An Unconventional
Faculty Meeting:
English and History Teachers Take a Field Trip to
Greenwich Village
by Jeffrey Stanley
In an effort to break with the regular format, the English and
History departments took a joint field trip recently in place of
their usual biweekly departmental meetings. They spent the afternoon
at the famed Leica Gallery in Greenwich Village, checking out the
exhibit Writers: Photographs by Nancy Crampton. English
Department Chair Sidney Bridges arranged the trip after
visiting the show and meeting Ms. Crampton, who agreed to be on-hand
for the Brooklyn Friends visit to explain her work and take questions.
The Leica Gallery exhibit is a companion to the photographer’s
celebrated book of the same name (2005 Quantuck Lane Press).
For more than 40 years Ms. Crampton (herself an English literature
major at Vassar College) has made a career of seeking out noteworthy
poets, novelists and playwrights and convincing them to pose for
portraits. The exhibit is a sampling of these photographs,
which range from old masters like W. H. Auden, James Baldwin and
Norman Mailer to illustrious newcomers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Edwidge
Dandicat. The cover of the book (pictured) features a portrait
of the Nobel laureate Saul Bellow, taken in the 1973. The book
itself—signed copies are on sale at the exhibition—contains
a total of 104 black and white photographs and quotes from each
author on their approaches to writing.
The official photographer of the Unterberg Poetry Center at the
92nd Street Y (renowned for its literary readings), Ms. Crampton
lives in New York City. Hundreds of her photographs have appeared
on book jackets and in magazine articles.
“The humanities teachers at Brooklyn Friends care deeply
about writing, and some of us are writers and photographers,” said
Sidney of his unconventional department meeting. “I
thought this would be a terrific opportunity to take advantage
of New York City as a professional development resource.” The
teachers agreed and are looking forward to their next field trip
in the Big Apple.
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