How about an
indoor urban shot?
Lumix LS-75
Many of my photos have a back- story, but this one is a doosey:
It is one of the first shots I took since coming home to Framingham on April 1st, after spending 3 months in St. Augustine, Florida. It's a former middle school converted into doctors' offices.
I substituted as an art teacher in this building in 1969 as an art teacher, for one day. It was my first experience teaching in a public school. I was introduced to an unruly class by the principal who out-shouted the kids and ordered them to be nice to this temporary "sub for that day." As soon as the principal left the classroom, I was greeted with a barrage of spit balls..I was in my mid 40s and a novice in the educational profession, which made me a prime target for the young teenagers’ bombardment, cat calls and insults at this urban school. I was flummoxed, totally unprepared for the baptism of fire of disorder and humiliation. It was in the late hippie period when all rules of school demeanor were abandoned. The kids ruled the roost. It was not the best of times to be a substitute teacher.
Nonetheless, I did become a permanent art and industrial art teacher at Newton South High School and taught there 1970-1979 without any missile attacks, insults or disrespect from any my students. It was a wonderful experience.
The building's structure has been significantly altered and is now a handsome edifice. But I remember when it was a house of horror for me. Times change, memories linger.
