83 Days

About two and a half months from now, the third NOLA Travel & Study Program will embark on a journey of exploration, discovery, and documentation!

As participants in the program, we ask that you do two things here online: Set up your own blog for the program, and set up an account on NOLAstock. The former is not only a great way for you to reflect on your expectations, and reflections, but a really great way to communicate with loved ones while you are away, so they can take this journey with you. The blog is also a course requirement. You will learn more about that when you get the syllabus in the coming weeks leading to our first official class meeting, May 7th. But in the mean time, go to blogger.com and set up an account--you can get all fancy with the titling (see examples already on the right menu bar) or just use your name (like Amanda T. on the right menu bar). Once you have the blog set up, please email it to Colleen Mullins at cmullins@aii.edu or Becky Olstad at rolstad@aii.edu, so one of us can put you up into the right hand menu bar as well! Former program participants are already posted, and can simply continue to use their original blogs.

NOLAstock accounts may be set up by clicking here, and filling out the form. Dig around NOLAstock, and you'll see what it's about--as a funtion of this particular Essay section, there is a focus on the ethics of disaster photography. We created NOLAstock with the help of Chris Teterault (Wi'09) to allow you a safe way to provide royalty free photographs back to any non-profits with which you partner while in New Orleans. Whenever any registered user (you select them) representative of the non-profit goes to the gallery and downloads an image, it will send you an email instantly, notifying you of where when and even how large the image will be published. So you get a great resume line, while helping the people who help you while working on your project!

On this blog--scroll down on the right side to browse all sorts of news items and non-profit organizations that might help you hone in on the right project for you! Only 83 days until we leave!

Registration Now Open for June 22-30 New Orleans Course!

New Orleans Travel and Study Program III

June 22 - 30, 2009

The trip will include visiting photographers and curators to critiques, museum tours, a whole city tour, behind the scenes tour of the Time Picayune newspaper, and muc much more!

Take Photographic Essays and Visual Narratives (PH3410) in America's rich cultural southern capital, New Orleans! Learn about the culture, history, and fantastic cuisine, that make this amazing city so famous. Work on a project that captures that spirit, in the midst of recovery (almost four years later) from Hurricane Katrina. (Pre req. PH2470 and/or PH3410)


See Colleen Mullins or Michelle Bean for registration forms and tentative itinerary!

Minimum 2.5 GPA to participate in the program. Appeal letters for students falling below that level should accompany registration forms and deposits. Letters should describe the project you plan to undertake while in New Orleans. Deposits will NOT be cashed unless student is approved for entry.

NEW THIS TRIP:

$500 Support Grant**
Applications for the support grant are due
Friday of Week 6 (Friday, February 20) at noon.

Email the following to cmullins @ aii.edu
with "NOLA Scholarship" in the subject line:

1. Letter describing financial need, why you want to study in this program, what ideas you have for an essay project, etc.

2. Five (5) jpgs. No larger than 800 on the longest side. 72ppi. Optimized to srgb profile.

**All Support Grant applications MUST have a CGPA of 2.5 or higher.

The Most Scenic Disaster

This is a very interesting web piece on OxfordAmerican.com about Katrina as topic on film, and includes some good clips as well as writing.

Join Us!

Students are busy preparing their exhibition prints and framing, as well as preparing presentation on their projects!

Please join us for student presentations:
Wednesday, December 3rd
8:00-10:00am
Pence Building; Room p-107
(Corner or Hennepin and 8th)

Friday, December 12th
3:00-5pm
Ai Minnesota Gourmet Gallery
(15 South 9th Street)

And of course in addition to the above events the opening reception of the students' exhibition, 1125 Days Later: New Orleans Now, will take place at Traffic Zone Center for Art. See images for details!

When last we blogged...

I am experiencing an enormous sense of guilt over having not finished the story of our amazing week. I will get to Friday, I promise! ...Here's a preview. My stalwart co-instructor, Becky, befriending her "supper" (lunch).

and Back to Wednesday....

Amanda H. , Antonio, and a couple of others stayed behind from our early morning shoot in Holy Cross Wednesday to go back to Tennessee Street. Amanda had made a beautiful image of Miss Gertrude's dog, and wanted to give her a print. We got to her house just in the nick of time, because she was heading out for a doctor appointment. She loved the picture and posed for a formal portrait for Amanda. Then we wandered up the street and knocked on Robert Green's door. See the last post for more detail about our visit with him!

Our visit with the Times-Picayune!

I'm going to start posting more of these in the next couple of days--here's a taste of the incredible generosity of time and access the Times-Picayune afforded us--Audrey and Anthony were on the ride-along with me and photographer Chris Granger: