Posts by Elaine Sohn

Literacy in the Arts: Portraits

by Elaine Sohn, Site Advisor, Adult Learning Center, Aguilar Library
April 1, 2010

What a portrait can tell us? by Judith Aisen

Billy said that portraits “portray” things about people and Keith said they give you a little history. We shared written “portraits” of friends and relatives but some of our liveliest conversations were inspired by a film about the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson who spoke about working quietly, like a cat, to capture people in their own habitat. We talked about HC-B trying to, “put the camera between the skin of a person

Literacy in the Arts: Family Albums

by Elaine Sohn, Site Advisor, Adult Learning Center, Aguilar Library
March 31, 2010

We brought in photos from our family album. We observed the different attributes of a photo, such as setting, background, light and subject. We wrote about the family photo and shared it with the class. Photography lets us remember the good moments and brings us wonderful memories!

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Literacy in the Arts: Photography Workshop at Centers for Reading and Writing

by Elaine Sohn, Site Advisor, Adult Learning Center, Aguilar Library
March 30, 2010

"Smile! I want to take your portrait...It's too dark over here.... Is this a stolen portrait?" were some of the comments heard on Friday, March 26 at the Aguilar Branch when adult students from Aguilar and Harlem Centers for Reading and Writing rose from their seats to show off what they had just learned about portraits: consider the mood, the setting, the lighting, the point of view and the subject!

For the next 10 weeks, these lucky 20 students will be part of the