Transforming selfies in Digital Photography

The 8th grade arts year is designed as a survey, offering Middle School students the opportunity to dip into various mediums across the year – from studio art to theater to digital arts. In Ms. Camhi’s Digital Photography course, students experimented with lighting and angles to change points of view and transform a traditional “selfie” into a fine arts piece.

A student-centered lens, which is a hallmark of a Quaker approach to education set the tone. “The lesson is led by students,” said Ms. Camhi, who had previously worked with students on macro photography of small pumpkin and squash figurines, and defining points of view (eye-level, bird’s eye, from the ground). “In this class, students used the intersection of light – through pairs of different colored LED lights – and angles to come up with fresh imagery. One student experimented by shooting up from the foot of their subject, and then angling the light down from above.”

Photography by Alvin Caal/Friends Academy