Dr. Amy Darnell

Associate Professor, Speech Communication * Film and Visual Studies

National Photo Month, 5/20/12

by Amy L. Darnell on May 20, 2012

In honor of my brother’s birthday, I thought I’d choose a photo of a street in Spain. Let me explain. My brother loves cars. I guess all of my father’s children ended up with this ‘affliction.’ I remember growing up watching my dad and brothers fix, tune, and repair vehicles. I remember ’70s muscle cars, a ’57 Chevy and my Dad’s smile when I raved about a Carmen Ghia in a movie. So, in honor of that love of the open road and the vehicles that travel them, a hilltop road in Barcelona, taken May 20, 2010.

[Image credit: Amy Darnell]

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It is what it is

by Amy L. Darnell on May 18, 2012

How fast do you read? I’m a notoriously slow reader because I’ll get distracted and think of other things– what I need to do today; that time when I did _______; why is so-and-so so annoying? You name it, a stream of consciousness emerges when I read that always makes me a bit slow. My nephew Raymond, on the other hand, blazes through books. I couldn’t help but take this reading test from Staples to see, exactly, how fast or slow I am. I came out at 340 w.p.m. which places me 36% above the average adult– and about 50% below most college professors. I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed, but I’m not really. It is what it is. What’s your score?

ereader test
Source: Staples eReader Department

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National Photo Month, 5/17/12 edition

by Amy L. Darnell on May 17, 2012

Josef Miles gave his mother, Patty Akrouche, an early Mother’s Day present this past weekend. I think he gave us all something quite precious.

For more about Josef you can read this report from NPR.

[Image credit: Patty Akrouche]

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National Photo Month, 5/15/2012 edition

by Amy L. Darnell on May 15, 2012

One of my favorite books of the past year, or any year, is The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Now despite thinly veiling my dear Muskingum Muskies as the bad guys, I love this story of baseball short stop Henry Skrimshander. With summer quickly approaching and baseball on my mind, I thought I’d offer up a national past time photo. On this day, in 1973, Nolan Ryan pitched his first no-hitter.

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National Photo Month, 5/13/12

by Amy L. Darnell on May 13, 2012

On this Mother’s Day, a recontextualization of the world’s most famous photograph of a mother, Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.” The famous Depression-era photograph of Florence Owens Thompson was one in a series of six photos taken at a camp in California, yet so many are unaware of the surroundings, the stark setting in which mother and children lived.

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National Photo Month, 5/12/12 edition

by Amy L. Darnell on May 12, 2012

Lewis Hine is one of my favorite photographers. Before I knew who he was and the impact he made, his stark, hauntingly striking photographs held such power for me. I instantly wondered about the stories before and after the ‘life’ of the photo. A collection of his works, published earlier this year, will hopefully allow more people to learn about Hine and his influential work.

“Whether it be a painting or photograph, the picture is a symbol that brings one immediately into close touch with reality. In fact, it is often more effective than the reality would have been, because, in the picture, the non-essential and conflicting interests have been eliminated. The average person believes implicitly that the photograph cannot falsify. Of course, you and I know that this unbounded faith in the integrity of the photograph is often rudely shaken, for, while photographs may not lie, liars may photograph.” — Lewis Hine

Figure 1: Title: Laura Petty, a 6 year old berry picker on Jenkins Farm. “I’m just beginnin’. Licked two boxes yesterday.” Gets 2 [cents] a box. Rock Creek, Md.
Date: 06/07/1909

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