Self Portrait by Chole Dolkart
#WWRIPM
Our visual conversation and virtual collaboration for this year is a series of separate projects under the title WWRIPM - #Who Are You? #Where Are You? #Reality is Overrated #The Invisible #Portrait Without a Face & #Moving Still. The photos created by students for each of these assignments were used to create collaborative collages, video, self portraits and individual narratives. The collaborative school communities were comprised of students from the Harvard-Westlake School in west Los Angeles, Cibola High School in the border community of Yuma, AZ, Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, CA and Greenfield High School in Greenfield California.
For WWRIPM students were introduced to the work of virtual visiting artists William Camargo, Gabriella Baez and Alice Proujanksy during several Zoom sessions. Using the work of our visiting artists as a jumping off point and lesson plans created by Harvard Westlake YOURTURN Photo educators and the Aperture Foundation On Sight curriculum, the students were inspired to investigate what role images, in their myriad forms, play in our lives. Old family snapshots, photos on their phones, photos of streaming vidoe’s, tattoos – these are the visual symbols, archives and stories of our lives. Students were encouraged to plumb these rich stores of information in their own lives to answer the prompts under WWRIPM. The students were able to take cues from our visiting artists and create images that told of their lives and the lives of those close to them. What they ended up creating were individual narratives that communicate their unique place in the world. The project allowed students to reveal themselves through their family history, events, their community and their own individual visions of the world.
Jasmine Tang
#WWRIPM
My name is Jasmine Tang and these photos tell a story; The beginning of who I call “Family”. My grandmother is from China/Southeast Asia and my grandfather is from Ireland. He spent time as a young man fighting in the Vietnam war. They both met in America and though I was not alive to document the beginning of their journeys, these photos tell the story of their memories and past, as well as the present. Some of these photos represent how I imagine my grandparents as young people.
Brian Ceballos
#WWRIPM
We all have a story to tell but my story is a little different. It is different because I had to become an adult sooner than most teenagers. My mom was deported to Mexico when I was in the 3rd grade. Overcoming this and other events in my life is what makes my story different from other teenagers my age but some things are similar.
Grayson Tooley
#WWRIPM
These photographs are a stamp in time that captures everything happening in America recently. This project is something that someone can look at 50 years from now and catch a glimpse of what America was like for a person of color. This project is also a very significant part of my community and our realities
Maddie Baffo
#WWRIPM
Maddie Baffo Videos
Portraits of a city that plays itself
Using the work of William Carmago as an inspiration for the video version of the Mapping - Self and Place photo project, students used the depictions of their neighborhoods through movies and television, combined with personal archival footage and self-filmed footage to create a dialog between the lived experience of their area and the collective perceived experience.
Collages and Collaborations
Inspired by contributing #WWRIP artist Gabriella N. Baez, who combines still and moving images, students were asked to create a collage video piece about place and community for Los Angeles with images from our virtual collaborators. Through the videos emerged a weaving of spaces, both physical and virtual, and shared perspectives, resulting in an exchange of ideas and mediums.
Baxter Chelsom
Anthony Gutierrez
#WWRIPM
Using photographs I wanted to make the best out of this years situation. I don't think anybody enjoyed being kept apart this past year, but I still tried to make the most out of it. These photos all have sentimental value to me because one way or another a special person was present whether it be in a landscape or in-person. I consider these special people my family . These photos were taken at a time when I only had these people or their memories around me.
Jacob Lutsky
#WWRIPM
Jacob Lutsky Videos
Olivia Suddleson
#WWRIPM
With this project, I really wanted to make a project about youth culture. I wanted to show how through time, visually teenagers look wildly different, but the actual concept is the same. Through this project, I wanted my photos to show how it feels to be young, free and a little confused...All the things you associate with youth culture. I want the photographs to make a person feel nostalgic, those who are no longer in their teens will remember what it was like. I also want people to feel excited and hopeful when looking at these.
Lily Stambouli
#WWRIPM
Lily Stambouli Videos
Chole Dolkart
#WWWRIPM
My project focuses on the topic of Women’s Rights, and how the struggles that women face relate to the women in my family. My great grandmother was a big advocate for women’s rights, and she did everything in her power to fight through the struggles of equality. Both my mother and my grandmother have faced forms of adversity, and through their jobs and work they continue to breakdown barriers. I come from a long line of strong women, and I told the story of how they have overcome struggles and defied stereotypes.
Zach Jacobs
#WWRIPM
My grandfather Ben Jacobs was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is his story told through photos I took with my phone.
During World War II, the Japanese invaded Indonesia. They put the locals in internment camps. My grandfather lost his teeth in the internment camp, but he also met my grandma. Once they were freed, they promptly moved to Holland. While they were there, they got married and gave birth to my uncle. They applied for citizenship in Canada, Australia and the U.S. They were accepted into the U.S. first. They couldn’t afford a crib when my dad was born, so he had to sleep in a grape crate. One of my grandpa’s jobs was making batteries for the Space Shuttle. He had a very interesting life and it has inspired me greatly.
Kelsey Kim
#WWRIPM
This is about the 2020 United States Election and the events that shaped the course of one of the most impactful elections in our country’s history. The images are a mix of snapshots from streaming videos I see on-line, as well as pictures I took of my community in the Greater Los Angeles area. The project itself is about documenting the year 2020 and how politics play a role in the lives of not only individuals, but also larger communities as a whole. It reflects on the current social justice issues circulating in the media and how it’s been presented to the masses to further the agenda of politicians via imagery from streaming videos and images of my community
Ian Kim
#WWRIPM
Ian Kim Videos
Kristina Mora
#WWWRIPM
“It has taken me years to accept my bisexuality. I took risks expressing my queerness that encouraged me to get more personal. Everything from the struggles I faced four years ago to the strides I made in the last two years has built up to this moment. Through art I learned to accept that part of myself so it’s only natural that I would retell my story with the hope and confidence I have gained since then.”
Penny Juarez
#WWRIPM
This is a story about two Mexican American families in California. My fathers family in the Coachella Valley and my moms in National City, California. This is a story of the breaking and continuation of cycles.
Ella Jacobs
#WWRIPM
Ella Jacobs Videos
Toni Lara
#WWWRIPM
This is a story of my grandparents two native Latinx Angeleno’s who meet in the 50’s
Dashiell Gibbs
#WWWRIPM
. People lead similar lives, no matter where we live or what we do. At face value not everyone seems that different. Yet I think that there is always one defining aspect in all of us, that sets us apart from every other person in the world. Our families and their stories. That is the goal of my photos, to tell a story of my own family, and how they have changed, and how their stories and the paths they took through life have influenced me. I hope to present an idea of both present and past. And who knows maybe it will influence you to look into your own story.
Spencer Casamassima
#WWRIPM
Spencer Casamassima Videos
Caroline Stevens
#WWRIPM
My idea is inspired by the generations of women within my family. It is an investigation of generational influences on who I am today. Past generation have an impact on family mindsets, personal interactions as well as how we view the world. Included in the portfolio are a handful of archival photographs handpicked to further strengthen the story I am telling. Many of my photos are staged/positioned to unintentionally create a performative feeling as you look at them.
Jagger Deutsch
#WWRIPM
Jagger Duetsch Videos
Kamari McNeely
#WWWRIPM
I want to use this project to give visibility to my neighborhood and to show gentrification that is slowly taking over the community. My photographs showcase the beautiful and not-so beautiful parts of the city that I live in. Although my neighborhood may not be the idealistic white picket fence and large lawn, there are many places that makeup for it.
Aidan Lee
#WWRIPM
Paul Trajanovich
#WWWRIPM
Throughout my father’s life, he has had many different experiences, both good and bad, which have affected his past. Starting out in Serbia (former Yugoslavia), he and his family were forced to flee to France due to wars. From there, he and his father were able to move to the US in search of a better lifestyle. Once again, he was forced to change his cultural habits which he was accustomed to in Europe. The language barrier was arguably one of the most difficult to overcome, as he needed to go to a new high school while barely speaking English. This is a story about his struggles and migration.
Ellise Lee
#WWWRIPM
My project is based on my mom’s experience as an immigrant moving to America from South Korea, and how she and Korean culture have affected my life and my family’s life. I use elements like nature, time, and mirrors to reflect my mom’s character and past. I feel that her story deserves to be told, as she is a strong, intelligent person who has done a lot to help others. She has helped me find a balance between by Korean identity and American identity.
Ariel Soler-Camiel
#WWRIPM
Ariel Soler-Camiel Videos
Henry Mariscal
#WWWRIPM
This story represents the past of my grandfather told through my grandmother who I interviewed. My grandfather was born into a working-class family during the Great Depression in Corpus Christi Texas located on the Gulf of Mexico. He was a young solider during the U.S occupation of Germany during World War 2 and traveled the world as a clarinet player on the Lawrence Welk Show. The materials that I have used were my camera and many different old photos and archives that I have found or been stored over all the years since they were originated.
Aidan Deshong
#WWRIPM
"I think it's my adventure, my trip, my journey, and I guess my attitude is, let the chips fall where they may." -Leonard Nimoy. These photos tell the story of my grandfather, Delbert Van Winkle. He was an accom
plished scientist who developed semiconductors and weapon-proof materials for the Air Force before leaving it all on a whim to become a farmer in rural Grandview, Washington. I tried to capture significant stories and people in his life, as well as how his life is still captured in the present day. I made this so myself and others could learn more about his incredible story, and tried to make the series unique, just like him.
Raisa Effress
Sienna Grusd and Paul
#WWWRIPM
A Covid diary
Holden Rath
Isaiha Rodriguez
#WWRIPM
Self Portraits
Following the virtual workshops, students were provided with lesson plans and on-line instruction about Self portraiture inspired by our Virtual Visiting Artist.
The Self portraits were intended to inspire ideas for a independent projects about people or events that have impacted the students life. These projects also assisted in maintaining a visual-based dialogue between the schools once the virtual workshops were over.
Aidan
The Collaborative Collage
Following the virtual workshops, students were provided with lesson plans on-line tutorials on how to create a Exquisite Corps. They asked to make photographs responding to the following hastags- #Who Are You? #Where Are You? #Reality is Overrated #The Invisible #Portrait Without a Face & #Moving Still. Students used each others images to create exquisite corpse inspired collages.
The photographs collages were intended to maintain a visual-based dialogue between the schools once the virtual workshops were over
