SEEING BALTIMORE THROUGH THE LENS OF AN $11 CAMERA Photo Book Available
Ages 16-29
Fall 2016, Creative Alliance, Patterson Park
This photography workshop will put to the test the supposed inferiority of a cheap drugstore camera. On the streets of Baltimore student fellows will simultaneously discover and document their lives and those of the greater community via the once novel and now antiquated technology of the disposable camera. The fellows' 4x6 photographs--both color and black and white--will be shared with the public in various ways: collaged into postcards and sent into the world on a 34-cent stamp; through personal journals illustrated with photographs cropped by kiddie scissors; through a public exhibition; and in a photo book with captions written by the fellows and an introduction written by the instructor. The accomplishments will be tangible, both internally and externally. Students will absorb the world they see while sharing it with others, many of whom they did not know or care to know before taking the class. And by the close of the workshop, students will see permanence in what others view as trivial. Limited to 12 student fellows.
For nearly 40 years, Rafael Alvarez has been writing about Baltimore while taking thousands of pictures of his hometown with disposable cameras. A former City Desk reporter for The Baltimore Sun, Alvarez wrote for the HBO drama The Wire, and has published ten books. Educated in Catholic schools, he is a lifelong resident of Baltimore.
Les Gray studies Cinematic Arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and hopes to inspire the community that inspired her.
