In this 4 week online class students took time to explore the work of photographers who focus on capturing the Winter Landscape. They studied basic camera settings, and different tips and tricks used when photographing during this special season. Most importantly the class shared and discussed personal work to learn from and inspire one another .
Below is a gallery of photographs created by students Helena Brissenden, Susan Lyons, Amanda Tierson, and Timothy Wilson.
During this 4 week class students met virtually, and studied elements of photography, and techniques for photographing plants and flowers. Building on what we learned each week students went out and photographed, we shared our images, and discussed our love of nature.
Below are the photographs of talented students and photographers Helena Brissenden, and Amanda Tierson.
Hello All, Liz here. Coronavirus threw everyone into a world we were not expecting. Suddenly we had to socially distance, and stay home. We were not going to let that keep us from learning and exploring photography. During DIY Camp students discovered a number of different photography projects they could do at home with everyday materials. We met twice a week via zoom, once to explore science and photography topics, and once to share the results of these explorations. This class was made free to students through funding from the William & Sheila Konar Foundation.
These images are a result of the students creativity and hard work, hope you enjoy!
Holograms
We studies Pepper’s Ghost Effect, and made pyramids out out transparency paper to create a hologram using cellphones or tablets!
Jasper
Kayden
Light Painting
Did you know photography means “writing with light”. Students learned how to take pictures that captured light trails!
Abrehet
Abrehet
Abrehet
Arlen & Finch
Arlen & Finch
Arlen & Finch
Hafte
Hafte
Hafte
Nichole
Jasper
Jasper
Jasper
Miniature Faking
We looked at the artwork of photographers like Michael Wu who use different camera techniques to make small objects and toys appear large. Students then practiced what they learned.
Arlen
Arlen
Finch
Finch
Jasper
Jasper
Hafte
Hafte
Danny
Danny
Nichole
Nichole
Earth Art
We looked at the work of earth artists like Andy Goldsworthy. We discussed different ideas and techniques which students then put into practice.
Abrehet
Abrehet
Danny
Danny
Finch
Hafte
Hafte
Jasper
Anthotypes
Anthotype is a process that uses plants and spices to create photographs. Experimenting with how sunlight can bleach and shift the pigments in natural materials.
Arlen & Finch
Arlen & Finch
Arlen & Finch
Hafte
Image Transfer
Students tested out different methods for transferring an image, including using wood and glue, and even just tape!
Hello everyone, Photo Club has made some exciting changes this year. We have expanded! Flower City Arts Center now proudly serve up to 45 students in 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades from Wilson Foundation Academy and James Monroe High School.
The six goals of Photo Club are to:
empower youth to express their voice and vision
establish one to three year mentoring relationships
encourage youth to connect with their community
enhance knowledge of core school subjects
enable youth to build life skills
energize youth to work together in groups
Here’s some background and a sneak preview ofstudent work.
Photo Club started in the spring of 1999 and is now in its twenty-second consecutive year. Conducted by Flower City Arts Center, Photo Club is a 24 session after-school photography and writing program. After years of development, Studio 678’s model has been expanded to include Studio 789, James Monroe High School Photo Club.
Photo by Isabela
Students use a professional film camera to take pictures in the community, make their own black & white prints in the darkroom, write poems or stories to accompany their photographs, create a book of their work in the digital lab, and mat and frame their prints for exhibition.
Photo by Jadaly
The photography instructors at Flower City Arts Center work in partnership with teachers Michael Brundage and Alicia Oddo ofWilson Foundation Academy, and Shanterra Chalice and Nilsa Irizarry of James Monroe High School.These dedicated and caringteachers provide an essential link from the school to our after-school program. They help recruit students, participate in every meeting, and monitor the academic performance, attendance, and individual needs of our students.
Photo by Desire
Photo Club is free to students; Flower City Arts Center secures funding for the program each year. This year’s supporters include Canfield and Tack, Cheryl & Don Olney, Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, DiBella’s, Fay Slover Fund at The Boston Foundation,
Photo by Isabela
Feinbloom Supporting Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, Lumiere, William & Sheila Konar Foundation, Mary S. Mulligan Charitable Trust, Nancy Sands, Teresa Sipone, Vicki & Richard Schwartz Family Fund, Janet Buchanan Smith, Jeanne & Tom Verhulst, Fred & Floy Willmott Foundation, and many individuals.
Kodak Alaris donated film, Blessed Sacrament Church provided use of their parking lot, and Domino’s donated pizza. Aenon Missionary Baptist Church provided us with vans to bring students to Flower City Arts Center from school, and to various field trip sites. The Greater Rochester Community Transportation Foundation provided a grant to pay for some of the transportation costs.
Photo of Kingston by Sahara
Look what we have been up to!
At our first meeting in September, students came to Flower City Arts Center to learn about photography by making photograms in the darkroom and learning how a 35mm film camera works.We then assigned five students to each of the nine lead photography instructors to form groups for the year.14 students from last year rejoined our club.
We then began rotating our time between field trips, including two Saturday trips, making black and white prints in the darkrooms at Flower City Arts Center, and learning how to scan and edit images using Photoshop.
Our field trip sites included…
Colleges – Monroe Community College, Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester.
Thermal photo of Ms. Liz’s group at RIT
Urban settings – Monroe Avenue, Neighborhood of the Arts, Martin Luther King Memorial Park, Public Market, Village Gate, High and Low Falls and Rochester Public Library.
Ms. Kylie’s group at MCC
Natural settings – Hemlock Hills Alpaca Farm, Lamberton Conservatory, Begin Again Horse Rescue, Cobbs Hill, Cracker Box Palace Animal Shelter, Sunken Gardens and Washington Grove.
Ms. Kylie group at Cracker Box Palace Animal Rescue
A variety of work places – stores on Monroe Avenue, Pet Pride of New York, Verona St Animal Society, Allie’s Pet Corner, Rochester Police Department Technicians Unit, and Rochester Fire Department Engine 1.
Ms. Juliana group visiting the Technicians Unit at RPD
Museums and historical sites – Mt. Hope Cemetery, Ganondagan State Historical Site, George Eastman Museum, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Museum and Science Center, and Strong Museum of Play.
Photo by Latifa
Community events – Fringe Street Beat and other Fringe Festival events, and Hilton Apple Festival.
Photo by James
Arts and cultural locations – UUU Gallery, Performing Arts Center at MCC, Photojournalism Projects Exhibition opening at RIT’s William Harris Gallery.
Mr. Quajay’s group in the Lighting Studio
In November and December students used the photography lighting studio to take portraits of each other. From November to January, poets Doug Curry, Grace Flores, Arthur “Marvelous Marvin” McCraw, and Laura Thompson performed their own poems for inspiration and helped the students create poems to accompany their pictures.
Students also learned how to scan their imagesand use Photoshop in our digital lab to help create a section of book pages, with their writing and photos, and to create a multi media presentation. All the students brainstormed ideas for the book titles Wilson’s cohort chose “Through Our Eyes” and Monroe’s cohort chose “Shared Life Through the Lens”. The book cover photographs will be revealed at the ceremonies this Spring.
Currently, students are matting and framingphotographs for their final exhibition. Some students will make 11X14 size prints for an exhibit at Image City Photography Gallery.In March, photos will be selected for permanent placement in a variety of community settings funded by the Fay Slover Fund at the Boston Foundation.
Studio 678 Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club Final Ceremony
City Hall, 30 Church Street, Rochester, NY 14614, Friday, March 27th, 2020
6:30 pm: Awards Ceremony & Book Release in the City Council Chambers, third floor
Multi media Presentation of student art
Award Presentation with guest speaker
Book Release, copy awarded to each student
7:30 pm: Exhibition Opening Reception in The Link Gallery, first floor
A selection of Studio 678 members’ photographs, writing, and special projects will be on display.
Studio 789 James Monroe High School Photo Club Final Ceremony
James Monroe High School, 164 Alexander Street, Rochester, NY 14607 Saturday, March 28th, 2020
11:00 am: Awards Ceremony & Book Release in the Gymnasium
Multi media Presentation of student art
Award Presentation with guest speaker
Book Release, copy awarded to each student
12:00 pm: Exhibition Opening Reception in the Atrium
A selection of Studio 789 members’ photographs, writing, and special projects will be on display.
Please support these young photographers with your presence at these uplifting events celebrating the hard work, perseverance, and creativity of our students! We hope to see you there!
UPDATE: Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic we have postponed both the Studio 678 & 789 Exhibition Openings, Awards Ceremonies, and Book Releases. We plan to hold both at Flower City Arts Center at the end of May if we are able. For the most up-to-date information please check out our Facebook page.
Have you ever wondered what happens when you take film and process it in beer? I had never thought about it until I stumbled across an article describing the process a little over a month ago. So what better way to find out what happens then to do it!
Photo Credit: Marianna Pojman
On March 15 Juliana Muniz, and myself ran a workshop with 5 other photographers to see the results for ourselves. Everyone shot a roll or two of Black & White 400 iso film including Kodak Tri-X, T-Max, and Ilford HP5.
We decided to process together as a group using cans of Guinness, the same 15 minute developing time and 85 degrees fahrenheit chemistry for all our rolls of film. We had pretty decent results, everyone had images! Everyones negatives were dense, but printable, with the Tri-X coming out the best.
Below is an example of a contact sheet from a roll of Tri-X and a print made from the boozy negative.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the workshop! Can’t wait to try this again with some different beers, or maybe a cider. If you would like to see more prints made from our Beer + Film experiment come check out a Darkroom Club meeting, the next one is April 27.
Photo Credit: Sean Butler
Photo Credit: Sean Butler
PS: For anyone planning to try out this recipe, make sure the beer is 85 degrees fahrenheit before adding in the washing soda, or you’ll have solid clumps in your beer.
Liz here, last week Flower City Arts Center had the honor of collaborating again with Writers & Books to offer Writing with Light. This class taught students to write their own stories and poems with writer Karen van Meenen and then learn how to create their own black and white photographs with photographers Juliana Muniz, Christal Knight, and myself. The students also created a book in order to showcase their hard work!
I had a blast walking around our beautiful Rochester neighborhoods, and making prints with the students. Everyone picked up the process so quickly, and no one melted in the heat. Here are some photographs of the students out shooting in Neighborhood of the Arts, and in the Community Darkrooms at Flower City Arts Center.
Special thanks to the students for their hard work, and enthusiasm! I hope everyone can comes back next year for another great week of Writing with Light.
Carina Christman
Claire Lustig
Cornelia Crumley
Eamon Capps
Evan Michaels
Kelsey Gallager
Marco Hill
Maya Taylor-Bush
Tamsin Spiller
Violet Laux
Yeshua Alba
Zion Thomas
Copies of the book are on sale for $14. Please click here if you are interested in purchasing a book.
With the help of The Fay Slover Fund at The Boston Foundation 2018 is the second year that Studio 678 has been able to produce a special photography project.
Of the Community, By the Community, For the Communityincreases access to art in Rochester’s neighborhoods by placing student photographs for permanent exhibition in various community locations. One such location Teen Empowerment!
Here’s a behind the scenes look at the artwork going up.
Special thanks to the following students’ who worked hard to create the beautiful photographs now on display at Teen Empowerment.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the workshop! Can’t wait to try this again with some different beers, or maybe a cider. If you would like to see more prints made from our Beer + Film experiment come check out a Darkroom Club meeting, the next one is April 27.
ast week 
