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As LAMPcamp wraps up its first full week, LAMPers have explored media in their own neighborhood, looked at how gender is portrayed in media, explored how narratives are used to construct a message, got into the basics of podcasting and began their own short-form documentary video projects. Click here for the first pictures available from LAMPcamp in Brooklyn, and read on for Brooklyn facilitator Lorenzo Tijerino’s account of Day 4:

“Today went well. We began with a screening of three documentaries;  two were student-produced documentaries and one was from Rooftop Films. The students responded strongly to the documentary featuring Merlin, the boy in the pink scarf. The LAMPers discussed their feelings and impressions regarding gender roles and stereotypes. The third film was about a female fan of hip hop and her response to the objectification of woman in music videos. This led into a discussion about the responsibility of the viewer and the role that we all play in propagating negative imagery.

Before long, LAMPers were out on the street asking the hard-hitting questions. They returned to base just in time for lunch. Tomorrow they’ll get started on the editing process armed with technical skills they picked up over the course of the week.”

Michaele Salahi getting friendly with Joe Biden

Now, aside from the obvious stupidity of publicizing pictures of yourself posing with leaders of the free world at a very exclusive party to which you were not invited, I have to say I disagree with part of David Segal’s criticism. He points out that by posting photos on Facebook, the Salahis erred by making public the traditional, time-honored Power Wall (i.e., physical wall of photos of yourself with important people). The Power Wall used to exist only in offices or homes, but not anymore. Years ago, if a photo was to be seen at all, it had to be printed, so the print itself was not a big deal. Now, choosing to print a photo indicates that it is something special, and so the pictures you display in private are carefully curated by you or someone close to you. For the purpose of striking awe in someone sitting across from your desk, a traditional Power Wall is still effective, but the days of owning your image are long gone. That client can walk out of your office, find you on Facebook or Flickr, and see any old picture they want; the word ‘authorized’ means very little. Your real power wall is on Facebook, and you demonstrate power by making sure you are not tagged in photos you don’t like. One would think this would be understood in an Administration which was put in place due largely to its wielding of social media.

While a large part of this has to do with social media and technology, another part of this has to do with media itself. One of the basic points of being media literate is understanding the power of imagery, which is something we generally take for granted. The Salahis certainly did. I have plenty of friends who have posted photos on Facebook from the time they met a famous actor, shook the hand of Barack Obama as he campaigned for President, and even one friend who snapped a shot of herself with the Dalai Lama, but the difference is that no rules were violated in the process. It’s really the very well-known context of Michaele Salahi’s shot with Joe Biden that makes it so inappropriate to share, and the fact that she shared it demonstrates idiocy, naivete, lack of foresight or all of the above. But if Biden–or any other White House officials who allowed personal cameras into the event–didn’t think that photo would turn up later, he was not much better.

–Emily Long

"Henri Robin and a Specter" by Eugene Thiebault (1863)

This brings me back to a photography exhibit I saw a few years ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York called “The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult.” Over 120 ’spiritualist’ photographs were pulled together beginning from the 1860s depicting ghosts visiting the living, physical manifestations of thoughts, dreams and feelings, and spirits appearing in seances. The photographs, though stunning, are fake. They were made by manipulating a wet photographic plate, but appeared in newspapers, journals and parlors across the country as evidence of ghosts and spirits. William Mumler, generally regarded as the pioneer of spirit photography, made a fortune selling these photos, but lost it all to legal costs incurred during the 1869 trial accusing him of fraud. The charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence by the prosecution, though the judge claimed he believed the photos were indeed fraudulent. Still, spirit photography continued for many more decades. The point here is that, almost from the dawn of photography itself, people have been manipulating images with no disclaimer.

How different are Mumler’s photographs from digitally altered advertising photographs of today? In both cases, an image is produced that is meant to inspire emotion of some sort in the viewer. That image is then sold to the masses, who may or may not think to ask questions about how such an image is made. Virtually all photos taken today are retouched in some way, whether to correct red-eye, brighten colors, correct skin tone or alter lighting. Many of these photos hang in museums as pieces of priceless art. The question is, where do we draw the line–should digitally altered still lifes also carry a label stating that they were touched up? And, when looking at a picture of an impossibly beautiful person, would a label really keep you from beating yourself up because you don’t look like the Photoshopped model? Ultimately, the label only scratches the surface of what really should be done, which is to educate people about how and why media images are made.

Summer Vacation 2008

Originally uploaded by merfam

As our Education Director, Katherine, heads out of the city on a long car-saddled road tour of our western landscape, it brings to mind the storied tradition of the assignment that usually awaited students on their first week back into school:

An essay describing what they did on their summer vacation.

When I authored these reports in my youth, they were exclusively written down on a sheet of paper, and then read in front of a classroom. I might even bring with me small trinkets and mementos that I could display for my audience that would aid in illustrating my adventures, but that is as fancy as i would get. Nowadays, there are so many incredible ways a student could tell the story of their summer. I’m curious if there are in fact teachers, parents or even students who spend their months off by capturing them via a blog, or a video camera or even a digital sound recorder, who will then later share this interactive presentation with their classmates.

Man, just thinking about that kind of report makes me wish I was on summer vacation.

p.s. Let us know by e-mail if you give or receive an assignment like this: dc@thelampnyc.org Happy Summer!

I like this one a lot because it captures my memory of the very famous shot that i’ve seen reproduced multiple times on postcards and posters. But, there is one aspect that’s missing, which i think makes this stream of historical photos revisited brilliant. Because they are Lego toys, the dangerous feat that makes the original photo so dramatic is missing. Those men dangling their legs off the steel girder suspended in the air were tempting fate, however these toys are not in harm’s way. You don’t have quite the same reaction to the successor as you do with the predecessor.

When we take a look at another photo redux of his that focuses on a much more violent moment captured on film, we can really see the effect toys as substitutes has on the overall experience of the viewer.

On February 1st, 1968, General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executed a Captain from the Viet Cong army. Eddie Adams’ photographic capture of it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. Balakov’s reproduction does not evoke the same vivid angst and terror of the original. While the Lego figures share the same manufactured smile, it withholds the painful grimace of the Viet Cong soldier in the original image. This is an excellent exercise in how images influence our emotions, how they tell stories, and more importantly, how they define history.

I invite you to check out the rest of the series he put up, where he also has links to the originals he is paying homage to.

“A Show Starring Us” – Family Video Workshop

A family works on their script for their interview.

“A Show Starring Us” – Family Video Workshop

Family conducts interview, talking about weekly “movie night”

“A Show Starring Us” – Family Video Workshop

Young participant films his family for their interview

“A Show Starring Us” – Family Video Workshop

Students gather around the computer to help edit their family’s interviews.

“Tell a poem through pictures” - Video Poem Workshop

Dr. Katherine Fry shows students the options they can add on to their video poem presentation in the editing process.

“Tell a poem through pictures” - Video Poem Workshop

Students look on while drawing the pictures for their video poems.