Thanks to The Elementary Photography / Art Grant from the Education Foundation of New Berlin (USA), teacher and photographer Leah Schretenthaler gets to teach approximately 350 sixth-grade students across four schools, the magic of analog photography using the Pinsta Camera. We got in touch with Leah to learn more about this exciting project.
Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Leah Schretenthaler and I was born and raised in Hawaii. I currently live and teach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching for 10 years. I have taught K-college but I have been teaching K-6 art at Elmwood Elementary in New Berlin, Wisconsin since 2020.
How did you hear about Pinsta?
I first found Pinsta on Instagram. They were just starting out with a kickstarter and I was unsure at first. A pinhole camera that can develop the image in the field, it seemed too good to be true. But I watched their videos and saw that this product was the real deal.
How do you teach with the Pinsta Cameras?
As a photographer I always love bringing photography into the curriculum. Pinsta cameras have allowed me to bring in traditional photography to my 6th grade students. Before the class starts I try to do a test exposure in one of the cameras but I do not develop it until class time.
In our hour long class, students are introduced to Pinsta and the process with an introduction video, this includes the videos that are available on Pinsta’s website. After the video students are shown how to go through the development process (I use the image that I exposed before the class started). Once the demonstration is over the students are instructed to pair up. They then work together to get their chemistry ready.
Each team then grabs a pre-loaded camera and stopwatch. One student is in charge of the camera and the other is in charge of the stopwatch. The class then goes outside on the playground and field to find the perfect spot to take their image. Once they finish their exposure they return to the classroom and go through the developing process. Each of the chemical syringes have labels with the name of the chemical, step number, and time for the corresponding step. Depending on how long student teams take to create their image, some teams have time to do a second image.
Some things that I have also done is take the students outside and talk about exposure and sun position. Since this is the first time they are using a non-digital camera, we also talk about the differences between their ipad / phone camera and the Pinsta camera. The students enjoy working together in teams in the beginning. Toward the end of the unit (usually 3-4 days depending) students feel more comfortable working alone. The magnetic drying/displaying frames have been the perfect way to display the students' work in the hallway display cases immediately.
What other things have you done or plan to do with the Pinsta Cameras and education?
I currently plan to go to the other elementary schools in my district and help them teach this lesson on the first day so they feel more comfortable. The 7-12 art teacher in my district also plans to use the cameras this fall for his 8th grade class.
Thank you, Leah, for sharing this wonderful project with us!
If your school is interested in learning about our educational kits, please reach out to us, we're happy to help!
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