Olden Time Photo Shoot

All throughout our project, the children were fascinated with the old photos we would see. They frequently commented about how serious everyone looked and theorized about why parts of some pictures were blurred out. Was it edited like the children see on TV? We realized that a single photo could communicate so much about the times in which it was taken. So one day, towards the end of our project, the children dressed up at their characters and set out to take "historical photos" that communicated information about the times in which the characters lived. Anna brought her camera and served as our photographer. With Anna's help,the children tried very hard to have their photos be as accurate as possible by making them grainy and black and white. They removed modern objects that would not have been present. They tried to match their clothes to the times and even chose books to read that would have been published in the days of their characters. Classmates stood in as family members or friends as needed. They often had to take pictures several times to get the serious faces they had seen in photos from the past (we're so used to giving a grin when we get our picture snapped). 

Nina Watson reads A Little Princess to her daughter, Moses, at bedtime.
The story was a popular one of the time. 

The Snyder family from Germany.
They look quite serious. No smiling in picture back then!

Joan Adwent hosts a tea party with new friends from America.

Bernard Bunnell poses with his copy of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
The story was a hit in his day and so good that it remains well known today.

Rosa Maria De Rosa sleeping in her tenement building.

Kirsten Johnson sews her mothers ripped bonnet.