This is a photo I did not take of the sun peeking through a small, round gap between two pink buildings -very little of their paint remaining- reflecting off the rear-view mirror of a motorcycle standing slightly slanted -the metal of it rusting peacefully- and creeping in the front window of a tiny blue, hand-made house. The street is empty, silent and peaceful. The picture-perfectness of the scene got me lost in the glittering sunlight; it got me thinking of times other than my own and other lives that I spend a lifetime without even realizing their existence. As the bus rushes past this scene, I don't feel upset for missing it because my 6.2-mega-pixel Sony camera could never have captured the silence of the out-of-a-novel moment.
Welcome to our visual blog for the BUPS/BIS 2009 8th grade Ephesus trip. These photographs, captions and "unphotographs" represent a joint venture in English and art class capturing the experience of the students' final middle school trip at BUPS/BIS. Many still remember and speak fondly of the games at Patalya in 6th grade and the adventures in Cappadocia last year in 7th. This year's experience held the same kind of wonder and memories, all the more poignant since in just a little time they will graduate from the 8th grade. The students have chosen their best landscape, portrait and detail photograph, writing a concise and descriptive caption for one. Using Michael David Murphy's "Unphotographable" as an inspiration, the students also wrought an image in words when its meaning went beyond the pixel.
Even though they will be in the same building next year and have many of the same teachers, high school is a different world. Every assignment and class trip of middle school has been constructed to help the students succeed in this new realm. But, as you will see from the photos of Ephesus and its surrounding areas and as the students realized, the past is never far away, and it's always the foundation for the future.
Even though they will be in the same building next year and have many of the same teachers, high school is a different world. Every assignment and class trip of middle school has been constructed to help the students succeed in this new realm. But, as you will see from the photos of Ephesus and its surrounding areas and as the students realized, the past is never far away, and it's always the foundation for the future.
