On Thursday, October 14, the older students went to the Lightworks Gallery to see an exhibit of Laura Heyman’s (Ace’s Mom) photographic portraits taken in Haiti. Prior to leaving the school the children located Haiti on a map. We also reflected back to last year’s explorer unit and asked the question, “Who from the west might have ‘discovered’ the island? We also discussed Laura’s question, “Can someone from the first world see/photograph within the third world without voyeurism or objectification?” Much of our conversation was about the meaning of the label 1st world and 3rd world.
Once at the gallery, children were asked to study all the photographs and select one that was especially interesting to them. They were then assigned to draw from Laura’s photograph and write about what they felt the subjects were feeling, what were their interests, and what were the relationships between subjects in each photograph.
Laura was able to come and answer their questions and engage in a lively discussion for the final 20 minutes of our visit.