“This Is My City” Summer Photography Class at AAC

We use pictures to tell stories about ourselves all the time. It’s a favorite form of communication, because it has the potential to share a great deal of information in an instant. More than that, it gives viewers the opportunity to place themselves in the picture, to make a connection, and to imagine what it feels like to experience what is happening in the photograph.

For teens (ages 11 – 15) we’re bringing back the popular photography course: “This is My City – Arlington.” This is a practical class that combines the art of photography with investigation and discovery. On guided field trips, instructor Chanan Delivuk transforms the urban villages of Arlington into photography classrooms.

Chanan is a multi-media artist interested in the industrialization of food production. Her artistic process revolves around investigative art-making to explore concepts and media. Using the city of Arlington as inspiration, she will teach students the fundamentals of photography by discussing technique, portraiture, and composition.

After each project, students will engage in a critique of the works. This aspect of the class encourages communication about each student’s point of view, which is what photography is all about. That’s why we’ve used this class to build partnerships with organizations around the world. Since 2009, we’ve had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with arts centers in Suchitoto, El Salvador; Coyoacán, Mexico; and a rural village in the Bududa District near Mbale, Uganda.

At the end of the class, our students will participate in a season-long special exhibition in AAC’s Jenkins Community Gallery from November 2013 through January 2014. In this exhibition, we will feature photography from AAC students alongside work from students in Haines, AK and Skagway, AK, two small towns in the Upper Lynn Canal region of Southeast Alaska. The exhibition is the perfect opportunity for AAC students to show parents and friends what they’ve learned over the summer.

So, if you’re ready to learn more about photography, your city, and yourself, with the opportunity to share this experience with someone just like you more than 2000 miles away, click here to register now! “This is My City” is an afternoon class (1 to 4pm) scheduled for the third week of July (7/15 through 7/19), a few seats are still available!

– Written by Carollei McMillin, AAC Marketing & Development Intern