Tag Archives: visual literacy

City limits Summary

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In “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, Colson expresses his idea of New York City through out his writing. Starting by the first paragraph he writes he tells us that he was born in NYC therefore, he was ruined for anywhere else. By This he means  that like his born in NYC it already ruined the chance of him  liking any other place. For him the city is that  great that he knows for a fact theres no other place like his.

He also says New York is always changing into new things and new places but whats important  to you is how NYC is at the moment you first lay your eyes on it. That’s why you shouldn’t believe what no one tells you about the history of new York because they just telling you was THEIR New York City like not what your is. Even though NYC is always changing it would stay the same way to you but as new people come to NYC the new places would be  their different NYC. Colson Whitehead expresses his sorrow by telling us that when places change unexpectedly you don’t get to say goodbye to them because you don’t really know when is your last time sitting on that place. That’s why is very important to remember this places before they’re gone because they are   very   important to you and is part of what makes YOUR NYC so special.

Picture observation image #1

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  1. The image is taken in 1898,Afternoon because there is a glare probably caused by sun, the season seems to be fall.
  2. It is a urban area some city, black and white picture
  3. 9 women in the picture , 3 behind the counter and rest are probably customers.
  4. The store has  embroidery material.
  5. There are seats in the left of the picture.
  6. The photographer took the picture from the entrance of the store, probably took the picture to show how the women run the store.
  7. They are dressed the same and all are dressed formal and elegant.
  8. The facial expression are not clear but i think they are happy shopping or running a store.
  9. I think the purpose of the image is to show the massage that women can run a business too since this time were when women were not considered equal as men.

 

Reading an image: observations and interpretations

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Observations and interpretations:

  • families of different race or color
  • family of 2, Hacidic family, based on his appearance (hair, clothing), one family dressed well, formal clothing: hat, coat, suit, dress, in control of his stance, maybe looking at the photographer
  • they have 2 air conditioners
  • the other is not, everyday clothes: overalls, jeans, T-shirts
  • they have the door open–no AC–so we can interpret to mean they can’t afford it?
  • family of 7, African-American family:graffiti, broken ledge–post missing on one side; dog? paint chipping, father’s arm around child=affection
  • one family is looking at the other family–is it a disapproving look? unhappy?
  • class, race, rank, respect–all interpretations

What kinds of things are we looking for when we read an image?

  • who is in the photo, what do they look like, where are they looking
  • time: year, era, season, time of day
  • setting: urban/rural, indoor/outdoor, landscape, buildings, etc
  • how the photos are taken: effects such as b/w or sepia, saturation of colors
  • who and where the photographer is, why they took the photo
  • the frame, limitations
  • background/foreground
  • light
  • who is the audience, purpose, message

Reading Images

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For homework, I ask that you describe one of the photos posted on our blog. Please write a blog post offering a description of one of these photographs.

Photo 1:

A.I. Namm & Sons Department Store, Boerum Hill, ca. 1898, V1972.1.743; Photography Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society

Photo 2:

Three picnicking ladies, ca. 1899, 2010.023.61; 141 Quincy Street photograph album; 2010.023; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Getting acquainted with the OpenLab

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To prepare to write ENG 1101 Project #1, here’s a pre-writing homework assignment:

  • sign in to your City Tech email account via the City Tech website link or http://login.microsoftonline.com/
  • sign up for an OpenLab account by Friday, August 30th at 12:00pm noon (remember that the college will be closed for the Labor Day weekend, so there will not be support available between Friday and Tuesday)
  • If you have trouble clicking the confirmation link in the email from the OpenLab, try cutting and pasting it into the address bar of Firefox or Chrome
  • Log in to the OpenLab
  • join our course, Being in Brooklyn
  • browse through the OpenLab, noticing how people use it and what kind of materials they include
  • click on People to see OpenLab members
  • browse through a few pages of members, looking at the avatars
  • choose an avatar of a member of the OpenLab that conveys something about that member
  • without reading anything about the person, what do you understand about them based on their avatar? If you click on it, you will see a larger version—but try not to read the member’s details yet!
  • make a list of what details you observe in the image when you look at the avatar
  • make a list of the interpretations you make about the details you observe
  • write a paragraph about how you interpret the avatar
  • now read about the member. Can you confirm or correct any of your interpretations or inferences? Do you think that the avatar does not represent them accurately? Add a few sentences to your paragraph to answer these questions
  • include your lists and paragraph, as well as a link to the member’s profile, in a comment in response to this blog post
  • submit it by Tuesday, 9/3, at 3:00
  • now you should be ready to write Project #1, which you will write as a blog post, due at 9:00am on 9/9

Questions? Ask them by posting a comment here! If you need technical support, you can always contact the OpenLab Community Team.