Lauren Greenfield started out this project as a local one and it turned out into a worldwide project ranging from California to Shanghai. Greenfield photographed youth in various different settings and found one thing in common, a phenomenon of "getting older younger" which she talks about in her artist statement. Fast forward was the book of photographs she produced.
She immediately caught my attention with the first photo of a young girl at her graduation playing a hand held video game. That reminded me so much of myself sitting at my graduation on my phone that I had to laugh. As I went on though the photos were not as humorous. There is a picture of a little girl looking in the mirror poking her butt out posing in a bathing suit. The girl looks no more than seven and she already is trying to pose sexy, yet there are Winnie the pooh characters on her tub. That was a great example of getting older younger.
Her photos also delt with race and class. She showed pictures of youth in different settings both upper class suburban youth and also poorer urban youth. The difference was very clear to me in the pictures but the common theme of "getting older younger" still stood out to me.
What I didnt understand from her artist statement was why she set out to take these pictures. How did her project begin?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Listen Up.... Part 2
So after taking another look at the site here are some more thoughts....
Question 1
On this site there are many many videos that are all produced by teens. It is very empowering to have a site were youth can respond to mainstream media. One of the things that stood out to me was how many Public Service Announcements (PSA) there were on the site. It is as if teens felt the need to produce there own PSA from their point of view. I think it is much more powerful to watch a PSA related to teenagers which is produced by a teenager. Many of the videos on the site were positive. They touched on all kinds of subjects from relationships, family, abuse (of all kinds), sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, LGBTQ issues, racism ect.
Question 2
Mission of the site:
Listen Up! is a youth media network that connects young video producers and their allies to resources, support, and projects in order to develop the field and achieve an authentic youth voice in the mass media.
Question 5
This site reminds me of Youtube which is another site on the internet which allows anyone to post their own video. Teenagers can also "Talk back" on sites like youtube which allow people to freely express themselves through video.
Question 1
On this site there are many many videos that are all produced by teens. It is very empowering to have a site were youth can respond to mainstream media. One of the things that stood out to me was how many Public Service Announcements (PSA) there were on the site. It is as if teens felt the need to produce there own PSA from their point of view. I think it is much more powerful to watch a PSA related to teenagers which is produced by a teenager. Many of the videos on the site were positive. They touched on all kinds of subjects from relationships, family, abuse (of all kinds), sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, LGBTQ issues, racism ect.
Question 2
Mission of the site:
Listen Up! is a youth media network that connects young video producers and their allies to resources, support, and projects in order to develop the field and achieve an authentic youth voice in the mass media.
Question 5
This site reminds me of Youtube which is another site on the internet which allows anyone to post their own video. Teenagers can also "Talk back" on sites like youtube which allow people to freely express themselves through video.
Listen Up!
Listen Up is a Youth Media Networking site that empowers youth through video production. I found this site to be very interesting because not only was it youth in the media but it was youth producing their own media. Everything is from their perspective and they tell the story, not someone telling a story about them.
I watched several videos on the site, they were all quite interesting.
Under 21: Is a video produced by a female teenager. In this video she interviews her friends and they tell a story about how alcohol has personally affected them and their relationship. This video gave a very realistic outlook on teenage drink and it came from actually teenagers. Two girls within the group were hospitalized from over drinking.
I was confused though because at the end of the video they all sort of laughed it off and continued to talk about partying and smoking pot now.
Equal Opportunity: This film was produced by a teenager and was interviewing an adult who told a story of a gay man who was hospitalized with a terminal illness and the fight his partner had to go through to visit him in his last dying hours.
Rated R: Is a video on violence on the Internet. This video shows many teens being interviewed on Internet violence and why they find it so entertaining. I think this video is a great representation of how obsessed our society is with violence
I found it very disturbing how people found these brutal fights to be funny and entertaining.
Girls and the media: This video is from the 2007 Young intern Program and was produced by three young women. These girls looked into the effect that media had on women. This video was very interesting, one older women talked about how the media when she was growing up gave her very few options.
I watched several videos on the site, they were all quite interesting.
Under 21: Is a video produced by a female teenager. In this video she interviews her friends and they tell a story about how alcohol has personally affected them and their relationship. This video gave a very realistic outlook on teenage drink and it came from actually teenagers. Two girls within the group were hospitalized from over drinking.
I was confused though because at the end of the video they all sort of laughed it off and continued to talk about partying and smoking pot now.
Equal Opportunity: This film was produced by a teenager and was interviewing an adult who told a story of a gay man who was hospitalized with a terminal illness and the fight his partner had to go through to visit him in his last dying hours.
Rated R: Is a video on violence on the Internet. This video shows many teens being interviewed on Internet violence and why they find it so entertaining. I think this video is a great representation of how obsessed our society is with violence
I found it very disturbing how people found these brutal fights to be funny and entertaining.
Girls and the media: This video is from the 2007 Young intern Program and was produced by three young women. These girls looked into the effect that media had on women. This video was very interesting, one older women talked about how the media when she was growing up gave her very few options.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Teens in the news....
Article #1
This article is about Rhode Island teenagers who went on a spree of stealing cars all throughout RI and ended up stranded in New York.
Article #2
This article is about a 16 year old boy in New York city who confessed to murdering a 47 year old ABC Newsman. The two meet on craiglist and agreed to meet up and the teen would get paid 60 bucks for choking and performing oral sex on the 47 year old News Man.
Article #3
This article is about Rhode Island teenagers who went on a spree of stealing cars all throughout RI and ended up stranded in New York.
Article #2
This article is about a 16 year old boy in New York city who confessed to murdering a 47 year old ABC Newsman. The two meet on craiglist and agreed to meet up and the teen would get paid 60 bucks for choking and performing oral sex on the 47 year old News Man.
Article #3
This article is about two teenage boys who allegedy tortured a cat and set the cat on fire. The boys face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
This assignment was very interesting. I searched for teenagers in the news march 2009 and most of the articles i found painted a very scary picture of teenagers. These three articles talking about auto theft, murder, and animal crulty. From this selection of articles teenagers are deemed scary criminals. It is no wonder they are misunderstood.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Media Literacy
The Center for Media Literacy (CML) defines media literacy as... "Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy."
What I understand Media literacy to be is an educational skill that allows one to acess and analyze media and the message it conveys. Media literacy is a form of education, it teaches us how think about media and then what to do with it.
What I dont understand is why media literacy isnt being taught as early as elementary school. Children are especially vulnerable to the media so that would be the perfect age to introduce such education.
Some sites that helped me to better understand media literacy were:
Center for Media Literacy
An Into to Media Literacy
Media Awareness Network: This site offered games that taught media literacy. I played one game that is geared for children ages 8-10... check it out
What I understand Media literacy to be is an educational skill that allows one to acess and analyze media and the message it conveys. Media literacy is a form of education, it teaches us how think about media and then what to do with it.
What I dont understand is why media literacy isnt being taught as early as elementary school. Children are especially vulnerable to the media so that would be the perfect age to introduce such education.
Some sites that helped me to better understand media literacy were:
Center for Media Literacy
An Into to Media Literacy
Media Awareness Network: This site offered games that taught media literacy. I played one game that is geared for children ages 8-10... check it out
Hip Hop Wordles
A wordle from "A Song for Assata" and a wordle from the song "Bitches aint shit" by Dr. Dre & Snoop dog. Just interesting to compare the two hip hop songs and the image they portray.
&
Monday, February 23, 2009
NY Times Offensive Cartoon
This cartoon was posted in the New York Times and I was interested to see what people thought about it. This cartoon could be interpreted many different ways and the author claims that there was no racist intention. When I look at this cartoon i see blatant racism. There is a clear connection to President Barack Obama, historical racist references to African Americans and monkeys, and of course the stimulus bill. I think it was so distasteful and disrespectful.Tricia Rose Interviews on Hip Hop
Time Magazine Interview & Radio Station Interview
I really enjoyed reading this interview because the topic of hip hop being is very interesting to me. I think that Tricia Rose offered a very different perspective she was not defending the artist nor the critics but rather hip hop itself. She seems to have a vast understand of the history of hip hop and the current ill state of the music.
What I understood from this Interview was that Tricia Rose thinks that hip hop is not "dead" but rather hip hop is dying. She explains in this interview what hip hop use to be and what it use to mean to people versus what it is today. Hip Hop use to be fun and about people expressing what was important to them and now it is driven by money. Record labels perpetuate the excessive idea and stereotypes of ghettos, violence, racism, and sexism in the black community and the money driven artist that buy into it. That is why artist like 50 cent, T-Pain, Lil wayne, ect. easily outsell artist like Taleb Kwali, Common, and Mos Def. Tricia Rose puts fault on all sides from record labels, to artist, to radio stations, to listeners alike. Some how in the mix of all that hip hop has become ill and lost the sense of fun block parties and community bonding.
In the radio interview Tricia Rose talked about female hip hop artist. She talked female MC's and Lyricists having to prove themselves in a male dominated field. In trying to prove themselves they often struggle with sexuality. Rappers like Lil Kim or Foxy Brown choose the hyper sexual route and Tricia rose described Kim as almost a rhyming stripper. Then you also have women like Eve who embrace masculinity and toughness to make it in a male dominated field like hip hop. Eve's career as taken off and she is now not only a rapper but an actress and model as well.
One of the things I am curious about is if so many people recognize that hip hop is dying and long for the old school love of hip hop then why is it that none of the underground hip hop gets play? I understand that money plays a role in that but if the demand is their why is no response from record labels and radio stations?
Something I think would make for good class discussion is the point of "If you don't like it don't listen and turn it off." Tricia Rose made a very good point and I'm interested to see how other people feel and if they agree.
I really enjoyed reading this interview because the topic of hip hop being is very interesting to me. I think that Tricia Rose offered a very different perspective she was not defending the artist nor the critics but rather hip hop itself. She seems to have a vast understand of the history of hip hop and the current ill state of the music.
What I understood from this Interview was that Tricia Rose thinks that hip hop is not "dead" but rather hip hop is dying. She explains in this interview what hip hop use to be and what it use to mean to people versus what it is today. Hip Hop use to be fun and about people expressing what was important to them and now it is driven by money. Record labels perpetuate the excessive idea and stereotypes of ghettos, violence, racism, and sexism in the black community and the money driven artist that buy into it. That is why artist like 50 cent, T-Pain, Lil wayne, ect. easily outsell artist like Taleb Kwali, Common, and Mos Def. Tricia Rose puts fault on all sides from record labels, to artist, to radio stations, to listeners alike. Some how in the mix of all that hip hop has become ill and lost the sense of fun block parties and community bonding.
In the radio interview Tricia Rose talked about female hip hop artist. She talked female MC's and Lyricists having to prove themselves in a male dominated field. In trying to prove themselves they often struggle with sexuality. Rappers like Lil Kim or Foxy Brown choose the hyper sexual route and Tricia rose described Kim as almost a rhyming stripper. Then you also have women like Eve who embrace masculinity and toughness to make it in a male dominated field like hip hop. Eve's career as taken off and she is now not only a rapper but an actress and model as well.
One of the things I am curious about is if so many people recognize that hip hop is dying and long for the old school love of hip hop then why is it that none of the underground hip hop gets play? I understand that money plays a role in that but if the demand is their why is no response from record labels and radio stations?
Something I think would make for good class discussion is the point of "If you don't like it don't listen and turn it off." Tricia Rose made a very good point and I'm interested to see how other people feel and if they agree.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
I really enjoyed Marc Prensky's piece on Digital Natives and Digital immigrants. I think he offered a really interesting perspective on learning. He looked at the "Digital Native" students and the way they learn compared to the way "Digital Immigrants" teach. In this article he offered many alternatives to the traditional way of teaching that is more appealing and effective for todays generation of students.
I thought it was particularly interesting when he stated that our generation has spent less than 5,000 hours reading but over 10,000 hours playing games and 20,000+ hours watching television. While I recognize that those numbers vary from student to student I think that Prensky's point is extremely relevant. I agree with him that todays generation has become accustom to immediate results and require more stimulation.
I liked that Prensky did not label the student as the problem but rather the way we are teaching them as becoming more and more ineffective. "Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." I think that is a really interesting point.
-What I don't understand is why Prensky presents this idea that the whole education system but completely reform to this new way. I think that it is really important to hold firm to some of the old ways of learning. If we completely conform we will have a generation that is solely dependent on technology. Just a thought, what if there came a day where that technology crashed? For instance, in hospitals they have machines that take your blood pressure or your temperature but you still need to know how to manually take someones blood pressure in case those machines fail. Just throwing that out there.
I think my point is that both the Digital Natives and the Digital Immigrants need to come to a compromise. I think that the teachers need to adapt and adopt some of the new technology while holding firm to old but relevant material. On the same token, Digital Natives need to be held responsible for their education and adapt as well.
I thought it was particularly interesting when he stated that our generation has spent less than 5,000 hours reading but over 10,000 hours playing games and 20,000+ hours watching television. While I recognize that those numbers vary from student to student I think that Prensky's point is extremely relevant. I agree with him that todays generation has become accustom to immediate results and require more stimulation.
I liked that Prensky did not label the student as the problem but rather the way we are teaching them as becoming more and more ineffective. "Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language." I think that is a really interesting point.
-What I don't understand is why Prensky presents this idea that the whole education system but completely reform to this new way. I think that it is really important to hold firm to some of the old ways of learning. If we completely conform we will have a generation that is solely dependent on technology. Just a thought, what if there came a day where that technology crashed? For instance, in hospitals they have machines that take your blood pressure or your temperature but you still need to know how to manually take someones blood pressure in case those machines fail. Just throwing that out there.
I think my point is that both the Digital Natives and the Digital Immigrants need to come to a compromise. I think that the teachers need to adapt and adopt some of the new technology while holding firm to old but relevant material. On the same token, Digital Natives need to be held responsible for their education and adapt as well.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
When I was 13...
When I was 13... hmmm wow that was about eight years ago, ouch i feel old! That was the end of middle school and the beginning of high school, quite the transitional period. Middle school is where i formed my real group of friends. You know, in elementary school you were forced to be friends with the neighborhood kids but in middle school you had all of the kids in your age group who lived in Woonsocket to choose from (lol that thought makes me die laughing). By the time I turned 13 i was leaving middle school and entering high school, which officially gave me three years of bonding with my friends. As you can see at that time everything was about my friends! I think of all the sleepovers, and the boys, and the drama!
At this time my friends and I were also creating "our image". We were starting to pay attention to what people were wearing on tv, in magazines, and in the music videos. It was at this point that i begin to care about what i looked like and what others thought about me. Sometimes I wish I could have kept the simplistic view of "image" that i had as a child... you know were you only cared about what you liked whether it matched or not!
It was in 9th grade that boys entered the picture as well! I started to really notice boys and starting to crave attention from boys. Don't get me wrong, I was know where near boy crazy or anything lol but its just when the real attraction began!
Thinking back now on my 13th year it was such a transitional period. It was when I began to care about the things society tells women they should care about.... how you look and boys! How ironic! Its like society catches you at one of you most vulnerable point... the begining of your teenage years!
At this time my friends and I were also creating "our image". We were starting to pay attention to what people were wearing on tv, in magazines, and in the music videos. It was at this point that i begin to care about what i looked like and what others thought about me. Sometimes I wish I could have kept the simplistic view of "image" that i had as a child... you know were you only cared about what you liked whether it matched or not!
It was in 9th grade that boys entered the picture as well! I started to really notice boys and starting to crave attention from boys. Don't get me wrong, I was know where near boy crazy or anything lol but its just when the real attraction began!
Thinking back now on my 13th year it was such a transitional period. It was when I began to care about the things society tells women they should care about.... how you look and boys! How ironic! Its like society catches you at one of you most vulnerable point... the begining of your teenage years!
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