Friday, April 8 selection and deflection

Learning targets:

I can respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue;

I can propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence.

I can integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media .

I can present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective.

I can analyze nuances in the meaning of words (images) with similar denotations. 

I can make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. 

I can adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.

To begin, take a look at this 4 minute video that looks at the purpose behind photography

WAYS TO SEE

Deflection and Selection

There is a long and dignified tradition of documentary work

 in which writers, photographers, filmmakers, and journalists 

set out to create records or accounts of events, people, and 

places that might otherwise go unnoticed or misunderstood. 

These records are meant to raise questions and to function 

as calls to action.

Photographers and filmmakers have contributed to this tradition as

well. In New York at the turn of the century, photographers like Jacob

Riis and Lewis Hine exposed how poor families and their children were

crowded into tenements. Throughout the depression, photographers

like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange made vivid images of the lives of

the people who were living under harsh and difficult conditions. A

relatively recent example of filmmakers who work in this tradition are

the records – made by both amateurs and professional (e.g. Spike Lee) –

who captured the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought on the

lives of ordinary people living in the lower Ninth Ward.

Familiarize yourself with  these terms and their meaning. You will be revisiting them often these next few weeks. They should become part of your vocabulary.

Think of selection and deflection as major creative

and ethical issues that authors and image-makers face when

doing documentary work on behalf of others.

Selection: What an author (photographer, 

filmmaker) chooses to draw a reader’s 

/viewer’s attention to.

Deflection: What an author (photographer, 

filmmaker) chooses to push into the 

background downplay, or leave

out entirely.


Assignment:

Look and listen to the photo essay, “Joshua

Febres: "The Uncertain Gang Member,” one of the entries on the

New York Times’ series “One in 8 Million.” (You should probably listen more than once, and you can pause as needed.)

One in 8 Million: New York Characters in Sound and Images

Joshua Febres' story

In a well-written couple of paragraphs of approximate 200-250 words,discuss how the contributing photographer and journalist told this story in a way that was respectful of the young man, his family, and community.

In other words, what was said and how it was said? What choices did the journalists make about what they included and how they discussed what

they saw and heard? (selection and deflection). Make sure to use specific evidence from the story.