Huntington High School photography students recently traveled into Manhattan for an opportunity to shoot documentary images on location along New York City streets.
The group included 62 Introduction to Photography course students and nine adult chaperones. The contingent traveled into Penn Station on the Long Island Railroad. Once they stepped out onto Manhattan’s busy streets, students learned about documentary photography and looking at the details of everyday life in the booming city.
“It’s a huge group to travel with, but everyone was wonderful,” veteran Huntington High School photography teacher Pamela Piffard said. “The students took the assignment seriously and they still had so much fun. It’s nice to get them into the city to shoot because become spring they start to run out of ideas here in Huntington. It was a perfect change of scenery on a beautiful day.”
Students carefully composed their images with the hopes of capturing something unique and interesting. Their work is simply sensational.
“My favorite part of the NYC trip was being able to express myself and find new ways to make photography my own,” Lillian Joseph said. “The city is filled with so many ideas and art that you can only find there, and it made it a lot more fun too.”
Manhattan is one of the world’s leading photographic centers and the city’s always vibrant life gave students endless choices as they went about completing their class assignment.
“This trip was a great way to capture moments in New York City and I loved the freedom it gave us to walk and take pictures of what we wanted,” Alexa Amorison said.
The trip both educated and inspired the teenagers, who returned to Huntington with plenty of new ideas.
“When you go to New York City you just look at the big picture and just zone everything else out, but through this experience you actually see that Manhattan has more to show,” Keily Granados said. “It’s just a matter of taking the time with a camera and looking at the little details from a different perspective. I learned that even the simplest things can become art.”
Students were broken into groups of approximately eight students per chaperone. Each group was given a map to follow. They all went via a different route, but all passed by the same points of interest.
“Going to New York City with my classmates was such a great opportunity that allowed us to take pictures of different things we wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t for the project we had,” Jordan Forte said. “Interacting with different people to take pictures of them allowed us to see many different types of cultures.”
Groups visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. The teenagers quickly embraced to their surroundings as they went about their artistic work. “The weather was perfect and everyone had a fantastic time,” Mrs. Piffard said.
“I had a great time with the group of students and taking an adventure in New York City,” Matthew Rodriquez said. “I took some great pictures of street of life in Manhattan.”
