F-Stop Teaches Queensbridge Residents the Art of Photography
Victoria Heath has always been the designated family photographer, capturing photos of her loved ones at every family function. As a child, Shirley Mitchell watched her father develop pictures he’d taken in a closet in their apartment. When these two longtime Queensbridge Houses neighbors heard about a free photography workshop coming to their community center, they both jumped at the opportunity to learn more about the art of producing beautiful images.
The F-Stop Project at Queensbridge is a partnership between the Josephine Herrick Project (JHP) — a non-profit that teaches photography and exhibits work by underrepresented communities — and the Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement to provide free photography classes, workshops, and public exhibitions to Queensbridge residents of all ages. It began at Queensbridge in 2019 and is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Regional Economic Development Council.
F-Stop classes have been provided for seniors, veterans, English language learners, children, and teens, as well as an intergenerational class for young people and seniors; approximately 150 people have participated. “Everyone gets to photograph what’s important to them and decide what stories they want to tell,” said Miriam Leuchter, Executive Director of JHP. “Participants help develop the direction for each course, whether that’s social justice, exploration of community and neighborhood, or life under COVID. And each course culminates with an exhibition, online or in person, and publishing.”
Through F-Stop, photos taken by participants have been displayed in the community in a six-week outdoor exhibition, on banners along the fence of Queensbridge Park and on 41st Avenue, and recently, some participants were featured in a short film, “The Way I See Now,” commissioned by the Queens Theatre (watch the film here: The Way I See Now – Queens Theatre).
F-Stop classes for seniors are taught by photographers Robin Dahlberg and Nicole Rosenthal; current classes for teens and middle-school students are taught by Isadora Frost and Jasmine Ebron. Prior to the pandemic, teaching artists taught in-person with participants using cameras provided by JHP. With community and senior centers closed, classes moved online. “Now that it’s virtual, people are using any picture-taking device they have: cameras, cell phones, tablets,” Ms. Leuchter. “Even if they don’t have that, they’re welcome to show up and learn more without equipment. Remote classes are focused on meaning in photography. Learning about how to capture your point of view and express your visual voice. What do you see around you? What’s your life like during COVID?”
Remote participants are learning new ways of sharing their work – for instance, creating an e-zine of photos titled, “We are Queensbridge: Perspective on the Pandemic and Social Inequities.”
Both Ms. Heath and Ms. Mitchell have been F-Stop students since the program began, and though they miss in-person classes at Riis, they still enjoy virtual classes with their instructors.
“I keep taking the class because the instructors are well versed and they help open up your eyes to other things,” Ms. Heath said. “They’ve opened my eyes to things that are going on in the neighborhood, how Long Island City is changing, and the disparities in different parts of the neighborhood. I’ve learned what type of photographer I am. Some of the other ladies are good at taking pictures of people, some are good at taking pictures of things I’ve never even thought about, like a sequin. I’m more of an architectural detail person. I love looking at lines, straight lines, curved lines, the details in buildings in the city.”
Ms. Mitchell came to the program after searching for something to occupy her time after retirement. She enjoys taking nature photos, as well as photos of her family and people in the neighborhood “just doing what they do. There’s a man that’s always outside doing these beautiful carvings. You walk past and admire what he’s doing, but one time I asked him if I could take a picture of him and he let me. Now I have a nice portrait of him.”
JHP is working on expanding the F-Stop Project to bring classes to the Lower East Side and Chinatown. And Ms. Leuchter hopes to see the program expand to other NYCHA developments in the city. For more information about the F-Stop Project, visit jhproject.org.