What has always captivated me about photography is its ability to be a tool for exploration. A camera has opened doors to so many places and experiences for me. These days, most kids know how to use a smart device and take selfies. One group of Propel Hazelwood second- and third-graders got to delve deeper into photography during an after-school program I led. From the initial excitement of \u201cmeeting\u201d their cameras to learning more about the medium, the students explored their vision of the community through photography.<\/p>\n
I was there to teach them, but they\u2019ve taught me a lot about myself as a photographer and as a person. Having to teach the elements of photography \u2014 breaking down a photograph into its individual parts, whether it is color, shape, framing, facial expression, foreground, background \u2014 has reminded me to pay better attention to the creative devices that have become second nature to me. The students\u2019 way of seeing isn\u2019t inhibited by the aesthetics of photography. Watching how they experimented with their cameras has pushed me to take risks while photographing.<\/p>\n
The students\u2019 photography will be on display along with the artwork created at other Propel after-school sites from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Mattress Factory. The show and main gallery are free and open to the public.
\n
Propel Hazelwood second- and third-graders learn photography from Post-Gazette staff photographer Rebecca Droke. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,10],"tags":[],"coauthors":[27],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/05\/SlidehshowOnly_InFocus0528rld003.jpg?fit=2600%2C1735&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1989"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}