Latin School of Chicago

VIDI 2015

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Dear Friends, Prepare yourself: The 14th edition of VIDI magazine is chock full of amazing images. It was a challenging selection choice this year as we had many great photos submitted and limited space. Showcasing the work of my students is pure joy. Everyone loves looking at photographs. But we do not love every photo that we see. Falling in love is subjective and so is photography. Photography is a language and a form of communication that we all understand. The best photographs spark something inside of us. They make us wonder, or create a desire to experience a place or an event, or provide us with a closer look that causes deeper thinking, even analysis. When looking at a photograph we engage in the moment of creation. A photographer is a maker of images. As photographers select and create a photo they are engaged in making meaning of their world. The best photographers are cultivating their skills to influence the meaning they choose to convey. We use our ever-growing technical expertise, creativity, and composition skills to produce and preserve images. Yes, we are life preservers. The best photographic images are interpretations of reality and not mere documentation. But in this idea lies the controversy of photography. Since photography is a means of communication, a source of information, it also has the potential to cause distortion and can also misrepresent reality. This can be magical or it can also be a lie. Photoshop provides the photographer with the ability to alter reality in the post-production process. Photographers must decide how"enhanced" they will make their photo. As you look at each photograph think about what the photographer was trying to convey and consider how he or she chose to do this. As many of you know, I still introduce students to photography via the darkroom as they learn how to operate the 35MM film camera and produce silver halide prints. The hands-on process of traditional photography is still the preferred path for most fine art photographers. The process causes each photographer to be more thoughtful about everything from composition to exposure. Students learn craftsmanship, perseverance, and to develop their own aesthetic choices in making pictures. This issue features several photos created in the darkroom by sandwiching negatives to produce magical results. Speaking of magical results: we recently purchased a pixelstick. Sammy Goldman ysed this tool to create the magical rainbow light in this year's cover shot. The pixelstick gives a whole new meaning to light painting. The Pixelstick is a six-foot aluminum bar with 198 full-color RGB LEDs. This enables the photographer to create and even recreate images in light using long exposures. As a photo teacher, some of the best things I get to share with my students are excitement and curiosity. I hope these photos stir these same feelings in you. Betty Lark Ross Photography Teacher 3 Cover Photo: Rainbow Alley- Sammy Goldman '17 5Barcelona Bubbles- Kristen Heglin '16 5Sagrada Familia- Adam Hirshorn '16

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