East Caney Baptist Church

Sunday October 11, 2009

Sunday morning started off a little rough. I was told the wrong time to meet in the parking lot but the miscommunication was resolved when I contacted Conrad and he gave me directions to the church. After getting lost several times on the hour-long journey I finally made it to the church! The church is actually named East Caney Missional Baptist Church. I was surprised that the description of the church truly matched the actual buildings- but the location and atmosphere was different than I expected. The Collections Project and myself arrived at the church pretty early, so there was a lot of sitting around while waiting for the 11 o-clock service to end.

Each Sunday after the first service there is a potluck lunch in the dining hall. We were all invited to eat with the church members so after making introductions and shaking hands with several people we sat down for a wonderful home cooked meal. These people can really cook! I was able to talk to a few people from the Collections Project about my thesis and everyone seemed really interested in all of the possibilities for the project.

After lunch the Collections Project began conducting interviews. Conrad suggested that to keep things flowing I could photograph people after they were interviewed. That worked for me so I asked to sit in on one of the interviews. At this point there was only about an hour and a half until the next church service started. The interview took about an hour. I was surprised because I thought they were short, 15-minute interviews. We would both have been able to talk to and photograph more people if the length of the interviews were shortened. It’s hard to find a time balance in a very short lived situation- The Collections people wanted to learn so much about the members of the church, but the members were on a time crunch to get back to their fellowship and afternoon service. In the end there were three interviews conducted and four people interviewed by the Collections Project and photographed by me. The Collections Project was hoping to interview more people, and they are planning on talking to some of the members at their houses at a later time so they can gain some more information.

The Collections Project documents the lives of these people for historical purposes. They weren’t extremely concerned with the environment or atmosphere of the interviews. The church members were interviewed in a fluorescent lit, small Sunday school room with white walls. The church didn’t have much else to offer for the interviews besides these rooms. Although the information gained about these people was very enlightening and extensive for the Collections Project, the photographs made in these windowless and dull rooms didn’t really convey the people in a way I had envisioned. I learned a lot about two of the people I photographed because I sat in on their interview. But since I didn’t sit in on all of the interviews I didn’t really know a lot about the other two people I photographed. The photos are really just head-shots that don’t say a lot about the people. I was able to obtain the addresses of the people I photographed and I hope to visit some of them and photograph them in their environments at a later time. I was partially disappointed with the experience, but I didn’t know what the photographic situation would be coming into it. Being my first shoot, I was slightly overwhelmed and did not really know what I wanted to come out with. It was a good experience in seeing the difficulties that can arise with photographing people. For better or worse, Vaughn was not able to attend the reunion. I think he would have been able to direct me in how to handle the situation better, but I am still thankful for the opportunity to attend the reunion and gain some experience in interviewing and photographing people.

Reflecting on The East Caney Reunion – October 12, 2009

Vaughn and I met last Tuesday to look over and discuss the photographs and experience at the reunion. Vaughn threw a lot of questions my way concerning the images and methodology behind them. After photographing the people at East Caney, I want to go in a different direction with the project. What connection do I have to those people? What did I really learn in those 3-4 hours having small talk and making portraits of their faces? I had to photograph them- and by doing so I know it isn’t where the project needs to be. I need to spend time with people in their own environments- taking time photographing them so the project can take a life of its own, allowing me to really explore people’s lives.  

Meeting Jim Conrad

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Today I finally met with Jim Conrad, the TAMU-C Archivist who works in the Special Collections Dept. in the library. I brought up some of my 4X5 portraits from my 210 final to give him an idea of what I enjoy photographing. We talked a bit about methodology and then I asked him to explain the Special Collections project he and some other faculty and students are currently working on. The project started a little over a year ago, digitalizing black historical records in the libraries of various East Texas small towns. The project is continuing this Sunday at the East Caney Baptist Church, which is east of Sulphur Springs, Texas. LaVelle Hendricks, a pastor at the church and a counseling professor at TAMU-C, is allowing Conrad’s group and myself to work on our projects at the reunion. Conrad mentioned that LaVelle could be helpful in finding other potential subjects for my project. LaVelle seems very involved in the Collections Project and will be someone I keep in contact with for further black historical events. There is an upcoming ‘Black Panel’ at the University (on the 21st of October) where I may find some more subjects to photograph, and LaVelle knows many other black elderly people in Commerce. The Collections Project will be scanning historical objects, photographs, letters, etc. that the black community brings in, and will be documenting them on film for oral histories concerning their life growing up and after their education. After Vaughn and I talked about our alternative to the questionnaire I’m surprised these people are willing to be interviewed at the reunion, but it will be interesting to see how everything plays out.

Conrad told me the location surrounding the church is very interesting- overgrown trees next to the driving lane, and a cemetery next to the church. He thought it might be interesting to photograph people there. I explained that I envision photographing the people under natural light, either window lit or outside, preferably sitting down. He isn’t sure of where I will have access to shoot on Sunday, but seemed confident that I could find a place during the set-up time Sunday morning. I will probably photograph each person several different ways, so when it comes time to edit the images I can pick the sitting or standing position which best enhances the feel I’m conveying. I will also shoot full-body, torso and up, and head shots so that I have choices to work with. I don’t really want to shoot environmental portraits for the project, but I may for other personal work or to potentially give to Conrad for the Digital Collections. He mentioned that he would like to have some of the images if I was willing, and I think it would be a good idea. He also said there are a few African American Historical museums he knows of that I could potentially exhibit my work at after my Thesis Defense. We are both excited about the possibilities. We aren’t sure how many people I will be able to photograph on Sunday but if I was able to photograph only 8 or 9, that would still be about halfway to my goal of 15-20 different people. We are setting up at the church around 11 on Sunday, and then people will be available to photograph between 1 and 4 p.m. There is a lunch being served and a church service in the afternoon, so I don’t entirely see how this is going to work. Hopefully it isn’t too awkward. I don’t want to be in the way of the fellowship happening at the reunion. Conrad seems confidant that these people are very interested in the projects and says that I may attract a lot of subjects; if one lady is photographed and tells her friends maybe they will want to be photographed as well. That wouldn’t be a bad thing but I don’t want any attention on me to take away from the reunion. I’m excited that Vaughn is coming along for the party because he usually knows how to alleviate the potential awkwardness of most situations, and he will be a guide for me- especially since this will be my first Thesis shoot.

Advising Meeting

Tuesday October 6, 2009

Today I had a meeting with Vaughn to discuss shooting at the reunion on Sunday (the 11^th). I have thought a bit about how I want to shoot the images, and about collecting a writing excerpt from each subject to be scanned in along side the images I make. I thought about asking some questions or a question similar to “Did you grow up during the depression era, and if so how did that affect you/your life growing up?” I think this would be broad enough to give both the viewers and myself insight into these portraits and how they relate as a whole- and would help the viewers connect with the people and their photographs. Immediately Vaughn said that presenting a handout questionnaire at the reunion would not be the best method.

His points: Being elderly, some of these people may not have written in a long time; They may not know how to write; They came to this reunion to have fun, see old friends, fellowship, eat- not answer a questionnaire; If they even considered writing something (or were able to) they would probably rush and write down something hurriedly so they could leave; We are lucky enough they will take time out of their reunion to allow us to photograph/interview them for the archive project (in conjunction with my thesis project).

His suggestion: After I photograph each person I will let him or her know I appreciated their time and would like to bring them a final print of their photograph. If they would like a print and would also like to talk to me for a bit about themselves I will leave room for them to write their contact information (phone number, address, etc.) on their release form. I will also photograph the release form immediately after photographing each person, ensuring I know which image corresponds with each person.

My thoughts: I think this will be a good alternative to interviewing each person at the reunion. They aren’t at the reunion to be interviewed, so why would they want to. I’m thankful enough to meet and photograph each person- and it will be awesome if I can sit down and talk with them at a later time and get to know them individually. It will also be interesting to go to their environments and learn more about who they are. The reunion is a great opportunity for me to produce some images for my thesis, but not all of my photographs will be made at this time. I don’t actually know how many people I will be able to photograph at the reunion, but since my aim is to have 15-20 final images (each of a different person) I’m sure that for the remaining photographs I will need to seek out people in their natural environments; there won’t always be an interesting church reunion to go to. I don’t think the fact that probably many images will come from other locations than the church reunion is hindering- I’m hoping to learn a lot on Sunday, especially since it will be my first shoot for the thesis. It will be an experience that will greatly determine how I go about photographing the rest of the project. There is a lot of unknown for me about Sunday because I haven’t really talked to Jim Conrad in person about his Collections Project and I don’t really know how my thesis is going to fit in with the Collections Project yet, but after I talk with him and learn more about it, I’ll finally know how involved they want me to be (having my prints exhibited with their work, if they want me to speak about the project, etc.)

The Project

The brainstorming of my Honors Thesis began in early 2009 when I enrolled in my Honors Colloquium 300 class. After considering possible thesis projects I came up with two solid ideas, one involving photographing elderly people and capturing their unique identity and story in photographs, and handwritten accounts by the subjects (in an exhibition and book). In the other project I would teach small children in an art class how to photograph and have an exhibition of my documentation of the project and of their photographs. Eventually I will pursue the second idea as it will be very enriching and also an incredible experience, but overwhelming positive feedback for my first idea led me to undertake it for my Honors Thesis and Exhibition. 

I asked Vaughn Wascovich to be my thesis advisor and we began fleshing out the details of the project. Here is my final draft of the Thesis Contract:

THESIS CONTRACT

Vaughn Wascovich – Advisor

Rebecca Rainsberger – Honors Scholar

In order to fulfill the responsibilities of adviser and scholar in the preparation of an Honors Thesis, we propose the following:

·      We will meet once a week during the fall semester of 2009, on the date jointly decided on by both Scholar and Advisor.

·      Using a traditional historic photographic process, large-format 8X10 camera and handmade palladium contact prints, I will be photographing elderly people who have made significant contributions to their community. Oftentimes communities overlook the elderly but each person has significant insight to pass along to the younger generation. I would like to convey what I have learned from each person in my images and process journal. In addition to what I have above stated, I will be documenting the printing process with video and audio- because of the historic significance of the palladium printing.

·      That the student will read works suggested by the advisor and other works that the student might find relevant to the study, including: Historic Photographic Processes, Nadeau, Paul Strand: Essay on His Life and Works, Emmet Gowin: Photographs, Harry Callahan, Josef Sudek, Stiegletz, Fredereck Summer, Edward Weston, David Plowden, Robert Adams: Why people photograph, John Berger: ‘About Looking’, ‘Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos,’ Dick Arentz: Platinum and Palladium Printing, Luis Nadeau

·      That during weekly meetings the student will solve technical issues related to the film camera, film processing, and hand-coated printing process, and research historic photographs and photographers in order to formulate ideas for the project

·      That our goal in the thesis readings course will be to photograph 15-20 people, have a photographic exhibition of the final framed photographs, as well as documentation of the photographing and process, and a website and or book. I want to build a relationship with these people- not just take their picture- whom I otherwise might never know or learn from.

There have been changes to the contract since its initial completion. The changes aren’t extensive but affect the type of negatives I will produce. After feedback from my advisor, other faculty members and my peers I decided to photograph the images with a digital 35 mm camera instead of a large-format film camera. Instead of producing film negatives to print from I will be making digital negatives from transparency paper.