsey

A beautiful reflective photo essay is featured on the New York Times Lens Blog today by a dear friend and photographer Patricia Lay-Dorsey whom I met at the Mary Ellen Mark Workshop at the Center for Photography at Woodstock last summer. We have kept in touch since and edited each others work. So proud of her and her inspiring work!

American Photography 25

2009-11-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

If you are in New York next week come celebrate the publication of American 25. RSVP here.

As mentioned in a previous blog post in April, 3 of my images taken on assignment at the Eddie Adams Workshop last October were selected by American Photography as the best photographs of 2008. 171 images were chosen from a record-breaking 10,100 submitted. The following 3 winning images can be viewed online here

Looking In: Robert Frank’s ‘The Americans,’

2009-11-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Robert Frank, Swiss, unobtrusive, nice, with that little camera that he raises and snaps with one hand he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world. To Robert Frank I now give this message: You got eyes. -Jack Kerouac, from the Introduction to The Americans

I had the honor of not only viewing the inspiration exhibit Looking In: Robert Frank’s ‘The Americans,’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but meeting the charming photographer and living legend Robert Frank himself, hearing him speak about his journey as a foreigner photographing America in the height of the Cold War. As a photographer and educator, at a time when photography legends are leaving us and digital photography has antiquated techniques we used just a few years ago, it was a blessing to be present at such a unique and memorable event celebrating an evolutionary artist and witnessing this seminal body of work.

The exhibit can be viewed from September 22, 2009-January 3, 2010 at the MET.

From the MET website,

This exhibition celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, Robert Frank’s influential suite of black-and-white photographs made on a cross-country road trip in 1955–56. Although Frank’s depiction of American life was criticized when the book was released in the U.S. in 1959, it soon became recognized as a masterpiece of street photography. Born in Switzerland in 1924, Frank is considered one of the great living masters of photography. The exhibition features all 83 photographs published in The Americans and will be the first time that this body of work is presented to a New York audience. In addition, the exhibition includes contact sheets that Frank used to create the book; earlier photographs made in Europe, Peru, and New York; a short film by the artist on his life; and his later re-use of iconic images from the series.

Sun Magazine

2009-10-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Thrilled to be published in the SUN magazine again in the October 2009 publication. I took the above photograph in Prince Edward Island in the summer of 2001 with Tri-X 400 film and self printed it in the darkroom.

Peace Corps Fellows Times

2009-10-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been full of adventures between moving and photographing in Peru, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. Upon return, I received the Peace Corps Fellows Times published by Teachers College, Columbia University featuring my recent POP work. This publication was sent to every Title 1 public school in NYC. To view the PDF of Summer 2009 publication click here.

Impact

2009-08-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

We are moving which means packing which means procrastinating! While moving moving, packing, procrastinating, I found this article that Teachers College Office of Development wrote about my work. Enjoy!

Book Cover

2009-08-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Student Press Initiative published a book, Triumphant Moments: Reflections on Peace Corps Fellows' First Years of Teaching. They selected an image from my POP project, Shout out for Peace, for the cover. To see the original and final of this image, click here

New Orleans Photo Alliance Exhibit Opening

2009-08-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

photo by Morgan Sasser

Two of my photographs taken in Lima, Peru (2002) and Baltimore, Maryland (2007) are on exhibit from Aug 6 - September 20, 2009 as part of the ‘Caliente/Hot’ exhibit at the New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, 1111 Saint Mary Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

The juror, José Torres-Tama, esteemed visual/performance artist and writer, noted that the submissions organically fell in to three distinct categories of heat: Landscape, Bodies and Surreal.

Great photographers possess the uncanny ability to frame our reality with their keen eyes and capture the sublime characteristics of everyday life, or simply focus their lens on what many of us may neglect to observe. While some interpretations of the theme were more understated, most submissions for Caliente / Hot had plenty of calor (heat) and literal fire in them, and there were three distinct categories of images: landscapes, bodies, and the surreal.

From an abundance of strong entries, the photos selected for this exhibit raised my aesthetic temperature gauge the most, and my choices were initially based on a visceral reaction to each file I opened, as a curious curator in search of picante pictures. Once I narrowed my selections, I had to literally go through two additional editing sessions to arrive at this final collection of 33 photos. Some works inhabit a general spirit of mercury-rising levels with provocative and intense imagery while others communicate a cool fever and mysterious danger.

---José Torres-Tama

POP & LiFE

2009-08-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

During the 2007-2008 school year Pedagogy of Photography collaborated with LiFE (Linking Food and the Environment) to create photography, literacy and technology projects based on LiFE's Choice, Control and Change curriculum.

Last August I did a presentation educating teachers how to link photography, literacy and the LiFe Curriculum at the Rethinking Food, Health, and the Environment: Making Learning Connections, The Center for Ecoliteracy and Teachers College Columbia University Professional Development Institute.

This summer the Director of the LiFE program has recruited the same POP students who participated in the CCC curriculum to test out LiFESim to try out the game and provide feedback about what they think about the game's design.

The LiFE Program is working with a computer game design firm to develop an interactive computer game to help middle school-aged children make healthier food choices. The game - LiFESim - is based on their Choice, Control, and Change curriculum module which focuses on making students competent navigators of our complex food and activity environment and which has been found successful in changing behaviors.

Permanent POP exhibit at TC, Columbia University

2009-08-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

Pedagogy of Photography (POP) is honored that OTE, the Office of Teacher Education & School Based Support Services purchased POP prints for a permanent exhibit at Teachers College, Columbia University. The permanent exhibit will go up in the fall and be located at

400 Russell Hall
525 W 120th Street
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York, New York 10027-6696

What is OTE?

Our purpose is to provide information, support and resources to faculty and students engaged in Professional Education Programs that lead to initial and professional certification.

Our aim is also to work in partnership with faculty colleagues to address program, practice, research and policy issues relevant to the preparation of teachers and other educational specialists.

POP featured on AfterED TV

2009-07-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

View the Pedagogy of Photography video produced by Mary Kate Pappas with After Ed TV. After Ed TV is a web-based video channel produced by EdLab at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Check out the video below, on YouTube here or on After Ed TV, featured on the After Ed Update 7.22.09

The New York Times Lens Blog

2009-07-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

Delighted to be featured in this article (click on article to view it) in the New York Times Lens Blog about the exhibit at Umbrella Arts Gallery. My photograph is the last image.

About Lens

Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting the finest and most interesting visual and multimedia reporting — photographs, videos and slide shows. A showcase for Times photographers, it also seeks to highlight the best work of other newspapers, magazines and news and picture agencies; in print, in books, in galleries, in museums and on the Web.

There we sleep, dream, play and mate. There we spend a significant portion of life and often that’s where we are when it ends.

“Bed,” on display through Saturday at Umbrella Arts in the East Village, features 45 pictures by photographers who answered the gallery’s call to submit works uncovering the theme.

There are photographs of coffee-stained linens, pillow talk, pornography and an abandoned prison cell housing the rusty frame of a bunk bed. One photograph (”Naipes,” by Katie DelaVaughn) captures a boy shuffling a deck of cards while a set of hands points a revolver in the foreground. Another image (“Green,” by Dorothy O’Connor) is reminiscent of a Henri Rousseau painting, with a young dreamer on a bed of grass surrounded by growing vines.

“We do everything in bed,” said Harvey Stein, a photographer, a teacher at the International Center of Photography and the curator of the show. “I wanted to bring the bed from under the radar to our attention in a fun way, in a provocative way.”

Mr. Stein said he was inspired to produce the show after being captivated by one of his student’s photographs of an empty, unmade bed next to a window. “It’s around us and we ignore it and other people have made it the subject of their work,” he said, citing well-known pictures by Elliott Erwitt, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, and William Eggleston that included beds. Asked about his selection criteria, he said, “I didn’t want people just lying in bed.”

Mr. Stein plans to publish a book on the topic. Because of the number of submissions, a sequel is also being planned for next year.

POP in the Manhattan Times

2009-07-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what the article says...

Manhattan Times
July 2, 2009

Artist: Katie DelaVaughn
Title: “Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry” (2009)
Exhibited: Inwood storefronts for as long as the proprietors choose to keep them up.

If you live or have been to Inwood recently, you’ve had to have seen them: adorable portraits of children, displayed in store windows all along Broadway and beyond. They’re part of a series called “Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry” created by Bronx Artist Katie DelaVaughn. The kids are from Amistad Dual Language School on Broadway and W. 204th Street. The POP in the title stands for Pedagogy of Photography, which is a literacy and community service learning program created by DelaVaughn and implemented all over the country over the past 10 years. DelaVaughn spent six months with the Amistad students, starting in January. The kids were photographed at their favorite places in the neighborhood and then went to town on DelaVaughn’s prints with Sharpie markers, writing poetry about the significance of their favorite place in Spanish or English. Some favorite places include John’s Doo-Wop Deli, Subway (the sandwich restaurant) the Dyckman Dominican Bakery and Dunkin Donuts.

“Through this project students brought their home and community lives into the classroom and then returned their portraits and poetry to their community exhibiting their artwork at the various locations selected in the store windows if the store permitted,” DelaVaughn said in response to e-mailed questions. Over 100 portraits are out there in the neighborhood.

“I believe this type of project praises youth voice and language diversity, instills community pride, and supports and gives thanks to local neighborhood shops and organizations,” DelaVaughn said.

“The students layered the photographs in Spanish and English with not only with their hopes, and dreams but intimate family and cultural memories. It is my hope that the stories and creativity of Inwood community’s diverse children and their special places within the community are valued.”

For more information visit
www.Katiedelavaughn.com
to contact the artist email or call
info@katiedelavaughn.com
415-246-8652

Daniel P. Bader

Inwood POP:Portraits and Poetry Community Exhibit

2009-06-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

After a successful school exhibit, the community exhibit is up. Come view 100 photographs layered with poetry at over 50 local businesses and organizations. This project has been brought full circle and the collaborative art has been returned to the places students felt connected to in their community and were photographed at. Come celebrate a community art project that praises youth voice and language diversity, instills community pride, and supports and gives thanks to local neighborhood shops and organizations.

BED Exhibit at Umbrella Arts Gallery in NYC

2009-06-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Check out the Exhibit BED, Juried by Harvey Stein, at the Umbrella Arts Gallery in NYC. The opening is June 11 from 6-8 at 317 E. 9th Street. I have a photograph titled Naipes from Nicaragua in the exhibit of Victor playing cards on his bed in the group home at Si a La Vida, where he lives.

About the Exhibit

In BED we mate, procreate, migrate, elucidate, masticate, investigate, commiserate, hibernate, communicate, prevaricate, procrastinate, educate, ruminate. We all have BED but it’s mostly hidden away in a remote room upstairs in our houses or in the back room of our apartments. BED is rarely discussed, is mostly taken for granted, yet we use it more than anything else in the house, spending perhaps one third of our lifetime there.

BED is where we cavort, entertain and are entertained, where we eat, sleep, talk on the phone, read, watch TV, dream, hang out, escape to. We live much of our life there, mostly our private lives, including dying. In this exhibit personal, fun, beautiful startling photographs reveal the concept of BED.

About Umbrella Arts

Umbrella Arts features rare shows of extreme talent specializing in
painting, drawing and photography.

As long time members of the Lower Manhattan Community, owners
Mary Ann Fahey and Margaret Bodell, are committed to keeping the artistic spirit of the East Village alive as a place of discovery, movement and change and have long championed under-represented groups of cultural contributors.
Umbrella Arts hosts guest-curated exhibitions and arts organizations internationally.

Together Fahey and Bodell present new talent in an intimate art space, where curatorial experimentation creates exhibitions and events that share the work of today's artists.

Hours: Thursday through Saturday 1PM - 6PM and by appointment

New Orleans Photo Alliance Exhibit

2009-06-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

Just saw a write up in the Fraction Magazine Blog about a show I will be in. Click on the link or read below.

It is also featured on the New Orleans Photo Alliance Website and New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau Website.

New Orleans Photo Alliance Presents:
“Forever Hold Your Peace”

The New Orleans Photo Alliance is pleased to present “Forever Hold Your Peace,” a group exhibition on the subject of weddings, juried by Sylvia Plachy. In curating this exhibition, Plachy, a Hungarian born, New York based, world-renowned photographer, selected 31 photographs depicting the traditions, customs, symbols and the rich human tableau surrounding wedding rituals. Featured artists include Marc Pagani, Evan Abramson, Katie DelaVaughn and Kate Nicholson. A slideshow of 50 additional images will run throughout the opening. “Forever Hold Your Peace” will be on view from June 5 through July 19, 2009 at the New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, 1111 St. Mary St. New Orleans, LA 70130. The opening reception takes place on Saturday, June 6, from 6-9pm and Ms. Plachy will present a Gallery Talk at 7pm.

“I was looking for the same kind of pictures that I look for when I am photographing. I was looking for what would move me and for what I would never tire of looking. I wanted to see a burst of life palpable on a piece of paper.”- Sylvia Plachy

I feel honored that Sylvia Plachy, whom I heard speak earlier this year at the NYPL through an Aperture Foundation event, selected all my entries to be in the exhibit. The following image, Alistandose, taken on my point and shoot camera in Altagracia, Nicaragua of Fatima's wedding will be framed on the gallery wall.

The following four images, also taken in Altagracia, Nicaragua, will be exhibited in the gallery slideshow.

The New Orleans Photo Alliance is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 2006 whose mission is to encourage the understanding and appreciation of photography through exhibitions, opportunities and educational programs. PhotoNOLA is a month long celebration of photography in New Orleans, coordinated by the New Orleans Photo Alliance in partnership with galleries, museums and photographers citywide. The fourth annual series of events are currently being planned for December 2009.

For additional information on The New Orleans Photo Alliance please visit them online on their website: www.neworleansphotoalliance.org or at their blog www.neworleansphotoalliance.blogspot.com

A preview of the exhibition can be seen on their website: http://neworleansphotoalliance.org/exhibitions.php

Inwood POP:Portraits and Poetry

2009-06-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry is a part of Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Uptown Arts Stroll. Click here to link to our project.

Here's what the Uptown Arts Stroll says...

Wed 10 Jun 9:15 am – 10:30 am
Amistad Dual Language School • 4862 Broadway (W. 204th St.)
Exhibition Opening. Over one hundred photographs taken by Katie DelaVaughn and poems by 1st and 2nd grade students sharing their home and community - photographs will then be exhibited at the following locations: Broadway from Dyckman St. to W. 207St.; W. 207 St. from Sherman Ave. to Inwood Hill Park; Dyckman St. at Sherman Ave. to the Hudson River; and on the side streets of Vermilyea Ave., Academy St., Cummings St., and Seaman Ave. Info: 415.246.8652
Also visit: http://www.artstroll.com/venues-artists/#Amistad_Dual

Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry featured in Manhattan Times

Here's what the Manhattan Times says...

Inwood POP: Portraits and Poetry opening exhibit to be held at the school auditorium at Amistad Dual Language School. Come view over 100 portraits layered with bilingual poetry revealing students favorite places in Inwood. Photography by Katie DelaVaughn. Poetry by Amistad 1st and 2nd grade students. Support provided by principal Miriam Pedraja and teachers Noah Ingber, Kristi Ley, Olga Ramos and Islandia Payano.
Wednesday, 10 June, 2009
09:15 AM - 10:30 AM

Cost:Free

Categories:

* Art Exhibit
* Children's
* Literary Event
* NoMAA Event

Platon

2009-06-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

I had the great pleasure of attending Platon's workshop at the Center for Photography at Woodstock this past weekend. Fellow photographer Paul Dandurand took a Platonesque Portrait of me. Thanks Paul!

Platon is not only an incredible photographer but a thoughtful educator. Many of the lessons he taught I can bring back to my students in the classroom that educate about visual literacy and human relations. In each lesson, he emphasized the soulful connections you can make with your "subject". After observing many photographers who take take take, it was beautiful to see how Platon works,relating to and making a conscious effort to give back to everyone he photographs. Every photographer there was on fire watching Platon fill the room with his amazing energy demonstrating the beauty of a simple gesture. It was an intense emotional invaluable weekend.

Here is a little more info on Platon.
Platon, a NYC based photographer, born in London, attended the esteemed St. Martin’s School of Art before going on to study at the Royal College of Art, where he earned his BA and MA. He received British Vogue’s “Best Up-and-Coming Photographer” award in 1992 along with the opportunity to contribute images to the magazine. Since then Platon has continued to shoot for an impressive range of publications including The New York Times Magazine, Time, Esquire, and Rolling Stone. His advertising credits include memorable campaigns for Issey Miyake, Nike, Levi’s, Moschino, IBM, and Motorola. Platon has exhibited at Hamilton’s Gallery and in London, Spiral Hall in Tokyo, Leica Gallery in NYC and Japan, Saatchi Gallery, and the Carla Sozzani Gallery in Milan. Phaidon Press published his latest book, Platon’s Republic. His work is represented by the Art Department in NYC.

Here's what Liz Unterman, Education Coordinator at CPW, who took the photo of me taking the photo of Paul above :), has to say about the workshop on her blog,

So...we opened the workshop season with The Art & Craft of Portraiture taught by Platon. Great start to the season. Platon is energetic, intelligent and incredibly passionate for what he does...which is infectious. He carefully nursed every workshop participant through somewhat grueling exercises in "relating and connecting to your subject"--- which in the end brought every single person to a place of better understanding of who they are as artists. It was extremely enjoyable to watch from my end. People really came out of their shells and did an amazing job.

I have blogged about portraiture before and discussed the complicated discussions that exist around it. how much of a portrait is made with genuine "connection" and how much is a projection that we impose onto it? how telling can a photographic portrait really be on its own without other representation? what level of responsibility do we have as artists to properly represent a person? what is the definition of representation!? How does the gaze of the viewer change over time alter the portrait?

The SUN

2009-06-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Go get your June issues (issue 402) of The SUN magazine and flip to page 9 to see my selected photograph. I have been a fan of The SUN for years and am thrilled to be published in their magazine.

About The Sun

“The Sun, with its superb photographs, is the only magazine that I sit down and read as soon as it arrives. It’s full of people like a Globe Theatre; it’s nourishing like a field of pumpkins; it’s like a grandfather who talks to total strangers.” Robert Bly, poet

The Sun is an independent, ad-free monthly magazine that for more than thirty years has used words and photographs to invoke the splendor and heartache of being human. The Sun celebrates life, but not in a way that ignores its complexity. The personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs that appear in its pages explore the challenges we face and the moments when we rise to meet those challenges.

The Sun publishes the work of emerging and established artists who are striving to be thoughtful and authentic. Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize, been published in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays, and been broadcast on National Public Radio.

The Sun invites readers to consider an array of political, social, and philosophical ideas and then to join the conversation. Each issue includes a section devoted entirely to writing by readers, who address topics as varied as Telling the Truth, Neighbors, Hiding Places, Second Chances, and Gambling.

From its idealistic, unlikely inception in 1974 to its current incarnation as a nonprofit magazine with more than 70,000 subscribers, The Sun has attempted to marry the personal and political; to honor the genuine and the spiritual; to see what kind of roommates beauty and truth can be; and to show that powerful teaching can be found in the lives of ordinary people.

The Sun Publishing Company, Inc. is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and is supported primarily by subscriptions and reader contributions. Donations to The Sun are tax-deductible.

“The Sun is to publishing what A Prairie Home Companion is to radio: quietly revolutionary, selectively anachronistic, unfashionably idealistic.” Pat Mullaney, a Sun reader

“The Sun is the most real of magazines, a monthly reminder that everyone has a story to tell and a voice to tell it in. Readers Write is one of the greatest features of American journalism, as iconic in its way as the New Yorker’s Talk of the Town. Few things in our world are reliably moving, but it is, month after month.” Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

POP at NYU

2009-05-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

Festival Opening - May 29

World Savvy's Global Youth Media and Arts Festival celebrates the creativity and vision of NYC youth artists. Please join us for the Opening Celebration!
When: Friday, May 29, 6pm
Where: NYU Commons Gallery, NYU Steinhardt, Barney Building, Ground Floor, 34 Stuyvesant Street at 9th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues

Phases of Existence

2009-05-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

My middle school Pedagogy of Photography students are in a great exhibit through World Savvy at NYU. Check it out! Below is their artists' statement.

"Phases of Existence is brought to you by Bronx youth participating in Pedagogy of Photography (POP). For our piece we reveal to you our Phases of Existence through self portraiture and poetry. Our Faces become the Phases of the Moon decorated with a variety of mediums revealing our state of being. We chose to use Emergency Blankets (AKA Space Blankets designed by NASA) as a background so that you too can see yourself and remember others in our art. It is reflective like a mirror, like the Moon. It's reflection brings warmth...to migrants during their journey, marathon runners at the end of their journey, to us as we navigate our journey as adolescent immigrants and hopefully to you as you reflect on your Phases of Existence.

We are constantly reminded of how we are different especially when we talk about immigration and identity so this art is meant to show how we are united. No matter what country you come from, what religion you practice, what gender you are or prefer, what age you are, what side of the border you are on, what education you have, we can all see and believe in the Moon. What we believe might be different. Your New Moon might be my Full Moon but it doesn't matter. The Moon does not discriminate. It illuminates. It unites us not only with each other but with history itself as the moon has been revered as gods and goddess, been a part of oral history and folklore in every culture, affects earths oceans and has even guided women in ovulation and menstruation.

We believe the Moon is the perfect symbol of our journey as immigrant adolescents. We have changed. We are changing. Even if we try to stop the change, we are pulled into a new phase of our lives. It is inevitable. The Moon is always changing, morphing, altering just like us. Our friendships, our beliefs, our bodies, our connection to our culture. The Moon embraces every state and emotion that enters our being, pride, shame, emptiness, sincerity, rejection, forgiveness, methodicalness, inexperience, illiteracy, hope, love, shyness, reaching our goals, imperfection, ignorance, hiding our true selves, disappointment, maturity, uncertainty, jealousy, satisfaction, assimilation, enlightenment, appreciation and being savvy!

May the Moon and our photographic installation piece bring out the lunatic in you, the believer in you,the loner in you, the dreamer in you, the dark side in you, the poet it you, the planter in you, the harvester in you, the romantic in you, the individual in you, the unusual in you, the teenager in you, the immigrant in you, the change in you."

POP's Phases of Existence:

Artists:

Christina Aviles
Jenifer Mejia
Christopher Mejia
Irena Nilaj
Jasmine Rodriguez
Mario Staka
Juvella Tolentino
Vivia Thompson
Katya Urbano

World Savvy is also hosting a fundraising reception on Thursday May 28 at 6:00 pm at the same location, to raise support for the Global Youth Media and Arts Program in NYC. Guests will enjoy a private viewing and tour of the exhibition, a special presentation by featured youth artists, and bid on student artwork during the silent auction. Hors d’oeuvers and refreshments will be served. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from $50 to $250 at Brown Paper Tickets, online at www.worldsavvy.org
Location: When: Friday May 29, 2009 @ 6 pm Where: NYU Commons Gallery NYU Seinhardt Barney Building, Ground Fl

New York Photo Festival

2009-05-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

I participated in the New York Photo Festival for the second year in row and it's second year in existence. The New York Photo Festival was founded in January 2007 by Frank Evers and Daniel Power in an effort to establish a world-class photo festival in the United States dedicated to the "Future of Contemporary Photography". Unlike other festivals which focus more on established masters of photography or previously produced works, the New York Photo Festival is focused on providing a platform for discovering contemporary photography through an intellectual presentation of ideas and previously unseen work.

Two of my images from Nicaragua were shown at the New York Photo Festival in Powerhouse Books in a slideshow format and one of the curators of the show even sent me an email with photographs of my images exhibited. See below.

Dear Photographer,

Congratulations! Your images were shown at the NYPH ’09 festival yesterday. Enclosed you will find installation views of your images as they appeared on the festival’s screen.

The festival is enjoying great crowds. The organisers are all grateful for your participation in this global project. Thank you again for enriching the visual experience of festival goers.
Sincerely,

William A. Ewing
Curator
New York Photo Festival ‘09
Director, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne

After 3 days of photography exhibits and lectures, two exhibits stood out the most to me as they allowed me to reflect on my passions for youth, the Spanish language, and marrying the written word with the visual image.

American Youth by the photographers of Redux Pictures launched their book and exhibit at the NYPH. A project I would have loved to have participated in had I know about it prior. Having worked with, photographed, and mentored youth how to photograph themselves for the past ten years, the photographs really hit home. It was interesting to see a solid collection of photographs of youth by a variety of photographers with different styles. In each photograph, I thought to myself, how would I have taken picture? How would the youth in the photographs have photographed themselves?

The other exhibit which I found mysteriously beautiful and omnious was titled “Tu/Mi Placer” which showed diptychs with images by Luis González Palma with words in Spanish by Graciela de Oliveira. The first line of the text was always ‘NO SERA’ followed by a statement reflecting the logic of an imbalanced relationship. The viewer read the pieces as if they were in their ophthalmologists office taking an eye exam, blinded by love.

American Photography 25

2009-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Thrilled to get the following email in my inbox...
Click here to see my winning images

April 14, 2009

Dear Katie DelaVaughn,

We’re pleased to inform you that work you submitted to American Photography 25 has been CHOSEN to appear on TRIBUTE our web gallery at ai-ap.com.

On behalf of chairperson Kathy Ryan, The New York Times Magazine, and the entire jury, I thank you for your submission and support of American Photography. This year’s distinguished jury included Stacy Baker, More; Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Projects Inc.; David Carthas, Blender; along with our past Jury Chairmen, Gary Koepke, Modernista!; Robert Priest, Portfolio; and Fred Woodward, GQ.

I had three photographs selected.

171 images were chosen from a record-breaking 10,100 submitted to receive at least 2 votes and are therefore eligible to appear permanently on their website - where over time photographers build an online portfolio of their AP winning images and where creatives make direct contact with them. TRIBUTE is being re-designed with new search capabilities and will be re-launched in November 2009.

Here is a some information about American Photography

American Photography presents the best images by established and emerging photographers selected by an outstanding jury from thousands of entries. The collection, gathered from books, magazines, promotional and personal portfolios, offers an informed view of photography today, with images that resonate through their clearly individual point of view. American Photography is a time capsule in the making.

American Photography offers a who's who in photography, with images by Luc Delahaye, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Jean Paul Goude, Lauren Greenfield, Brigitte Lacombe, Vincent Laforet, Annie Leibovitz, Martin Parr, Paolo Pellegrin, Spencer Platt, Martin Schoeller, Stephanie Sinclair, to name a few. Work by today's masters is interspersed with pictures by photographers just beginning to make a name for themselves. This year’s cover introduces the work of New York City student, Yael Ben-Zion.

American Photography, founded in 1985, is the leading juried annual and advocate of contemporary photography in North America and the world. Regarded by creative professionals as the number one source for today's finest image makers, American Photography is the premier showcase for editorial, advertising, fine art and experimental work. With a history of presenting the most cutting-edge images, its pages have honored work by Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and William Wegman and has proudly promoted the early careers of Sally Mann, David LaChapelle, Elinor Carucci and Steven Maisel.

A few testimonials:
American Photography represents those precious times when everything goes right, and the really good stuff makes it all the way to the printed page.” -Fred Woodward, Design Director, GQ

When you consider the breadth and quality of the photographers featured in American Photography, it's unrivaled. -Simon Barnett, Director of Photography, Newsweek

Interesting, amusing, and often downright creepy, the American Photography annuals illustrate best what contemporary photography seeks to achieve: a split-second of truth. -David Harris, Design Director, Vanity Fair

American Photography is the best photography annual published in America -Stefan Sagmeister, Sagmeister, Inc.

POP at Queens Museum of Art

2009-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

IMMIGRATION JOURNEYS JUKEBOX PROJECT

Listen to middle school Pedagogy of Photography (POP) students share their immigration stories through symbolic poetry at the Queens Museum of Art during Immigrant Heritage Week. POP students share their feelings as Pakistani, Jamaican, Albanian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Nigerian and Filipino youth immigrants. Inspired by their photographic installation piece, Doors of Reflection, students recorded poetry and songs about their lives. Their CD will be exhibited in a Jukebox and can be listened to as part of the Queens Museum of Art NYC Immigrant Heritage Weeks' Immigration Journey Jukebox Project.

From April 17th - 23rd the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs presents Immigrant Heritage Week, a series of events throughout the five boroughs that celebrates the history and contributions of immigrants to New York City’s cultural and economic life.

Spring Break POP Camp

2009-04-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

We are POPin around NYC this week, cameras in hand! More details to come!

Education Across the Americas Conference

2009-03-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

Join us on April 4th at11:20am-12:35pm in Milbank Chapel at Teachers College, Columbia University (525 W. 120th Street New York, NY 10027)

POP students will be exhibiting and presenting their work at the Association for Latin American Students Education Across the Americas Conference for the 2nd year. This will be my third year exhibiting photographs and presenting at the conference. My images of my students in both Nicaragua and the Bronx are being used as ALAS promotional materials.

We are Panel 6: Voices of Immigrant Youth: Using New Media and Technologies as tools for Self-Expression and Identity-Making

Katie DelaVaughn and Pedagogy of Photography (POP) students will present an photographic installation piece and movie entitled Doors of Reflection: Identity and the Immigrant Experience.

For more information go to http://www.tc.edu/students/alas/

NEED Magazine

2009-03-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the National Community Service Learning Conference in Nashville, Tennessee and had the honor to present Pedagogy of Photography (POP) in thanks to a grant through the Peace Corps Fellows Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Throughout the four days, it was amazing to meet so many organizations and energetic youth dedicated to service learning and I look forward to collaborating with many of the organizations.

POP students even got an assignment from NEED Magazine. NEED magazine creates exposure for humanitarian aid via an educational, artistic, visual narrative of human stories. NEED was intrigued how POP students educate themselves and others through photography and POP students are now NEED magazine youth correspondents.

En Foco Exhibit

2009-03-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to Miriam Romais, Executive Director of En Foco for inviting Pedagogy of Photography (POP) students to the opening of Rojelio Reyes Rodriguez's photography exhibit, Mi Sangre at Pregones Theater.

What aspects of your culture would you want to portray? Would you focus on traditional culture, contemporary culture or both?

"I would like to portray how much unity we have together in cultural festivals. It striked me the most in traditional wear because I realize that I am losing myself in modern U.S. and not finding myself close to my roots." -Jenifer Mejia- 8th grade

"I would portray the struggles many of our people face everyday and the fact that we always stick together and help each other all the time. I would focus on traditional culture."-Christopher Mejia 8th grade

"I would like to take pictures of it's landscapes such as Ecuador's beach. I would do both."-Christina Aviles- 8th grade

"The family, the way we live together, the way we connected through emotion and physical attachments (living in the same yard)."-Vivia Thompson 8th grade

"I'd like to portray are braids with the ribbon of the Mexican flag. I think I'd focus on traditional culture because my whole family has kept it and I want it to continue."- Katya Urbano 8th grade

What comparisons can you make between the images of the elderly and the young?

"The young are very proud but they show that they not only are proud but that they've kept their culture strong". -Vivia Thompson- 8th grade

"They make the elderly seem young and the old seem younger." -Christina Aviles- 8th grade

"Both the elderly and young seem attached to their roots"- Jenifer Mejia 8th grade

"Both the young and elderly look proud to be taking these pictures. I can also see they are posed to show, to flash, to shine and I show you it's who I am and I'm proud." -Christopher Mejia- 8th grade

This exhibition focuses on portraiture to describe traditional Mexican culture. How do you think that affects the story that is being told? Do you think the story would change if there were other types of images included (city or landscapes, group images, candid moments)?

"It affects it by giving more details about the cultural story, Yes, it would change because it wouldn't show so much culture in it. People don't us the clothing or other stuff in everyday life."-Kayta Urbano 8th grade

"Yes, because everything in a picture affects the overall outcome of the message you are trying to send." -Vivia Thompson 8th grade

"The story being told is only by one person's eyes and not someone elses. I don't think it would change the story by putting more in it, landscape etc but actual improve the story and make it more real." Christopher Mejia- 8th grade

I think these photos affect the story because if there was other type of pictures besides Mexican culture then it wouldn't fit in."- Jenifer Mejia 8th grade.

After looking at the works, what do you think the photographer (Rojelio Reyes Rodriguez) does to define mexicanidad (Mexican heritage)?

"The photographer made the people dress in Mexican traditional clothing." - Mario Staka 8th grade

"He uses the outside background, the clothing and the hairstyles." -Katya Urbano 8th grade

"The look, or expressions on the peoples faces and the way they pose for it." -Jenifer Mejia 8th grade

"I like the 1 with a man wearing a mariachi suit and hat and he's hiding his face with it. What I like is the fact he's hiding his identity. Reminds me of me."-Christopher Mejia- 8th grade

"My favorite photo is Orgullo" because it symbolizes pride in Mexican culture. It also seems that she is very attached to her roots which I am slowly losing. I admire her." -Jenifer Mejia 8th grade

"The picture I liked best was the one with the kid and the chicken because it was really a thing that brought me laughter."-Mario Staka- 8th grade

"I like the image of where a kid is standing in the middle of the field. It's interesting because its sort of an alone picture. It creates a sad and confused mood like real life."-Christina Aviles-8th grade

What kinds of connections can you make between the images?

"One connection would be my roots which I don't have, that are being portrayed. A theme what is repeated is the wardrobe."- Jenifer Mejia 8th grade

"Each picture is connected by culture." - Christopher Mejia 8th grade

"Purity and proud pride- these people take pride in their picture and are proud to be who they are."-Vivia Thompson 8th grade

Bronx Culture Trolley

2009-03-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

POP students enjoyed a cultural art night out in the Boogie Down Bronx by participating in the Bronx Council of the Arts, Bronx Culture Trolley to view exhibits Dream Sequence at the the Longwood Arts Gallery, Fosforera at Hostos Community College and Mi Sangre at Pregones Theater. Students also won Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird as part of the Big Read in the Bronx event.

"I am A Photographer"

2009-03-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

At the World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Jam Session, POP students broke into various workshop groups with talented teaching artists exploring different genres within performance art and then gave the audience a show. Jasmine, a 7th grade POP student from Mexico living in the Bronx acted out with the rest of her group how she identifies herself. Jumping up on the stage, Jasmine flashed, clicked, positioned photo after photo as her peers charaded their individualism. At the end, each student shouted one character phrase and Jasmine's proudly snapped, "I am a photographer!"

Jasmine in her breakout session during the workshop piece of the Jam session.

Jasmine proudly taking pictures during her identity performance piece.

Jasmine's photographs from the stage.

World Savvy Jam Session

2009-03-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

POP students participated for the second year in a row in the World Savvy Global Youth Media and Arts Jam Session on Saturday March 7th in Brooklyn, NY. Below is the "Stories from the Field" hosted on World Savvy's website.

The Jam - "I learned today that there is no limit to what I can do!"

On Saturday, March 7, more than 100 students and teachers from New York's five boroughs gathered for World Savvy's Jam Session in Brooklyn Heights. The Jam is part of the Global Youth Media and Arts Program and began with a rousing performance by Senegalese hip-hop artist Baay Musa, who rapped about his own experience as an African immigrant, his struggles and his determination to succeed. Students carried Musa's inspirational message into small breakout workshops where they explored Immigration and Identity with professional filmmakers, dancers, theater-artists and musicians.
Workshops ranged from personal identity exploration through Indian music and dance to spoken-word reflections on the borders that young people encounter in their own lives. After two hours, groups returned to the auditorium full of nervous energy and excited to share their creative projects. Teachers exclaimed with pride as some of their shyest students broke out of their shells and took center stage, revealing aspects of their cultures, rallying against stereotypes and articulating their own American dreams.
On World Savvy surveys, 100% of participants said that the Jam Session gave them a better understanding of Immigration and Identity than they had before and that the Jam helped them see how Immigration and Identity effects them, their communities and the world. Students also shared more personal feedback; one World Savvy Columbian-American teen wrote, "I learned today that there is no limit to what we can do!"

Kassandra's Quinceañera

2009-03-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

I am currently editing the photos I shot from Kassandra's quinceañera/sweet sixteen in the Bronx. Kassandra chose to merge both Puerto Rican and American traditions by celebrating her quinceañera on her sixteenth birthday. Her coming of age celebration was full of rituals and symbolism. Below, Kassandra relaxes in the banquet hall after her party has ended. Her grandpa pinches her cheeks and gives her a good night beso, or kiss. The doll in the foreground is her última muñeca, the last doll she will receive in her childhood, a symbol of both maturity and purity. The última muñeca, dressed identically to Kassandra, is pinned with leftover capias, or charms, that were given as recuerdos, or keepsakes, to the quinceañera guests.

The Grid Multimedia Piece

2009-03-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

During the Eddie Adams Workshop, my group, team silver, created this multimedia piece revealing the six degrees of separation between community members in the town of Liberty, NY. We were the first group in the history of the workshop to combine audio,video and still photography. Check out this article in Photo District News.

Eddie Adams Workshop Images

2009-03-03T13:57:00.001-08:00

Last fall I was selected to participate in the Eddie Adams Workshop. I was assigned to photograph two sisters, Megan and Hunter, their relationship to each other, their friend Zayerra and the community of Liberty, NY. They were amazing young women to photograph. These images reveal only a glimpse of their layered lives.

Winter Break POP Camp

2009-02-19T22:01:00.001-08:00

POP students have enjoyed reflecting on their lives and exploring NYC during their winter break. Students have had classes at the New York Public Library, visited the Full Moon: Apollo Mission Photographs of the Lunar Landscape at the Rose Center for Earth and Space (Hayden Planetarium) located in the American Museum of Natural History, and a visit with World Savvy to see the Queens International 4 exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art. Additionally POP students visited and compared and contrasted Central Park and Flushing Meadows Corona Park and warmed their bellies through Latin American, Indian and Jewish cuisine!

Back from Nicaragua

2009-01-28T12:51:00.001-08:00

I have spent the past two months in Nicaragua implementing Pedagogy of Photography to adolescent males through the nonprofit ¡Sí a la Vida! (Yes! to Life). ¡Sí a la Vida! has two residential centers for rescued street youth in both Managua and Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. It works to better the future of Nicaragua by reintegrating at risk youth back into society. A three-phase process of rehabilitation takes place through education, work training, psychological attention, legal aid, and community interaction.

The boys worked hard sharing their lives through photography and writing and their work will be on exhibit in the community of Altagracia, Ometepe, Nicaragua in celebration of ¡Sí a la Vida's! fifteenth anniversary. Photos coming soon!

Youth Noise

2008-11-17T19:11:00.001-08:00

I photographed the YouthNoise DROP campaign on Saturday.

YouthNoise and Parsons The New School for Design, co-sponsored and partnered to launch DROP: a campaign focused on bringing creative young people together to create actions with local, national, and international impacts on the water crisis.

This day-long summit served as the initial step in a personal and team campaign for 75 emerging social entrepreneurs and activists in the greater New York metropolitan area. Part awareness building, part community building and 100% focused on social change, this summit offered opportunities for committed young people to dive into the complex world of water issues facing our global community.

It was a well organized event. Students were passionate about service and learned tangible ways to realize their projects. It was great to photograph especially because I learned quite a bit (that I can apply to Pedagogy of Photography and teach my students) by listening to the speakers (UNICEF, ALLOY...)that I was photographing. We saw clips of a documentary called FLOW which is a must see!

To view photos of the event click here, Youth Noise Summit Photos

You Tube Video

Election Night In Harlem

2008-11-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

November 4th, 2008, Harlem, NY USA. I spent the evening photographing the Harlem Historic Community Celebration at the State Office Plaza, 125th St & Adam Clayton Powell. Over 2,000 people gathered in the plaza to watch the election results. After Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, people paraded up and down 125th street.

Historic Night in Harlem

2008-11-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama is elected president of the United States.

Shout Out to Michel Leroy

2008-11-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

A special thanks to lighting master Michel Leroy who I met at the Eddie Adams Workshop. He has been guiding me in studio lighting these past few weeks in NYC. Thanks Michel. Check out his work! He is an awesome photographer and teacher!

Copyright Michel Leroy

Tour De Bronx

2008-10-20T23:16:00.001-07:00

On Assignment with the Riverdale Press. I photographed the final celebration of the Tour De Bronx at the New York Botanical Gardens. Though I wish I was out riding and shooting the event at the same time!

The Tour De Bronx is NYC's largest free riding event sponsored by Transportation Alternatives. Next Year's Tour de Bronx is October 18, 2009.

Pedagogy of Photography Recieves Praise

2008-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Victoria Restler, Senior Program Associate with World Savvy praises Pedagogy of Photography.

"I first met Katie DelaVaughn (née Delahunty) through the artwork of her students. Crisp, high contrast black and white portraits of elementary school children layered with vibrant marker drawings depicting their personal definitions of peace—Thomas the Tank Engine, Granny, making clothes, rapping and dancing. With their combination of skillful photography and jewel-like flashes of color, these images seemed more at home on the walls of a Chelsea gallery than a school bulletin board. Having seen loads of student artwork over my years in the field, I knew that the combination of authenticity, beauty and heart present in these photographs belied an extraordinary educator and artist.

In January 2008, Katie was selected to participate in World Savvy’s Global Youth Media and Arts Program (MAP). The MAP brings twenty educators together for six months to build skills and content knowledge for integrating global issues like Immigration and Identity into art and media curriculum. Among a group of veteran NYC teachers, Katie quickly shone with the innovative blend of art, literacy and multi-cultural education embodied in her Pedagogy of Photography (POP) curriculum and approach.

I am an artist, educator and administrator and direct World Savvy’s Media and Arts Program in New York and San Francisco. Last spring, I had the opportunity to observe Katie and help facilitate workshops with her classes on several occasions. When I arrived at Bronx Green Middle School, I often found Katie in her office surrounded by a gaggle of girls writing poetry or editing photographs. Even with very limited resources, Katie nurtured a safe space for students to explore their own identities and express themselves. She has a special capacity to connect with students of many different backgrounds and help them connect with each other. Her classrooms were filled with a wide mixture of students--Latino, Caribbean, African, Albanian; she developed strong relationships with each young person and provided ample platforms for cultural pride and expression. This aspect of her work—supporting engaged students of every stripe in their creative endeavors—never seemed to feel like “work” for Katie, and she spent endless lunch-periods, evenings and free days guiding the exploration and art-making of her devoted student following.

In a chaotic school environment—classrooms often full of 35 students—Katie consistently inspired her classes to create beautiful, meaningful art projects. However, unlike other arts educators that focus only on the quality of the product, Katie values the process and student engagement throughout. All of the concepts, descriptions, and images that her students create come from them. This ownership is evidenced in the voice of the work and the enormous pride of accomplishment her students display upon completion.

For the MAP’s culminating art exhibition, Katie and her students presented "Doors of Reflection" a powerful and richly layered piece. The middle-school class collected photographs from their lives and homes and created visceral collages that rippled against the cracked wood of three actual doors, suspended from the ceiling. This project was a success on many levels—it was visually striking, conceptually conveyed a textured tale of the immigrant experience, its development represented the months-long collaboration of more than 25 6th and 7th graders on a single, large scale collaborative work (a truly incredible feat!), and it continues to live on in the community with ongoing exhibitions at local Bronx schools, libraries and community centers.

At the exhibition opening, in an NYU gallery packed with parents, teachers and youth, Jasmine, one of Katie’s 6th grade students and a recent Mexican immigrant stepped forward to talk about the piece, “Before this year, I was nervous to express myself to anyone. I was so shy. Working with Ms. DelaVaughn has given me the confidence to believe in myself and express who I am.” Katie fostered this kind of personal growth in many of her students. Through her Pedagogy of Photography curriculum, her students came away from the year with art making skills and a deep appreciation of the ways that art can help us heal, grow, understand ourselves and the world around us."

Eddie Adams Workshop

2008-10-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

I was one of 100 photographers selected to participate in the Eddie Adams Barnstorm XXI Workshop. It was an inspiring weekend. Photos coming soon!

"The Eddie Adams Workshop is an intense four-day gathering of the top professionals in photojournalism, along with 100 carefully selected students. The Workshop's purpose is to create a forum in which an exchange of ideas, techniques, and philosophies can be shared between both established members and newcomers of the profession of picture journalism. The Workshop is tuition-free, and the 100 students are chosen based on the merit of their portfolios."

Art HARLEM H.O.A.S.T

2008-10-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who came to the exhibit and presentation!

Harlem Open Arts Studio Tour

2008-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

MTA Subway: midtown, September 15th 2008
photographed by Reuben Sinha

As an artHARLEM artist, I am showing both my personal documentary photography and my students' Pedagogy of Photography artwork at the Harlem Open Arts Studio Tour (H.O.A.S.T) October 4th and 5th from 12:00pm-6:00pm at Teachers College, Columbia University in Zankel 109. Enter at 525 W. 120th Street.

In collaboration with Resident Services, I will be giving a presentation on Pedagogy of Photography (POP) at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday October 5th.

Maternity Shoot in San Francisco

2008-09-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mike and Colleen who gave birth to RoseMary and Thomas!

Doors of Reflection gets more press

2008-09-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

After a year of hard work, Mrs. DelaVaughn's Pedagogy of Photography students created a collaborative installation piece that was exhibited at NYU in collaboration with World Savvy's Global Youth and Media Arts Festival.

Check out this great review of Pedagogy of Photography students work written by Dana Edell

Opening the Doors of Reflection

"One of the most powerful and richly layered art exhibits at the show is a project called "Doors of Reflections." Vivia, a vivacious 12-year-old girl from Jamaica, describes the project to me proudly. She perches on the edge of a wooden stool in the gallery, her yellow sundress glittering with sparkly sequins, and explains,

The whole concept was "doors of reflection," so it's when you hold on to a knob and you're turning it and you're thinking about what's behind you and what's going be in front of you, right? So it's like going back in time in somebody's mind and seeing where they gonna be in the future or where they are now.

The middle-school class had collected photographs from their lives and homes and created visceral collages that rippled against the broken, cracked wood of an actual door, suspended from the ceiling.

"I'm just a problem that can never be solved. I don't belong here."
"Life is too harsh for me to be able to survive yet I continue on."
"I will express myself."
"Albania is full of both beautiful and tragic memories. When I was five, the memory of seeing my aunt being shot by two drunk men hunts me & is heavy on my heart"
"Locked is what my door should be with all my secrets."

The middle-school class had collected photographs from their lives and homes and created visceral collages that rippled against the broken, cracked wood of an actual door, suspended from the ceiling.
These writings, scribbled with crayons, markers, paint and stickers, illuminate lives in which adolescent fears and insecurities are trumped by real terror and the desperate need to survive. I can't look away from the work. These kids have plunged their pens into their hearts and written with the unfiltered ink of raw emotion. Thoughts and secrets and desires are shuffled among photographs of smiling children, sepia-toned portraits of grandparents, geographies of memory, farmland, homeland and cityscape. When my gaze focuses on specifics, my eyes water, but I am at first unsure of these images as expressions of immigrant experience. Then, when I pull back and take in the entirety of the project, the conceptual theme washes over the boards.
The Immigrant Experience Leaks Through the Cracks

Boricuaz
La Boricua
such a shame
Datz all i hear
am i 2 blame
i am hizpanic
wat am i 2 do
IDK I don't have
a clue I cant
change my cul-
ture Itz not mii
fault I juz came
out diz way &
I cant go
back in
Im boricua N
proud Im
juicy NOT
Thin Im
brunette
not blond

The doors are the context, the frame and the canvas for the stories and feelings of the young artists. This poem by "Aze," is scratched into a windowpane in red and blue marker, the text hugging a photograph of a girl, body in profile looking outward into a void. Her shape is cut out and outlined in thick black: shadows that seem to be chasing her. A colored rendering of the Puerto Rican flag hangs suspended above her head. Taken alone, the image haunts, but within the collage of photos of smiling friends, doodles and magazine cutouts, its resonance sings. It is the immigrant experience ï¿½ confusion, joy, pride, fear and sassiness leak through the cracks in the doorframe. As a work of art, as an expression of a young person's immigrant experience, the doors project is successful. It supplies images and media juxtaposed to each other in order to tell both individual and collective stories. As a collaboration project, it works on multiple levels. The viewer writes her own creation story of the piece, imagining a scenario where a group of 12- and 13-year-olds share scissors, glue, markers and laughter as they build the piece together. The images evoking pain and sorrow harmonize with those of survival and joy to tell a layered story of resilience.

Vivia sums up the process for me:
Through this project, everyone united with each other. Because everybody has a story to tell and everybody told their own story and now you get to see everybody's story. The fact that it's an art project really gives the person who's looking at it more in-depth features about who we are. And they get to see pictures of your life."

Goodbye Astroland

2008-09-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Astroland, Coney Islands famous amusement park in Brooklyn NY closed for good last night. I spent the afternoon with my Pedagogy of Photography students experiencing, documenting and celebrating it's last moments.

POP at Astroland

2008-09-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Jenifer and Vivia kept trying!:)

Whooo!
Celebrating Astroland in it's last moments!
Can you find Jenifer, Vivia and me?

Going back to the Bronx.

Center For Fine Art Photography

2008-08-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Three of my photographs from Nicaragua will be in the International Peace Corps Exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins. The images were selected by juror, Dr. Anthony Bannon. Dr. Bannon is the Director of the George Eastman House in Rochester New York.

Exhibit is August 21-30, 2008

Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

2008-08-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of presenting my Pedagogy of Photography work at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. I was present for the week long Literacy through Photography Institute. Overall, the workshop was rudimentary but always fascinating to collaborate with other photographers and educators. The most ironic part of the week was when I met photographer Wendy Ewald by backing into her rental car with my rental car. Always in Reverse!

Mary Ellen Mark

2008-08-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

I had an insightful weekend at the Center for Photography at Woodstock Workshop and Lecture Series. I received an excellent portfolio review from Mary Ellen, especially through her critique - shoot with flash, less wide angle frames. It was inspiring to learn from her and my colleagues.

Photos by Patricia Lay-Dorsey

Soho Photo National Photography Competition

2008-07-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Soho Photo National Photography Competition

Soho Photo Gallery of New York City is pleased to announce the winners of the thirteenth National Juried Competition. Our juror, Charles H. Traub, chairperson, MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media at the School of Visual Arts, New York, selected 31 photographs produced by 28 photographers for our July 2008 show.

Traub shared his views about judging the competition:

What The Juror Saw

The Soho Photo Gallery has a long and venerable tradition of showing creative photography of those who otherwise would not have as readily an opportunity to exhibit in a New York Gallery. This annual judged exhibition is one which gives anyone and everyone who is so inclined to be reviewed for possible inclusion. It is the very democracy of this opportunity that presents the challenge to the judge. Inevitably the submissions are going to include all the clichés of contemporary photography, but also the acute vision of highly trained professionals and the ever surprising idiosyncratic imagery of natural talents as well as the aspiring art of undergraduate and graduate students. What an eclectic assembly. Hundreds of images to bore and to stimulate. How do you make a judgment?

Everything is there: trick and experimental photography, the staged and the candid, sexy nudes, and distorted portraits, degraded interiors and exuberant landscapes. What are the criteria? Can there be any, really? Only that which this judge feels represents, in the submission of five images, a kind of honesty of intention. The desire by the photographer to create a connected group of pictures which have something to say in the collection bigger than that of any individual represented picture. Craft and presentation are measured. Originality is truly rare but the possibility of it gleams out of numerous sets of work. Selections are based upon the criteria and parameter of the gallery: thirty people only. That’s what the walls hold. One picture from each nominee. One picture! Why that picture? The judge can only select one, thus the choice is made to find the one picture in each selected group that best represents the group. It isn’t really a fair look at the talent of the person chosen, but it offers the promise of further investigation by anyone curious enough to follow through.

So what does the exhibition say? It tells the audience a lot about the diversity of the creative photographic pursuit. The general level of submissions goes up every year. Photography is a hot art form. The amateur knows more about it as such a form than ever before. He or she can now easily mimic highly achieved works, but the bar has been raised. Expectations are high. We don’t expect to see genius, but there’s a lot of talent. We do find a revealing commentary here on the many ideas, tropes, and opportunities the medium challenges us with at this moment in time.

Check out Pedagogy of Photography Students' Doors of Reflections on WNBC

2008-06-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

Students' work on NBC!

Our Identities Exhibit at New York Public Library

2008-06-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Pedagogy of Photography Students Opening at the NYPL

More Pictures from an AMAZING exhibit!

New York Public Library Exhibit

2008-06-18T00:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Pedagogy of Photography Students! Mrs. DelaVaughn is proud of all your hard work!

Our Identities Exhibit at New York Public Library

2008-06-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

Pedagogy of Photography students are exhibiting over 100 photographs and poems at the New York Public Library. The exhibit, "Our Identities" opened with a presentation/poetry reading today. The exhibit will be available for viewing from June 17 through October 1st.

2740 Barnes Avenue [between Allerton & Arnow Aves.], Bronx, NY 10467
(718) 881-4240

Mon 10-8
Tues 10-8
Wed 10-8
Thurs 10-8
Fri 10-5
Sat 10-5
Sun Closed

Travel Directions

MTA Subway

2 Train — to Allerton Ave. Walk east four blocks to Barnes Ave. Walk north 1/2 block.

5 Train — to East 180th St. Change to 2 to Allerton Ave. Walk east four blocks to Barnes Ave. Rhen north 1/2 block.

Pedagogy of Photography Students in the NY Daily News

2008-06-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/espanol/2008/06/16/2008-06-16_arte_inmigracin_e_identidad_global.html

Arte, inmigración e identidad global

Un festival muestra el trabajo realizado por jóvenes que recién enfrentan una nueva cultura

Edurne Uriarte

Saturday, June 14th 2008, 4:00 AM
Uriarte for News.

El ‘The Global Youth Media and Arts Festival’ es un evento que muestra el trabajo artístico realizado por más de 500 estudiantes de 10 a 18 años de edad, de 20 escuelas ubicadas en los cinco condados de Nueva York.

Este festival, que se prolonga hasta el 20 de este junio, está patrocinado por World SAAVY, organización sin fines de lucro cuyo fin es crear a nivel internacional mayor conciencia y comprensión entre los jóvenes del mundo globalizado en que vivimos.

El evento es el resultado del trabajo de seis meses en el programa de Arte y Globalización (Global Youth Media and Arts), que se desarrolla durante las clases de arte y los llamados ‘afterschool programs’ en algunas escuelas de la ciudad.

Victoria Restler, organizadora del programa, que inició en San Francisco, comenta que "en California descubrimos que a través del arte se puede hablar de inmigración, identidad y globalización, de manera que los jóvenes lo pudieran comprender mejor. En Nueva York seleccionamos a 20 profesores de arte y creamos materiales sencillos para que traten esos temas aquí", dice.

El salón de clase se transforma en un espacio donde los jóvenes pueden hablar y expresar abiertamente lo que piensan sobre la inmigración, reflexionar sobre sus conclusiones y preguntar sobre lo que ignoran. También, busca comprender las razones de un cambio de país o ciudad, y así entender las decisiones que sus padres tomaron.

"De esta manera", comenta Restler, "encontramos razones locales y globales, personales y sociales, como dinero, seguridad y educación. Los estudiantes tienen problemas para comprender el hecho de que algunos padres dejen a sus hijos para ganar dinero y después los ‘manden a traer’. Lo que tratamos es que comprendan por qué lo hicieron en vez de juzgar si fue o no una decisión adecuada".

El festival exhibirá además piezas hechas por los jóvenes, desde un altar al estilo de los altares de muerto mexicanos, como metáfora a una puerta abierta en las fronteras, hasta obras pequeñas como mapas y proyectos colectivos.

"Queremos mostrar lo que han realizado para ayudarlos a desarrollar más confianza en su trabajo y habilidades. Es importante para nosotros tener un espacio público abierto al diálogo y al intercambio de perspectivas e ideas", agrega Restler.

Historias globales

Juliana, una chica colombiana de 13 años de edad, vivió con sus abuelos en Manizales, Colombia, mientras sus padres vinieron a Nueva York a buscar trabajo. Cinco años les tomó reunirse. Juliana llegó hace un año y medio aquí, aprendió inglés en la escuela pública y ha tenido que acoplarse a los cambios en su vida, además de comprender la decisión de sus padres.

"Al principio fue difícil porque no hablaba inglés y sentía que todo era muy diferente. Siento que acá la gente es más dura y la diferencia de culturas hace más difícil la convivencia, pero quiero aprovechar las oportunidades que hay en la ciudad", dice Juliana.

Esta historia, común entre la juventud hispana, también ocurre en otras comunidades de inmigrantes como caribeños, turcos, europeos, asiáticos. Juliana agrega que "El programa es sobre nuestra vida como inmigrantes y nuestra experiencia. Hablamos de nuestros países y nuestras diferencias. Me gusta mostrar mi vida diaria y lo que pienso a través de mis dibujos. También he ayudado a mis padres, compartiendo con ellos la experiencia”.

Restler por su parte comenta que, "Es un reto muy grande entrar a un salón de clase donde hay poca discusión sobre cultura, identidad e inmigración contemporánea. "Ha sido positivo ayudar a los maestros a entender que es posible abordar estos temas, trabajarlos en clase y reunir a grupos muy diversos para crear un diálogo entre ellos. Así hemos contribuido a desmontar prejuicios, estereotipos y estigmas que rodean los temas de inmigración e identidad", concluye.

Información del Festival

Exhibición: junio 1 al 20
NYU Commons Gallery
34 calle Stuyvesant
Edificio Barney, planta baja
Calle 9, entre avenidas 2 y 3

Congrats to Pedagogy of Photography Students Shiquon and Clive for making the DAILY NEWS

2008-06-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Pedagogy of Photography Students present at La Guardia Performing Arts Center

2008-06-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

Pedagogy of Photography students showed a movie they created, "Our Identities" at the Global Youth Media and the Arts final performance at La Guardia Performing Arts Center in Long Island City, NY

To view the movie, please visit

Our Identities Part 1
Our Identities Part 2

Pedagogy of Photography Exhibit at NYU

2008-06-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

In collaboration with an amazing nonprofit World Savvy, Pedagogy of Photography (POP) students had the opportunity to exhibit their photographic installation piece regarding immigration and identity, "Doors of Reflection", at NYU as part of the Global Youth Media Arts Festival. POP students were proud to be one of the few groups selected to present at World Savvy's Fundraiser. The layers of POP students' identities combined with the journey of their migration paths moved many viewers.

“Doors of Reflection is a visual journey through the lives of us middle school students in the Bronx. This piece combines words with images to reveal our personal interpretations of the world and where we stand in it. This art serves to teach others how we got to where we are now and discuss the road that we’ve traveled to get here. These doors are reflections, mirrors, you can see yourself, us, inside, and yea that is true when you stand at a door and reach for the knob you think about where your going and when you’re on the other side you think about where you have been.
What you will discover from the work that we did, the time it took to work towards this piece of art, the creativity that was in our minds waiting to be unleashed again is just a part of our whole story. Part of getting this piece to where it is now was by taking images, in our homes, talking about our nationality, foods, cultures, the hardships of moving, what good things come out of the “bad”, how all that we’ve experience help us make choices, the decisions we faced along the way, the rules we had to break to be where we are today. Now we reflect upon it, it had been put visually in our hand’s reach, now you get to experience this through our Doors of Reflection.” Written by Pedagogy of Photography Student Vivia Thompson

Pedagogy of Photography in City Limits

2008-06-01T23:27:00.000-07:00

City Limits Article highlighting the Doors of Reflection

"Breaking up the space just beyond that is a series of hanging panels created by Bronx Green Middle School students, whose photography project resembles a graffiti-like assemblage of photos, words, poems and memories depicting the various places and experiences that forge the students’ identities. One student writes of constructing one’s identity by reconstructing the past: “Those old trees my father used to climb / When I go to Africa I shall do the same.” Another conveys a haunting memory of watching an aunt shot to death in Albania, a place “full of both beautiful and tragic” memories.....

...Vivia Thompson, 13, whose "pedagogy of photography" class at Bronx Green Middle School created the hanging window panel displays, described how learning to express individual identities and hearing each others' stories led to an interesting conclusion: “We’re all different people who have really different backgrounds but we can all relate to one another.”

2008-05-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to Christopher James, for choosing two of my photographs from Nicaragua series as Honorable Mentions for the Juried Photography Exhibition. On view May 3- May30 at the Mill Pond House Gallery.

Juror: Christopher James

Christopher James is Chair of the photography program at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University and an internationally recognized artist and photographer whose paintings and photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums in this country and abroad. His work has been published and shown extensively, including shows in The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The George Eastman House, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The first edition of his book, The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes (Delmar, 2001) has received unprecedented critical acclaim, was the winner of The Golden Light Technical Book of the Year award, and is recognized as the definitive text in the genre. The second edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes is scheduled for February 2008. James was a Professor at Harvard University from 1978 – 1991 and has lectured and given workshops throughout the world. www.christopherjames-studio.com

Juror’s Statement
29th Annual Juried Photography Exhibition

I had a terrific time going through the 550 images that were submitted for this 29th edition of the Annual STAC Photography Exhibition and it was a complicated process selecting a cohesive show that illustrated both the quality of the work and the theme I decided to build upon. My inclination was to select work that was challenging, that invited me to create “with” the image rather than to simply subjectively identify its content. I chose work that was, for me, clearly differentiated between what the camera was manufactured to record, and what the photographer intended to communicate.

For example… Imagine making a beautiful photograph, along with hundreds of other photographers, of the sun sinking into the Gulf of Mexico from the Mallory Square pier in Key West… or, seeing this sunset event in an ironically different way by creating a photograph of all those people making the same picture together, their flashes popping off into infinity, to assure a better exposure of the experience. Both images will document the Key West sunset but the latter approach will transcend the Mallory Square
experience by illustrating the personal impressions of the photographer and not simply the camera’s innate ability to capture light.

I am genuinely pleased with this show and want to add that like most juried exhibitions, the selection of work is only a representation of the juror’s personal preferences and not a definitive critique on the merits and artistic qualities of the images submitted. Good luck to all and thanks for the opportunity to see such great work.

Christopher James
March 2008

Pedagogy of Photography Girls at the Orchid Show

2008-04-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the NYBG for letting Mrs. DelaVaughn's POP students photograph the orchid show.

Pedagogy of Photography Students go to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden

2008-04-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the NYBG for letting Mrs. DelaVaughn's POP students photograph the orchid show.

Pedagogy of Photography Exhibit

2008-03-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Mrs. DelaVaughn's Pedagogy of Photography students proudly present and exhibit their work at Columbia University. Congratulations Katya, Jasmine, and Karina!

Pedagogy of Photography Exhibit

2008-03-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Mrs. DelaVaughn's Pedagogy of Photography students proudly present and exhibit their work at Columbia University. Congratulations Irena, Djamila, Vivia and Isabella!