Cell Phone Photography Class Trip to the Empire State Plaza

The College Experience Cell Phone Photography class led by Suzanne Bernier, Coordinator of the College Experience Transitional Year, traveled to the Empire State Plaza on Friday, October 5, 2018 to capture the essence of reflections, building configurations, enigmatic sculptures, and other pieces of city scenery that represent art in a plethora of ways. Attached are some photographs of what the class experienced. Suzanne was kind enough to explain the goals throughout the fall semester in addition to the learning objectives on that particular day.

“I am teaching cell phone photography. In the beginning of the semester we studied the basic skills of photography: subject matter, lighting, subject matter, focus, rules of third, etc. and the the students are now taking these skills out into the community using their cell phones to take pictures of different assignments. Some of the subject matters they are assigned are nature, architectural elements, portraits, people, action, and still life. The very last assignment is a selfie, how appropriate for cell phone photography?

“The students will chose photos they took from each assignment, edit them and submit them for a grade. They will then decide which photos they want printed, and will assist in mounting their photos for display. At the end of the semester we will have a small photography show to highlight their work, and they will use their selfie in their exhibition of their photos. My goal is to teach them that there is a big world out there, if they chose to look up from their phone. It’s interesting to see the “wow” moment when I point something out to them: the reflection of a building in a window, the rainbow created by the spray of a fountain, or how taking a photo from a different angle can change the whole photo dramatically. It is making them take the time to look at what is going on around them and not what is just on their cell phone.”

Suzanne also explained that the goal for the trip to the Empire State Plaza included “people” which could be a group of people doing something – whether it is friends standing around together laughing, people sitting at a coffee shop chatting, or a group of people walking in the same direction. The second assignment was architectural elements which could be pictures of buildings around them at the Empire State Plaza or isolating parts of a building. For instance, she helped them look at the Egg, which is a unique building in itself, but, “I realized they did not notice there was scaffolding on one side of the Egg. Once I pointed that out, it helped them to expand their viewpoint and they could start picking out different parts of the elements of buildings.”