Nuestros Colores

Since the beginning of the year, my second grade POP class has been working on a literacy through photography project to explore our cultures and celebrate diversity. Our project is called Nuestros Colores, Our Colors.

Our goal is to create visual poetry on E 138th street through the students’ art and writing. One of my students ended her essay asking, “And what is your color of self?” The beauty of this type of project is that these images will not be confined to the walls of a gallery but will return to and be viewed where they were generated. These portraits were not only taken in the community but will return to the community- to the exact store window in some cases where the food was purchased for the photograph. The images will be displayed within a block of the school in hopes that this public accessibility will not only give the students, their care givers and the store owners a sense of pride for their “colors, foods, community and culture” but will awaken a youthful curiosity within the local members of the community and deep reflection on the message presented will be a result.

We hope you enjoy our project. It has been a creative way to explore issues of self-concept and diversity while appreciating our cultures and the resources we have in our South Bronx community.

Pedagogy of Photography Exhibit

Come see our exhibit on East 138th Street between Willis and Alexander Avenues- off the 6 Train in the South Bronx. The student's work is exhibited at Pioneer Super Market, The Bronx Fish Market, Pizza & Taco Restaurant, Tropical Resturant, El Rinconcito Mexicano & Ceilito Lindo Restaurants!

Community Exhibit/ Publishing Party Pictures

Our end of the year photography exhibit, publishing party and community walk were a great success! We had very proud students, parents and community members. Everyone appreciated the accessible art exhibit we created in the store windows in the community!

A Year In Review

We spent a school year discovering the diversity of ourselves and community which included self reflections, community mapping, writing about and painting our colors.

Yo Soy Pan de Platano

My Skin Color is Like Banana Muffin

By Leazah

I chose banana bread as my skin color for the community walk but we did not find banana bread so we chose a banana muffin at a place called Tropical Resturant. We were taking pictures with our food. My mom helped me find my recipe for banana bread. My mom makes it at our house. I like to taste it. Banana bread tastes delicious. It is smooth like a pillow.

Yo Soy Un Mango Batido

What is photography?

Photogrpahy is when you take a picture. When i was little my big bother put a ppicture of in eassbinng time. It was when i i fell down and i didt like it . The picture is at home. Why did he take the picture when nobody thinks itis funny?

Yo Soy Un Batido
Isnael


The walk felt really exciting. The mango batito was my color because my skin is light like my Mom. My mother told me a story about where she lived in Puerto Rico. I was there in 2001 when I was a baby when we switched back to Puert 0 Rico. The mango tastes sweet . My mom MIX IT with cinnamon and a bit of vanilla too. It has sweet stuff inside and it is light colored. I know this because my mom use to make batito. It was great to come to the community walk. Learning about our color and tryinh different foods made me feel like learning about my culture. I like school because it has taught me many things about myself.
My favorite part of the trip was when I tooked a picture in front of the police car and of the store. What is your favorite picture?

Yo Soy "Jamaican Dumplings"

Photography by Rosemarie

My farvite picture is when I was a baby and I had on a liittle blue
baby clother with a little bear on it I was playing with my sister and my borther my eyes were big I looked cute that was my farvite baby picture.I love the picture because I like how my eyes looked when my mom took my picture I was in my crab in my apartment. I was excited. Why was I excited? Because it was my frist time I got my frist picture take.


Jamaica Dumplings by Rosemarie



I chose dumplings because I think dumplings are the color of my skin. 
I chose them because they come from my country Jamaica.
I eat them with soup. They taste sweet like the sauce on the dumplings.
We bought Chinese dumplings because we could not find Jamaican dumplings on the community walk. It was very hot when we took pictures. It was very bright and the sun hurt my eyes. My feet were also burnt from the sun because I wore sandals. I wonder how it would have felt to pick my color when it was cold? Actually I think it would have been hard because it might have been windy and dirt would be flying everywhere. I
would have worn more cothes to keep me warm. I am glad I took my picture when it was sunny because it was easier to find dumplings in soup that were just like my color.