Anti-Bullying

Today was pretty significant. For those who wore the plain white tee, they'd agree with me. Having people graffiti you with hurtful words is a hard feeling. The ironic thing about this process is that people graffiti people everyday. Sure, they're not using Sharpies, but they're definitely labeling people with hurtful words and having each other walk around with this weight. The slogan, "put the weight of your words on me" worked perfectly. It described exactly what people needed to know.
The experience I had with a fellow classmate can't clearly be described. It was definitely eye-opening.
STAC is used to bullying, but instead of trying to help banish it or prove it wrong, we usually just would show off. It's interesting how positively this interaction with the rest of the school was so successful.

-ashleycoppolino

Sitting in STAC Periods 5 and 6.

Ever hear of The Beatles, Audrey Hepburn, Brook Shields or Andy Warhol? Anyone sound familliar?

They were all photographed by Richard Avedon!

He has this way of photographing which became popular in the world of advertisitng and straight portraits. You probably don't think of these photos as anything, but he was unique for shooting strictily on plain background. Here's The Beatles:

See? All plain bacgrounds. It probably reminds you of school picture day.. just sayin'.

And Diane Arbus.. She was a little bit crazy. She focused mainly on black and white square photographs. As Luke put it, "you wouldn't want her photographing your kids."

She took photos of people that are ugly or surreal. She was basically known as the "photographer of freaks". She photographed what people didn't want to see.. but that's what made her famous and in her own style.

I don't know her mindset, but she did commit suicide after doing this photography for years.

Both people that are different, and who were great friends in their time, developed their own sense of photography.. and if you see either of their photographs, you should be able to point out the work of the artist.

-ashleycoppolino

Writing Workshop (2)

This worshop consisted in bringing in your idea with a writing piece that begins the idea that you came up with. I thought I was doing good. I love my idea. I found mystery writing to be a mystery to me, so I experimented and thoguht about a story that has mainly nothing to do with me. It's a few teenage boys that live in Missouri and they travel to Lake Michigan and one dies. The story is told from the killer's POV, which you don't know, but I feel the need to explain that now. The constructive critisim helps because of hearing that it's good or bad, it's more or less saying why it works or doesn't. Mainly, I got that it doesn't work. I'm not upset or anything, but it was a bit of a let down to say the least. Mystery's new to me, so I must experiment until I get it right. I also have to work on my "elevator pitch", but I need a working story first. -ashleycoppolino

Writing with Reed (Workshop)

Ok, so remember when I said that STAC hasn't done something like this before? Well, that was about the calligraphy, but now I'm talking about mystery/crime writing.

I have dabbled in the field of writing. According to my teacher, I have this voice that is said to be sarcastic and rude, which I took as a compliment, but as I'm typing it, it seems a bit ridiculous.

Anywho, this is another unique workshop. Crime and mystery aren't exactly my go-to read or writing choice, but I think it just became a choice.

I was listening to what Reed was saying, and he said something along the lines of "there's a little bit of mystery everywhere", but not so straightforward. I actually figured it out on my own. Think about shows, movies and books that you see: is every fact given to you? NO! Mystery isn't just in Nancy Drew.

One thing that caught my attention was this exact quote from Reed, "Readers shouldn't be forced to turn the page-that's your job." One of the most honest lines from a writer. It's so true.

So, I fought the fear of writing in a new style and came up with an idea.

"The thin pin-pointed needle raced up and down so fast that the paper could barely catch up. His finger on the buttons pounded like my heart. "Can you explain your story again, Mrs. Kline?" He asked. Calmly, I answered. The needle drew a straight line."

How do you like the first few lines of my mystery novel?

It needs work, obviously, but it's just a beginning.

-ashleycoppolino

Chinese Workshop is a proper title?

The workshop today was unique. I haven't been in a workshop like this, nor do I think STAC itself has.
Honestly, as we were watching the instructor, I kept thinking that it was easy. WELL, let me tell you. NOT EASY!
She got the tones perfectly as my paper was basically drenched in water. Once I realized I was using too much water, I obviously used less. I'm used to thick paper and hard strokes. That's probably why this was so hard. I usually like the one color painting because of it's simplicity, but I did better with the color.
Honestly, I liked writing the Chinese characters more than the actual paintings. They're so strange since they're foreign to me, but so fascinating to understand. The Chinese culture is more traditional than modern America.
Fascinating. So cool.

-ashleycoppolino

Photography's Longest Exposure!

Six months. That’s right. This dream-like picture shows each phase of the sun over Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge taken during half a year. The image was captured on a pin-hole camera made from an empty soda can with a 0.25mm aperture and a single sheet of photographic paper. Photographer Justin Quinnell strapped the camera to a telephone pole overlooking the Gorge, where it was left between December 19, 2007 and June 21, 2008—the Winter and Summer solstices. (That’s a 15,552,000 second exposure.) ‘Solargraph’ shows six months of the sun’s luminescent trails and its subtle change of course caused by the earth’s movement in orbit. The lowest arc being the first day of exposure on the Winter solstice, while the top curves were captured mid-Summer. (Dotted lines of light are the result of overcast days when the sun struggled to penetrate the cloud.) Quinnell, a renowned pin-hole camera artist, says the photograph took on a personal resonance after his father passed away on April 13—halfway through the exposure. He says the picture allows him to pinpoint the exact location of the sun in the sky at the moment of his father passing.

-ashleycoppolino

Workshop with Rob (and Alan)

I know what you're thinking. Alan? Yes, Alan. Alan, a.k.a., Mr. Semerdjian, needed to be photographed, so that's exactly what we did. It was an experience for us, as well as him. It was weird because we all knew who he is - a teacher in our school. It was definitely awkward, he said so himself.
Basically, we carried a huge white board (used to bounce the light), two light fixtures, a few cameras, reflectors, and more diffusers to the English Office. Yes, we set up a photoshoot jn the English Office.
We got some good shots, which is great. Rob taught us what to do in a crammed situation and how to put things together in a speedy moment.
Glad to do the job.

-ashleycoppolino