This year-long photography project we’re doing in Chicago is progressing very well.

Having spent a few weeks in Chicago teaching the 8th grade outside in tents (mid-September/early October), once the weather got cold and after I returned to Philadelphia, my teaching turned virtual. Every Friday, I zoomed with all three sections of the eighth grade, and their History and Art teachers.

Virtually, the students learned how to conduct an interview (to prepare them for the interviews they will soon be doing with survivors and/or survivors’ relatives). Thanks to the exaggerated interview demonstrations by History teacher (Dr. Jeff Ellison) and me, the students learned the difference between what a good and bad interview looks like. In addition, (and thanks to Jeff’s great sense of humor), we had lots of fun and giggles, while learning techniques of good interview protocol.

Then, before taking photos of their own for their digital exhibition that will be premiered in May, the art teacher (Gili Sherman) and I taught the students the history of photography, how to ‘read’ a photograph and ultimately how to take a good photograph. They are also learning how to analyze clues in old photos that help to discover ‘story beneath the story’—or at least, to speculate what it might be.

It’s been a remarkable and exciting year-long project to do at ANY time —but especially, and even more so, during this time of corona and the pandemic.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE PROJECT