The Collective Picture

Microscopic Monotony

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:28:00 +0000

The daily grind, those activities that plague us with monotony, we have all felt it weighing us down as we are taxed by the sameness of it all. The routines we so easily fall into, that modern life often necessities we fall into. The world functions on ordered scripts and prefixed agendas. We slot ourselves into this reality and eek out an existence within the cracks and crevices, with varying degrees of sacrifice to our personal happiness. But as we pass the same corner store like we do every morning, or flash an obligatory smile at the neighbor we always bump into we may be overlooking the uniqueness of the experience because we are too busy trying to overlook the sameness. This world and all of its parts are in constant flux, ever changing and moving in both the largest and smallest of ways.From the microscopic level where the atoms that make up the fabric of our reality to the expansion of our universe and the movement of our planet’s plates that our supposedly idle bodies rest on.

If we are constantly changing then seeing the supposedly ‘same thing’ every morning isn’t possible, sure the similarities in the experience may be glaring but if we look close, microsopically close, I think we will all be more overwhelmed by the uniqueness of each moment and how shockingly fast our realities change. Thanks to the wonders of modern science we can now peer with morbid curiosity into the depths of a man’s chest and through a frogs body. We can gaze with omnipresent vision through the microsope into the very structures of a snowflake and a tiny flea. Revealing the intricate complexities of our existence, one that, moment to moment, is anything but static.

Coming Down the Chimney Tonight

admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:57:17 +0000

As the tunes of wintry nights and romantic gift giving blare from every mall and radio station it is undeniable that the holiday season is here. Living in a country full of religious and ethnic diversity this season can mean many different things. But my version of this time of year is the mistletoe, fruit cake loving, pine tree in the living room, bell shaped sugar cookies kind of good time. Within this collection of experiences that to me means ‘Christmas’ there is one that, arguable, is the most valued tradition to children, that of Santa Clause. I remember first questioning this notion of a man delivering presents throughout the world when I was a child to which my parents quickly replied ‘if you don’t believe in him he will not bring you presents’ sure enough my sister and I quickly fell in line and to this day when asked we still attest to our devout faith in the man with the beard, Santa that is. But when looked at this tradition appears as an odd historical anomaly. In a society ripe with paranoia surrounding our children one that instills fears about the world ‘outside’ and the many nameless ‘strangers’ that want to bring young people unspeakable harm we, once a year, welcome the intrusion of an old man into our home. He will come down the chimney and stuff our stockings with gifts, piling the tree with trinkets, pausing to nibble on any cookies or milk that may have been left behind and then peeling off the roof with reindeer eager to meet their quota. In preparation for this home invasion children are plopped on the laps of old men in thousands of malls and told to tell all. It is only through these encounters with ‘mall’ Santas and possibly the letter sent to the arctic that we can be assured the gifts we gazed at in the store window will appear under our tree. This Santa has always been the key to this mystical process and faith in him has always been of the utmost importance because, as my parents often remind me, those that don’t believe don’t get anything. Perhaps it is the release needed for a culture that emphasizes extreme vigilance with regards to protecting our young. A vigilance which yearly spills over in the form of welcoming home invasions and encouraging children to sit on the laps of old men and whisper secrets.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Smiling doctors, inoculated with infecting patients

admin — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 02:23:04 +0000

With a soar arm and flu like symptoms I feel somewhat lucky for having survived my latest encounter with the field of medicine. With a trip to Egypt planned and my nagging rationalization that contracting an incurable blood disorder would somehow ruin the adventure I plunged deep into the world of a Travel Health Clinic. Offering up my arm for an assault of inoculations I accepted the doctor in front of me as the ‘authority’ over the matter, trusting in his judgement and in the overarching aims of his profession, to do no harm. As the needle punctured my skin I couldn’t help but think of the many examples we have in history where this blind faith in the medical system has so drastically failed the very patients that trusted in it. Quite recently president Obama offered up an apology for the close to 700 Guatemalans who American medical professionals infected with gonorrhoea and syphilis. These experiments occurred over 60 years ago when American doctors infected prisoners and the mentally ill without their knowledge or consent, it is still unclear whether or not treatment was offered. These experiences echo the occurrence of the Tuskegee experiment where the U.S. Public Health Service infected African American males with syphilis between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama. In both cases it is those most vulnerable whose rights are abused and the larger aims of the field of medicine, such as finding a cure, override the interests of the individual. You would think that these dark spots on the scan of our western medical history would have occurred in seedy contexts with medical professionals who exuded the kind of evil you would expect when inflecting a painful disease on an unknowing victim. But the reality is that there was a firm belief in these sorts of experiments, as the process of infecting for medical testing was seen as key to finding treatment options and potentially a cure. This can be seen in the Tuskegee experiment depicted bellow, smiling doctors and nurses, willing patients and transactions that look more like a free medical clinic then some of the darkest days in medical history. The fact that these moments of ill judgement look so benign is a warning call to all our ethical standards as the line of inflicting harm to humanity can happen on a sunny day with smiling faces and cordial gestures.

Confessions of a Blog Worthy Mind…

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:33:18 +0000

I am going to fess up to my failure to commit to this space, explain my lengthy absence and move forward, with or without whatever imaginary readers may still be lingering in the shadows.

When I started this space I had oodles of time, and I mean oodles, I was looking for work, searching for myself and generally lost in almost every way. I make no false claims to having ‘found’ that elusive direction but I have become busier, gainfully employed fulltime gobbles up major portions of my life leaving little space for the forgotten child that has become CollectivePic.com. Sadly this space has continued to exist in a stagnant form while everything else around me has evolved. It would have been ideal to keep in touch with this space, moving forward with this web site as my own life transformed, but I struggled to find the right tone to do this. I would construct posts that emulated what I would usually contribute to this space, then become frustrated and leave them unpublished. These forgotten writings and photo compilations were hidden away because I was never happy with them; they always felt forced and awkward because they were written to fit the previous tone of CollectivePic.com, a voice that represented a person that no longer existed.

This leads me to the question of transformation, and the process through which a person’s online identity evolves.

Finding ways to move past the baggage of old online identities, drunken Facebook photos and teenage ramblings included, is a complicated process. Often creating a world were separate personalities appear to exist simultaneously. My email accounts create this exact distinction; I still keep my old high school email, starrynight136, which is a completely separate space from my ‘adult’ account ‘jenniferlwhyte.’ The difficulty of merging Hotmail with a Gmail account meant these two spaces had to be kept separate. It also created two worlds, a division that I think many people struggle with, as the multiple online identities we create begin to pile up. What we post, tweet, blog, digg, comment and otherwise interact with online puts a bunch of ‘stuff’ out in the world that remains long after the person that put them there has evolved into something else. These chips of past deeds and the impact they have could be mediated by censoring the self we put out there. We could work to ensure only a watered down person is presented so that there would be no striking contrast between past and present.

But the idea of needing to ‘manage’ our online selves is more complicated then simply not putting things out there that may be sensitive, vulgar or generally having any sense of personality. Because it is this ‘personality’ the authentic, genuine at times offensive, emotionally poignant contributions to the web that pulls people in. Whether you are looking for tidbits of your online persona to go viral or simply trying to truly connect with other people the best way to do this is to write in a way that shows your true self even if it may be embarrassing, offensive and uncomfortable.

Presenting yourself in this most vulnerable way is important because all of these types of content breed intrigue, humor, empathy, and general interest from readers. This need to place our personalities on the virtual table means we will always have some degree of conflict as we grow. If we honestly put our personality in a YouTube video, Blogger post or Flickr image, that person, although reflecting who you are at that moment, for better or worse, is likely to someday conflict with or be unsettling to a future self yet to be born. Finding ways to be comfortable and even embrace this contrast is a necessary part of being able to write as ‘you.’

For now Collectivepic.com will continue to be a space where images are used to highlight key issues, but this will be done from a place that feels much more like me. Whether this online self will seem awkward against the persona of CollectivePic.com that emerged a year ago or the person that is yet to be created is a question that I am excited to explore. This ‘unknown’ will be plunged into with a confidence that is grounded in the fact that I still have things to say and pictures to post. Excitedly CollectivePic.com will be the happy home for the intersections between my interests in writing, photography, history, current events, online media and the million thought bubbles that burst with useless intrigue. On that note here are some images that never really had a home, I was hoping to unify them one day, but it seems more fitting to put them out there as is. Despite the lack of cohesion, these photos, like the multiple online personalities we create, can be shown side by side given new meaning despite and maybe because of the contradictions that surround them.

-J

Image sources:

“1912, post card of young girl holding a book” Credit: Bourassa, Jean / Library and Archives Canada / PA-126794 Restrictions on use: Nil Copyright:Expired. Canadian archives.

1934, Women with their pistols at the ready: ladies champions team of the Missouri University shooting club. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/3333357823/

“1900, women getting tattooed.” By William M. Vander Weyde (1871–1929). George Eastman House Collection. Accession Number: 1974:0056:0523

“1886, Kate Vaughan, Vaudeville Theatre” Kate Vaughan as Lady Teazle in School for Scandal at the Vaudeville Theatre. W&D Downey Photographers http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O142908

“Geisha girls, Bain News service, publisher.” George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). CALL NUMBER: LC-B2- 4244-8[P&P]

“1908, cupid’s prank” – Scene 1. Library of Congress. Motion picture still by the Edison Manufacturing Co. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b24998

“1939, Plastic face protection from snowstorms” Canada, Montreal. Nationaal Archief.

Image of an Earthquake

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:37:32 +0000

It has been over a month since the earthquake hit Haiti, the shock over the devastation seems to have moved into a focus on the long-term support that is needed to facilitate recovery. But yesterday (Saturday, February 27 2010) the world was pulled back into the state of crisis that surrounds a natural disaster as an earthquake hit Chile. The earthquake in Haiti was recorded at a magnitude of 7.0, lower then the 8.8 that was felt in Chile. Yet the devastation and loss of life was significantly higher in Haiti, with a death toll now estimated at over 200,000. This most recent disaster in Chile is the second largest to hit the country, rivaled only by the 1960 earthquake that was recorded at a magnitude of 9.6. The devastating effect of the 1960 earthquake served as a catalyst to tighten building code requirements, which saved lives during this more recent disaster. These events in Haiti and Chile should give further proof to the importance of disaster preparedness, a point that will hopefully be taken to heart for the groups that have pledged support to rebuild Haiti.

For me the importance of preventing the kind of devastation that occurred in Haiti isn’t well displayed by magnitude scale recordings and stats on infrastructure damage. What makes these events so real is the fact that we live in an era where we quickly have access to images documenting a crisis. The connection we have to these disasters exist, in part, because of the vivid photographs of the devastation that stream across the airwaves within hours of an event. The role of these images show the importance of a photographic record, not just to bring awareness of a crisis but to contextualize the realities of these experiences in a way that magnitude numbers don’t seem to grasp. Here are some images from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and the 1926 earthquake in Palestine; a photographic record of natural disasters that, in a hundred years, will likely include some of the striking images that have come out of Haiti.

c1906, June 8. Block of burned buildings in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake with fire truck spraying water on them.

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c13371

c1906. Down Market St., Phelan Bldg. in foreground, San Francisco, Cal. Detroit Publishing Company. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a13227

c1906. Foot of Market Street, showing earthquake upheaval, San Francisco, Cal. Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection. Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a13221

c1906. Edge of Chinatown, San Francisco, Cal. Detroit Publishing Co. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a13215

c1906. Ruins of earthquake, damaged San Francisco City Hall. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c13370

1927 July. Palestine events. The earthquake of July 11, 1927. Wreckage of the Winter Palace Hotel, Jericho. A complete collapse. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.03034

1927 July. Palestine events. The earthquake of July 11, 1927. Blocked-up street in Nablus, choked by fallen houses which entombed many inhabitants. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.03042

1927 July. Palestine events. The earthquake of July 11, 1927. Deep fissures or land openings near the Dead Sea, caused by the earthquake. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.03039

1927 July. Palestine events. The earthquake of July 11, 1927. Wrecked dwelling house on Olivet. In which three people were killed. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.03030

1927 July. Earthquake damage. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.10441

1927 July Earthquake damage. G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/matpc.10434

Zoo Me: DNA and Captivity

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:53:28 +0000

Humanity has always been intrigued by the strange and exotic, a trip into Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ showcases this fascination with the unexplored ‘savage’ lands that fueled the colonial era. Exhibits displaying individuals from indigenous cultures, such as the ‘Negro Village’ at the 1878 Paris World fair, highlights this history of gawking at the proverbial ‘other’. It is this showcasing of the ‘other’ that has, in the past, left me unsettled by displays of animals and the zoo experience. As much as I relish the ability to see animals that would otherwise be unknown to me I am quick to feel unnerved by concerns over quality of life.

Many zoos have faced criticism regarding this, such as the Calgary zoo, which is having its practices reviewed because of these concerns. Despite these problems zoos, at least the well-managed ones that emphasize research and advocacy, play an important role in furthering our understanding of and ultimate ability to preserve animal populations. As habitat loss, poaching and pollution wage winning battles of destruction on animal populations our best efforts to preserve a species often relies on the use of protective custody. With the world giant panda population at an estimated 1,600 U.S. born pandas Mei Lan and Tai Shan have left their homes at zoos in America to assist in China’s breeding programs.

Washington Zoo’s Farewell Cake for Panda Tai Shan

Aside from creating globe trotting animals to ward off extinction zoos are also collecting and preserving DNA. Scientists at the San Diego Zoo are preserving the genetic material of a growing number of species, creating what has been dubbed the ‘frozen zoo.’ This term brings to mind some sci-fi B flick that centers on an apocalyptic future where children view animals as stored test tube offspring. But the reality is far less mad scientist, using DNA to clone endangered animals that are then ‘mothered’ by a genetically similar surrogate, but this approach has its limitations. The potential that this frozen zoo has to restock the earth’s animal populations rests on the challenge of creating and maintaining natural spaces for these species to have their second chance. Even scientists involved in this project are quick to acknowledge that despite the potential that this work creates it does not outweigh the importance of preventative measures, such as preserving habitat. So as scientists work on collecting and preserving banks of DNA, the rest of us must ready for a future, ideally building a world where animals like the giant panda do not need to rely on captivity and surrogacy for their survival.

Central Park – feeding hippo. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). No date recorded on caption card.

Zoo feeding. Paul Martin (1864-1944)_Collection of National Media Museum

1890. Baby elephant at the zoo. Collection of National Media Museum/Kodak Museum

1899 ca. Group of public school children looking at bears in the National Zoo, Washington, D.C. Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a01568

1900. A zookeeper smokes a pipe while feeding the bears. Lincoln Park Zoo.Part of the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project: www.fieldmuseum.org/urbanlandscapes/

1900. Zebra (probably Grant’s) Lincoln Park Zoo with man in bowler hat and suit feeding it or looking through cage. Brick building behind with arched doorways. Part of the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project: www.fieldmuseum.org/urbanlandscapes/

c1901. The Bear pit, Lincoln Park, Chicago. Detroit Publishing Co. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a07947

Between 1909 and 1923. Deer at the zoo, National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.18934

1925 ca. Baby elephant at Taronga Zoo. by Sam Hood. State Library of New South Wales

1925 Better Ole Club Orchestra at Zoo. National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress) http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.13289

28 september 1961. Caretaker Jan van Keulen cleans the mouth of a hippopotamus. Nationaal Archief: www.nationaalarchief.nl

Slime Subway System

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:22:13 +0000

Transportation systems form the outline of a city, mapping points of intersection and defining spaces based on these connections. In one sense they appear as very industrialized, dug into the earth, fortified and stabilized with construction and existing as almost dead spaces devoid of natural growth. But nature’s organisms have been building transporting systems long before the inauguration of the London underground in 1863. Researchers in Japan have recently shown that these well designed distribution systems exist not just in ant colonies but also in slime mold. The researchers used the slime mold as the center city and placed pieces of oat around it to represent smaller towns. The mold stretched out to form a tunneled system that best retrieved and distributed the nutrients from the oat. Once the mold had its system set up it resembled the transit system of Tokyo as can be seen in these images. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/access/id/55515/name/tero2HR_edited.jpg

The full article can be found here. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/55512/description/Slime_mold_is_master_network_engineer

Congestion continues to plague many urban spaces, a problem which requires increasingly innovative approaches to the idea of transportation. Recognizing that these modes of distribution exist in the very basic structures of life has the potential to inspire better design. The underworld of a subway may seem removed from the cities that they run under but they are the lifeblood of it. At its very core a subway provides the circulation system similar to what exists in our own human bodies, in an insect community and yes even in mold. Life on earth depends on sourcing and distribution and the more efficient and adaptable we are to this the better chances we have of living in sync with our surroundings.

Between 1900 and 1906. City Hall subway station, New York. Detroit Publishing Co. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a11579

June 8, 1901. Rapid transit construction work at Union Square, New York City, June 8, 1901. Photo copyrighted by Underhill, N.Y.C. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b11129

Construction du métro, Paris 1902-1910.

c1904. In the subway, New York, N.Y. Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection. Library of Congress hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a11582

c1904. Ticket office, City Hall subway station, New York. Detroit Publishing Co. copyright claimant, publisher. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a11578

Between 1905 and 1945 Senate Subway R.R. Harris & Ewing Collection (Library of Congress). Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.14709

c1912. LaSalle St. Tunnel – looking south from north end of Twin Bore. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Copyright by Wm. M. Christie. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c28456

Entrance, Berlin. Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Subway fire, breaking through subway roof. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.18110

1896. Millennium Underground, the end of the tunnel at Heroes’ square in Budapest, Hungary.

On a Snowy Day

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:15:53 +0000

As I enter another long cold winter in Ontario the glistening snow and frigid wind-chill doesn’t just bring to mind the need for a warm drink. The late onset of snow in December for Southern Ontario set a precursor to the much anticipated but largely disappointing climate talks in Copenhagen. The days of viewing such weather patterns in terms of being thankful for a warm December day and secretly elated for receiving a White Christmas seems to be gone. Replaced instead by viewing fluxes in weather patterns in terms of emissions and whether or not our eco footprint was light enough this year. Sadly the new change in how many of us interpret meteorology did not seem to influence world leaders who sat debating environmental protocols as the decade ended. Worse still Canadians were left with the equally frigid sense of international distain as the Albertan oil sands and our failure to be leaders for environmental change were heavily featured during Copenhagen. One wonders how to keep warm this winter with politicians doing little to exact change and the international media portraying Canada as a spoiled first nation leading the world to environmental destruction.

Steeping back from the headlines and looking instead at the potential for change in the future seems to be the only way to approach this topic with any glimpse of optimism. This New Years I hope for a 2010 that sets the pace of change, not because of some apocalyptic future that the likes of Al Gore has fated us too and not even because I still wish to relive those early days of supposed change promised by Obama, but simply because we can and should do better. Until that time we can at least enjoy the sanctity of freshly fallen show for what it has and maybe someday soon will again symbolize. Not influxes in weather patterns that predict our collective dome but rather the beauty and joy of winter.

1943. Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge are shown under a blanket of snow during the winter of 1942-1943. The lodge was closed because of war conditions. USFS photo #424587 by George Henderson (not an official USFS photographer). Gelatin silver prints. Gerald W. Williams Collection, Civilian Conservation Corps album. : Oregon State University Libraries.

1940 Mar. Center of town. Woodstock, Vermont. “Snowy night” Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington, DC 20540. Call Number: LC-USF34- 053307-D. hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

1910. Union Sq. after storm. Bain News Service,, publisher. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Between 1910 and 1915. Toboggan party. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.10040

1909. Photograph of the snowplow and Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company Engines 22 and 25 at Warner Station. The Galt Museum & Archives website: www.galtmuseum.com/archives.htm

1901. Stormy day, St. Catherine Street, Montreal, QC. Wm. Notman & Son. McCord Museum. www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/en/collection/artifacts/VIEW-3449

January 22, 1905, Image 17. New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]). Chronicling America (Library of Congress). chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1905-01-22/ed-…

Silent Film

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:03:06 +0000

This past Halloween I was lucky enough to see the silent film Nosferatu accompanied by the Vancouver Orchestra. The scenes of coffins, death and creatures stalking in the night made me jump as music filled the room. The tension of some of the eerier scenes were then quickly broken as the audience laughed at the exaggerated facial expressions of the silent film performers. The movie, as a reel of images that is exactly the same as when it was filmed, is brought into a new light by the performance of live music. Bringing the static into a dynamic presence as a historical piece of film comes to life with each note building with the plot. As a viewer it is a very different sensation then how I have come to experience movies, with all the usual Hollywood glamour and special effects. Reminiscent of a time when going to the movies was something special and unique in a time devoid of the media overloads we have today. In keeping with this performance I have stumbled across images from the silent film era in the Flickr Commons and Library of Congress. Although lacking the presence of what it is like to watch these films live these photographs do still capture some of the unique qualities that this cinematic history holds.

Enjoy

Scene from the 1913 Italian silent film Quo Vadis?. Logo of Italian studio Cines appears in left corner of image. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c36900

Scene from the silent film “The last days of Pompeii” showing priests and citizens worshipping a statue] Copyright 1913 by Photo Drama Co. The last days of Pompeii, after the novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, was an Italian production released through George Kleine. It was an elaborate tableaux drama film rich in costume, portraying events in Pompeii in 79 A.D. Directed by Mario Caserini and Eleuterio Rodolfi.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c33141

Just Mother (cinema 1914) The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division. digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-25214

The Saint and the Singer (Cinema 1914). The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division. digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-48893

Josie’s Coney Island Nightmare (cinema 1914). The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division. digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-24714

The Curse of the Desert (cinema 1915). The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division.digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-06461

The Cheat (cinema 1915). The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division. digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?TH-02093

Motion picture scene (1916). This image was collected by filmmaker William “Billy” Bletcher (1894-1979) while working for the Vim Comedy Company between 1915 and 1917. The small film studio was based in Jacksonville and New York. The company produced hundreds of two-reel comedies (over 156 comedies in 1916 alone). Before going out of business in 1917, it employed such stars as Oliver Hardy, Ethel Burton, Walter Stull, Arvid Gillstrom, and Kate Price. State Library and Archives of Florida. http://ibistro.dos.state.fl.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5?library=PHOTO&item_type=PHOTOGRAPH&searchdata1=PR07301

Back To School

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:16:22 +0000

With summer coming quickly to a close and labour day having skipped by we find ourselves at the beginning of the school year. As children march back to the daily grind parents, teachers and yes even politicians swarm over issues effecting the education system. In the U.S. controversy built this week around a speech President Obama wished to give to school children, while closer to my home in Vancouver, B.C. Canada the issue of massive budget cuts raised concerns for local school boards. Both of these issues, fears over financial support and what ideologies are expressed to children, bring forth a great deal of debate as the idea of needing to protect and mold children looms large for many. While the U.S. education system is being offered something, a direct connection with their President, my own local education system is bagging for support. These two issues, when presented together, seem in striking contradiction to one another yet both highlight an important issue, how eduction is constructed and controlled through fiscal and ideological battles. Whether or not individuals believe in the ideas presented by the President is not the only, or for that matter the major, issue. To me the focus should be on the fact that any time there is effort made to support and connect with children it should be welcomed, even if it doesn’t necessarily align with ones own views of education. For hardline Republicans fearing their children being brain washed I question the rationality of trying to raise their children in a bubble removed from any contradictory views. As controversial as some may find this statement I am a firm believer in the idea of a well rounded education for all children, ideally exposing them to as much information as possible, preferably with dedicated parents and teachers alongside them to assist them in interpreting these experiences.

I am sure we can all ground ourselves in the importance of these issues because of the experiences we all have of education. All remembering, or for those that are younger still experiencing, life in a school system. I have collected bellow a variety of class portraits showing a great deal of diversity in educational systems varying in date, geographical location, and cultural representation.

Between 1865 and 1872. Muslim school, students seated outdoors gathered around a teacher (Persian-Turkish). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.14415

1885. A group of boys and girls with their teach. Miss Barlleg’s school, Conwy, Photographed by John Thomas. Record Number 336045. National Library of Whales.http://cat.llgc.org.uk/cgi-bin/gw/chameleon?skin=eresources&lng=en&inst=consortium&conf=./chameleon.conf&search=KEYWORD&function=INITREQ&elementcount=1&u1=12101&op1=0&t1=%203363045

1887. A group of school children, Muskoka Lakes, Ont., Canada. Photographer: Frank W. Micklethwaite. Library and Archives Canada.

December 11, 1903. Children at the Christian Mission School of Nablus, Palestine. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.10670

1904-1905. Pupils of Provincial Model School, Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Credit: Beddoe, Alan / Library and Archives Canada

ca. 1906. Eastpoint school, teacher and students. Eastpoint, Florida. State Library and Archives of Florida. http://ibistro.dos.state.fl.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5?library=PHOTO&item_type=PHOTOGRAPH&searchdata1=BC007

ca. 1910. School children with teachers under Magnolia trees on Oxford Street. Charles C. Zoller. Accession Number: 1982:2041:0053 George Eastman House Photography Collection.

ca. 1910. Junior class of students in uniform at the Albuquerque Indian School. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

April 25, 1917. Anzac Day. Belubula School. photographed by E.A. Lumme. State Library of New South Wales.

1918. Ukrainian School, (South Edmonton). Elia Shklanka teacher. Credit: George E. Dragan / Library and Archives Canada.

Between 1920-1925. Photograph shows a group of Filipino children, of various ages, posed in front of a school at Anao, Ifugaos Province, the Philippines. In background, young tribesmen stand on school porch. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c36514

1923. Scrub School, Tenterfield area, NSW, Billy Butter’s Studio, Tenterfield. State Library New South Wales. ”It was school picnic day, that’s why we were dressed up. Also it was the teacher’s last day because she was joining the convent”. (Spoken by Vera Rossington 15/12/88).

June 11, 1955. St. Joseph School graduation. Library of Virginia, Prints and Photographs Adolph B. Rice Studio