Guests artists week at ICP at THE POINT: Thursday Teen class with Wesley Ham and the teaching team!

Instructor M. Wesley Ham, and Teaching Assistants Roy Baizan,  Oluwatobi Aremu, and Kevin Nestor surprised the Thursday Teen Photo II class with selections from their own deeply personal bodies of work. 

Ham’s personal work deals with the ideas surrounding family and legacy. Currently based in Brooklyn, his photographs are heavily influenced by his experiences growing up in Louisiana.

Aremu, born in London to Nigerian parents and raised in Atlanta. A student in the New Media Narratives Program at the International Center of Photography, his video artwork “Negotiations” beautifully speaks to the theme of black masculinity and social power dynamics. 

Baizan is a Chicanx documentary photographer and arts educator from the Bronx whose work focuses on music, community, and family. A graduate of the Visual Journalism and Documentary Practice Program at the International Center of Photography, his journey started in the ICP at THE POINT classroom. 

Like Baizan, Nestor is also an alum of the ICP at THE POINT photography program. His work to date is a response to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about the Mexican people. Nestor’s photographs primarily centers around positive depictions of his own family in the Bronx and Mexico in order to dispell racist stereotypes. 

After the presentations, there was a vulnerable moment with one of the teens during the student’s group critique.  “I’m crying because I’m so inspired by everyone else’s story.” 

 

ICP at THE POINT Alum, Roy Baizan shares his work with Thursdays’ teen class. Photo by Abigail Montes.

ICP New Media Narratives  student, Oluwatobi Aremu, discusses his projects with Thursday’s Teen class. Photo by Roy Baizan. 

ICP at THE POINT Alum shares images from his long term family project in Mexico. Photo by Roy Baizan.

Thursday Teen Photo group critique. Photo by Roy Baizan. 

Kiara Garcia at the Thursday Teen Photo group critique. Photo by Roy Baizan.

Photos by Abigail Montes

 

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Guests artists week at ICP at THE POINT: Tuesday Preteen class with Mark Nevers and Guest Artist Willie Dynamite

William “Mr. Willie Dynamite” Fratacci was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. He picked up a film camera at the age of thirteen and has been an avid street photographer ever since. His work spans decades, including photographs of the birth of hip-hop, community events, and everyday people. Fratacci transforms his images into original t-shirt designs out of an art studio space in the South Bronx.

 

Bronx Photographer, Willie Dynamite views the work by Tuesday’s pre-teen class. Photo by _________.

Bronx Photographer Willie Dynamite shares his work with Tuesday’s pre-teen class. Photo by ______.

Bronx Photographer Willie Dynamite shares his work with Tuesday’s pre-teen class. Photo by ______.

Photos by Alma Torres

Guests artists week at ICP at THE POINT: Wednesday Teen class with Chantal Heijnen and Guest Artist Monica Flores

Students in the Wednesday teen class had an exciting opportunity to work with local Bronx artist Monica Flores. Monica is the co-founder of a grassroots community collective known as “Hydro Punk”, where they organize cultural community events and educational workshops in the Bronx.

Students learned what a cyanotype is and how to make their  own. They had a great time in the darkroom learning how to coat the paper with the cyanotype liquid to make the paper light sensitive, and then creating their print from a digital negative.

Photos by Luca Brunetti

You can learn more about Monica and Hydro Punk here https://punkfromthebronx.com/

 

Guests artists week at ICP at THE POINT: Monday Preteens with G Giraldo and Guest Artist Roy Baizan

The Monday preteen class had a guest visit from Roy Baizan, a Bronx-based artist of Mexican descent. The students learned a little bit about Roy and where his family is from and and also the organizing of the Bronx punk scene, including Hydro Punk a youth lead group.

Photosof Roy working with youth by G. Giraldo

You can learn more about and see more of Roy’s work here:

Roy Baizan

http://baizanroy.squarespace.com/

Urban Indian: Native New York Now Field Trip

Guilermo “G” took his Monday Preteen class to the museum of the city of new york to see the Exhibition  Urban Indian: Native New York Now, located in East Harlem.

There is a flourishing Native presence in New York City, as Indigenous American people are shaping the city’s cultural and political institutions, and collectively reclaiming heritage and urban space.

The students enjoyed looking at the photos and being able to interact with them as well, though they may have even been more excited for the Tacos after the trip. 

Our Wednesday Teen class with ICP faculty, Chantal, was excited to be able to be up close and personal with the original prints from the artist. They seem to be inspired by the work they saw and set out to create their own portraits!

RESPECT. A field trip to Casita Maria

This semester the Tuesday Preteen class along with their ICP faculty, Mark, and Thursday Teen Photo II class lead by ICP faculty ,Wesley, visited the RESPECT exhibition at Casita Maria Gallery, located in the Longwood section of the South Bronx. Inspired by Aretha Franklin’s 1967 rendition of the song “Respect”, this collection of artwork by New York City-based artists Timothy Okamura, Jessica Spence, and Nichole Washington, celebrates black womanhood and beauty.

Photos of the Tuesday Preteen class at Casita Maria, by Alma Torres

 

https://www.casitamaria.org/gallery

“Each artist celebrates Black womanhood in a signature style. Okamura’s work features a unique method of painting – one that combines an essentially ‘realist’ approach to the figure with collage, spray paint and mixed media. He will include both new work created specifically for Casita Maria and giclee prints from his Begin Transmission and Urban Portraits series. The new work is based on photographs taken in spring 2019 of four Casita Maria after school youth program participants. Gallery attendees are invited to “tag” the canvas with their name or a positive statement to contribute to the exhibition. 

Jessica Spence’s acrylic paintings depict topics related to her life, specifically black womanhood, and societal beauty ideals. Her current body of work focuses on the beauty and versatility of Black hair. 

Nichole Washington uses photography and paint to construct works that are bold and imaginative. Her art is an exploration of feminine strength, identity and spirituality. In her most recent works Washington creates unique symbols that are used as a secret form of communication. Washington’s strong use of design, layered with her symbols and expressive brush strokes create a multidimensional space that allows room for nuance. She hopes to persuade viewers to look beyond the surface and to have a transformational experience with the work.”

Photos of Thursday Teen Class students at Casita Maria, by Oluwatobi Arem

On their way, Tuesday’s class also went exploring on a photowalk through Simpson Street. 

Tuesday Preteen Photowalk: Photo by Alma Torres

Kicking off another semester of ICP at THE POINT!

ICP at THE POINT is a year-round collaboration with THE POINT Community Development Corporation in the South Bronx, providing a photography-based program for preteens and teens that includes a classroom/studio, black-and-white darkroom facility, and gallery.

We are excited to kick off Fall programming and share a bit of day 1 with you!

Monday Photo I Preteen Black and White class exploring Barretto Point Park on the waterfront in Hunts Point.Photo: Pheobe Boatwright, Teaching Assistant

The theme of our Monday & Tuesday Preteen classes is Community. This semester they will set out, cameras in hand, to explore and ask themselves what does community mean, what makes up a community and how are they a part of their community? They will also be challenged to think critically about the role of photography in impacting their communities.

 -“Why is this so Fun” Janay Holmes, student

It looks like they’re off to a good start enjoying this new storytelling tool

Tuesday Photo I Preteen Black and White class catching the sunset on Lafayette Street.  Photo: Mark Nevers, Faculty

 

Wednesday Photo I Teen Black and White class starting strong with their partner portraits!            Photo: Chantal Heijnen, Faculty

“I like photography because a photograph is able to capture a person’s whole being” William Barkley, student

The theme of the Wednesday Photo I Teen class is Portraiture this semester and judging from the above photo, there are about to be some striking and creative images coming from these photographers!

The Thursday Photo II teens are looking ready to get into gear and learn The Urban Landscape. When one thinks landscape, they likely imagine trees and hills and horizon lines. So what does it mean to photograph the urban landscape?

They’ll let us know over the next 10 weeks!

Photos: Roy Baizan, Teaching Assistant

Guest Artist Visit with Miguel Anaya

This term we were elated to have as our guest artist Miguel Anaya. He shared with the students his personal journey growing up Mexican American in a border town in Texas and how he used dance as a way to express himself, get out, and see the world. We also viewed several bodies of work about dance, family, and a personal project which we had the honor of being the first eyes to view. Miguel is a artist in his own right and as a practicing photographer and dancer, he’s been able to marry the two. Through multiple series of powerful images he has captured the strength, beauty and vulnerability of the human body.  

Mr. Anaya is a not only an alumni of ICP but also ICP at The Point. He spoke of what it meant to be a new student sitting in the exact seats they were in and the importance of community based organizations like The Point that help to nurture the artist within and put you amongst peers who share in the idea of investing in a passion. After giving his presentation Miguel hung around to give invaluable feedback on students’ work.

       

 

Visit to the ICP Museum

Our trip to the ICP Museum gave way to an exploration. When looking at the work of Elliott Erwitt’s Pittsburgh 1950 or Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment, for even a second, one realizes that the is a magical object–capable of transcending boundaries of time and space. Our tour guide, Kevin, asked thought-provoking questions that encouraged students to dive deeper into the context of the images (social, historical, personal etc.), and go beyond the immediately visible. We used this context to understand not only when the photo was taken, but also whether or not the photographer was successful in connecting with his subjects to create an accurate portrayal. With our class’ focus this year being The Portrait, it is important that we see an array of different approaches to portraiture such as MULTIPLY, IDENTIFY, HER. Students left that exhibition excited and eager to jump back into their own projects. We talked about all that we had just experienced for the next hour and thirty minutes while heading home.

Guest Artist Lynn Cazabon

This week we had the pleasure of welcoming Guest Artist Lynn Cazabon into our preteen classroom for an amazing workshop combining botany and photography! Through an introduction to the wild and abundant plants thriving in the local environment of THE POINT, we explored the neighborhood to collect a variety of different species and to discuss the role these plants play in the local ecosystem.

The plants were then used to create images through a variety of darkroom-based techniques including photogram, cliché verre, and selective development. We learned a great deal about plants growing between the cracks in the concrete of our neighborhood (some are edible, some have medicinal properties!), while also managing to make some beautiful prints (not to mention a big mess)!

  

Lynn Cazabon is a Professor of Art at University of Maryland Baltimore County where she teaches a wide range of photography classes. Her work has been exhibited internationally and was recently included in the exhibition and book Emanations: the Art of the Cameraless Photograph by photographic historian Geoffrey Batchen. She is currently a South Bronx Resiliency Lab Artist-in-Residence at THE POINT.