Story Telling and Mythologizing
Greener Grass (2024) Habib Apooyin
This picture was taken on my first ever vacation this past summer when I travelled across 3 different countries in Europe. It was my first time ever on vacation and in the continent, so the experience was eye-opening on many levels. It opened my eyes for the first time that there was a world outside of what I knew and my comfort zone, which was a real thing I had to grasp. It brought a freeing feeling that made me learn new things about myself, primarily that as much as NYC is and always will be home for me, there is environments that I could see myself making my new home. That epiphany in itself makes it an important memory and feeling that I still hold to this day.
Reflection of a kingdom (2024) Terry Beaupierre
It is a structure I came across in Aruba I was fascinated with.
untitled (2024) Denisse Cortorreal
I used to go to a specific beach in Connecticut with my family since childhood. I would always choose to play in the ocean, and I used to ask it yes or no questions (soft waves meant yes, hard hitting waves meant no) because my grandmother always told me that the ocean was a conscious spirit of a young woman. The legend goes that a mother and her daughter lived on a beach house, and that one day the two got into a big argument. The mother, in a fit of rage, damns her daughter and wishes that she would "be swept away by the ocean." It is then that the tides of the ocean hit the girls foot, and she is paralyzed, soon beginning to dissolve, becoming the ocean itself. The lesson is for parents to never speak ill of their children, and to never mock the ocean itself. They say that if you speak ill of the ocean, especially before a trip, tragedy is guaranteed to occur.
Beauty in the heat (2024) Jacqueline Farquharson
Just imagine, it’s 95 degrees with a little bit of breeze blowing by. You’re relaxing on a beautiful pool deck while clearing your mind and basking in the sun. When you open your eyes you see that you’re not the only one relaxing, so is the bird. It’s basking in the sun, probably thinking of food or maybe it’s family…we will never know but we both share the same feeling, relaxation.
untitled (2024) Sheena Luke
This is a drawing of Icarus falling from the sky after flying too close to the sun. The Greek myth goes like this: Daedalus, a mythical inventor, created wings made of feathers and wax to escape from Crete where he and his son, Icarus, were held captive by King Minos. Icarus, however, ignored his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea where he met his end.
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In Haiti they are always telling children to not go out at midnight
At midnight, it the time for werewolf to come out
Everything start in the city of Aux Cayes
If you don’t understand let me explain you
If at midnight you out the werewolf will eat you
Parents tell this story to let their children know
They should be on their bed at midnight
Instead of hanging out
Time goes by on a bench (2024) Kedesia Robinson
This picture represent a thumbnail and within that thumbnail I'm conveying to viewers that I spent 24 hours on a bench in a park. This picture can be viewed as a part two to my first submission. It shows children playing, couples, and the bench. The memories I hold of this place can also be seen in the picture, with people also enjoying the space as well. I've learned of this park in M.S. and this was my escape where I would hang out with friends. This park still has a tight hold on me.
Kirk krak (2024) Romial Calice
My piece is about story telling in Haiti or how it was in the past. Every night a group would sit in the front or backyard and the adult would be the performer. They way the story would start would be like ; the performer would say “Kirk” and the audience would say “krak” or we could use other phrases like “Tim Tim” and “bwa sèch” and so on. The story telling would either consist of stories or ridles . The story telling would last for 1 or 2 hours than everyone would go to sleep after.
Untitled (2024) Koralys De La Cruz
The story behind this picture is a true story that my mother told me. The location is the same as last week: Hato Mayor (my parents’ hometown). Apparently there are a few witches in our province. My mother told me that growing up she and her friends would go to an old lady’s backyard to steal mangoes from her mango tree. This old lady happened to be one of the few famous witches. One night my mother went with her friends to old lady Tina’s house. They waited for Tina to fall asleep and snuck into the backyard. As they began to attempt to get their mangos Tina appeared in the background and started to yell at them, but they claimed that her body was still lying down in her bedroom in plain sight as-well. So they ran as fast as they could.
Dreams (2024) Cristina Hernandez
I remember being a child and having such vivid dreams and waking up and wishing that was my reality. This piece plays around with that idea. Are the monters in our dreams scarier than the monsters that walk outside with us? Is this fairytale-land just as magical as our real life? Which is her reality? It all starts in bed dreaming and you get to decide
Welcome Home :) (2024) Raven Garcia
Inspired by the Japanese monster parade in Kyoto, I felt truly alive. So I made a Japanese setting where the main character of my story gets demoned away to, to live amongst monsters in their world due to being a lost soul.
Nectar (2024) Milen Yimer
This piece is meant to exaggerate the story of the best orange juice I ever had in Paris. I still think about that drink 4 years later, so it has legend status in my head.
The man whose face I can’t remember (2024) Joseph Balbuena
This piece is based of the idea of passing strangers who's faces are now a blur in my memory but the space is as vivid as can be. It utilizes 2 long-expo shots that were overlayed and then edited in lightroom.
Ghosted (2024) Zeinebou Dia
This piece is centered in my room and the neighborhood of Coney Island- which is rich in history and great source for stories. I will submit the finished version to Bev- feel free to upload that one!
The fall of Icarus (2024) Sabre Lee
This is a drawing of Icarus falling from the sky after flying too close to the sun. The Greek myth goes like this: Daedalus, a mythical inventor, created wings made of feathers and wax to escape from Crete where he and his son, Icarus, were held captive by King Minos. Icarus, however, ignored his father's warnings and flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and he fell into the sea where he met his end.
Life of Bella (2024) Denivia Rivera
I chose my room at home as my important space this week. In my room at home I have my rabbit Bella who has the biggest personality. I decided to take pictures I have of her and create a funny story in the form of a comic strip this week. This piece came about because whenever Bella does certain things I can just imagine what she would be saying if she could talk so I decided to narrate for her.
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During the summer of 2019, I was working at the Armory doing front of house shift. It was a calm day for the most part. It was hot outside just like summer should be but we had the AC blasting very nicely. That’s when FOH manager J-tan informed the ushers that there may be some celebrities coming to the show. People got excited and I was somewhere in the middle of that excitement. I was never really one to freak out when celebrities are present.
The sun disappeared and the ushers were then finally assigned positions. I was at the front of the drill hall when J-tan let me know I’d be ticket scanning. It was pretty slow at first BUT As if on cue, someone asks “wow, where is everyone”? & the next moment it was like a stampede of patrons storming the halls. I took a deep breath and got to the scanning. Everyone left & right was shoving and speaking, I had to make sure I got everyone. Then suddenly I scanned someone's ticket and my ticket machine flashed a bright red. I looked up to see a man wearing sunglasses and a nice tailored suit. I proceeded to tell him that his ticket didn’t work and that he would need to go to the box office to either claim a new ticket or troubleshoot the problem with their current ticket.
They suck their teeth at me and walk away. A man follows him. I pay no mind, cause I didn’t get paid well enough to care (lol). I continued to scan tickets with the crowd and made sure to do it as fast as I could since the show was beginning soon and the pressure was on. Finally, the workload began to cool down and there weren't many people left. Eventually the man with the glasses comes back up to me with a new ticket (and a second one for his friend) ,
He pulls out the tickets and hands it to me. It works and as i proceed to hand it back to him and tell him to “enjoy the show”/give him directions to his seat. HOWEVER, he helps up holding his hand up a foot away from my face & says, “mhm, yeah whatever” and walks around me with his 6’6” foot buddy. I watch as they walk into the very dark drill hall space and I can no longer make out their figures.
I turn around with their ticket in my hand and proceed to put it in my pocket in a shrugging motion. Not caring. This kind of thing happens, you never know when someones having a bad day so I just didn’t let it get under my skin. I turned over to my friend who was also scanning tickets on that shift. “Can u believe that guy” I say. He has his mouth wide open in shock.
“What?” I say.
“Dude that was James Franco”
Ohhhhhhh.
& That's the story of why I don’t mess with James Franco.
Side Note: Who wears sunglasses inside the Armory? Lol it has so much lowkey lighting as it is.
MTV Cribs Real (2024) AJ Volkov
This is the story of my insane YouTube beef and how I almost got sued…
Moral of the story maybe don't dox people on the internet...??? Also monitor what your kids post online when they're like 10. Especially if they have a villainous reputation.
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I think I saw him once
In the corner of my eye
I couldn’t tell you what he looked like
No matter how hard I try
They say he dances in the shadows
With the ghost of his lost bride
Reminiscing on their beloved waltz
He hums a familiar tune while he glides
I’m not quite sure I’ve truly seen him once
The Man in Central Park
The one they say only appears at night
When everything goes dark
They say he’s a terrifying sight
“One look and it’s certain you won’t sleep tight”
But what’s so scary about a man,
Who simply longs to see his wife