In a conversation this evening, I learned from David Bernstein, a colleague of Nancy Starrels, and one of the founding members of the Aesthetic Realism Photographers, about an important source of information about her teaching. It is a two-page entry in the Time/Life series: Photography Year/1979. In the chapter on "A Youthful New Wave in Photography," there are two photographs by teenagers who studied with Nancy Starrels, about whom the editors write:
The Child's View of New York
Nestled between public housing projects and tenements on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the nonprofit Henry Street School is part of the Henry Street Settlement, an 85-year-old community agency that originated as a visitng-nurse service for immigrants from Eastern Europe.
In 1970 the settlement, whose programs have grown and altered with changes in the neighborhood population, introduced a photography course for children. Nancy Starrels, who currently conducts the class, teaches students such basic camera operations as setting f-stops and focusing, then takes them on field trips to explore--and photograph--places in New York City they would not ordinarily see.
On one assignment, Starrels' students spent a day on an island in New York's East River photographing a firemen's training center normally off limits to the public. Students can also pursue individual interests--one youngster devoted to bodybuilding hung out at a local gym with his camera for several days taking pictures of musclemen.
It was moving to learn more about this important educator--information as fresh as ever!
