Jaiye Omowamide Capstone

Posted by Jaiyeola Omowamide in Capstone · Sessa · Wed on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 9:59 pm

Towards the end of my junior year, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Havana, Cuba for an interdisciplinary trip. Beyond excited, I had already decided that my capstone would revolve around this trip. It was required by our chaperones (Senorita Manuel, Ms.Jonas and Ms. Sessa) that we have some sort of project or theme that we would learn about during our time in Havana. I immediately decided that I revolve mine around the people of Cuba. Because of the embargo enacted by the U.S, Cuba has been very closed of to U.S citizens. We only know of Cuba for communism and cigars which isn't fair; what about the people! Being a big fan of "Humans of New York", I thought it would be good to translate that concept over to Cuba, thus me creating "Humanos de Cuba"! Cuba shouldn't be recognized of of stereotypes, but of it's people and culture. So for 9 days in Havana, I interviewed several individuals and made sure to hear their stories and thoughts and also to take an expressive picture of them to display back in Philadelphia like the pictures under the 22nd street bridge. I wasn't able display them that way but decided that an Instagram page would be the best way. From this project, I learned so much of Cuba’s culture and that Cuba and it's people are just like any other people on this planet.

Feel free to explore the instagram page!----> https://www.instagram.com/humanosdecuba/

"Cuban Culture - Learn More about Cuba | Don Quijote." DonQuijote. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

This website is an excellent source. It is an website that features different articles on Cuban culture including language, food, dance, film, monuments and more. I know this source is reliable because it comes from an organization, Don Quijote. I will use this source as a foundation for knowledge for Cuban culture.

Mannon, Travis. "12 Young Cubans Reveal What They Really Think of the U.S." Mic. Mic Network Inc., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

This is a online article source that includes summaries on the views Cubans have on America as well as the actually dialogue and answers that they give. I didn’t think to ask Cubans about America but this article changed my mind about it. This article gives sample questions which is great and I could use those questions for my interviews.

Paterson, James. "How to Shoot the Perfect Portrait." TechRadar. Future Pic, 08 Aug. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photography-video-capture/cameras/how-to-photograph-anything-best-camera-settings-for-perfect-portrait-photography-1320786>.

Since I will be photographing people and displaying their portraits/pictures, I need to know the skills to do so. I never took a photography course at SLA, so this source perfectly describes the aperture, lighting, depth of field, and exposure for the perfect picture. Although this source is very useful, one limitation that it has is that it just simply describes what to do but there’s no picture or videos showing how to do it.

Pérez, Louis A. “The American Historical Review.” The American Historical Review, vol. 99, no. 5, 1994, pp. 1786–1787. www.jstor.org/stable/2168582.

I wanted knowledge on Fidel castro since I know that there are mixed opinions of him inside and outside of Cuba. I would love to ask some of the Cubans on their opinions and their lives during his rule. This source gives a negative view on Castro which is the only downside but it is still useful because I can see the opinions of those who did not like him.

UCD- University College Dublin. “On how I approach strangers in the street | Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton | UCD, Dublin.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 1 Feb 2017. Web. 24 Apr 2014.

This is an online video source from the University College Dublin where “Humans of New York” creator, Brandon Stanton, gives his story on how he is successful at interviewing strangers in the street. For my Capstone, this is my biggest worry as people will possibly say “no”. Brandon’s advice is to stay as calm as possible and be as non-threatening as possible. His greatest advice in the video is the types of questions he asks strangers. This will help me formulate my own questions. This will be one of my most referenced sources for my Capstone.

Stanton, Brandon, and Brandon Stanton. Humans of New York: Stories. New York: St. Martin's, 2015. Print.

My goal to Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York” is similar; to display the stories and faces of humans. Although his subjects are in New York and mine are in Cuba, my process will be the same as his. His book will be an excellent reference for the type of stories I want as well as the aesthetic I will like to have.

Vaughan, Umi. “Afro Cuba.” Rebel Dance, Renegade Stance: Timba Music and Black Identity in Cuba, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2012, pp. 47–79, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.3355867.7.

Going to Cuba and interviewing people, I think it would be respectful to have prior knowledge of Cuba and it’s people. I have a deep interest in Afro-Cubanos and I would love to speak with one of them since they can sometimes go unnoticed in the social aspect of Cuba. This is a reliable source as it was found on JSTOR and it it gives the the context and significance of “contemporary Cuba” during the 90s and the evolution of dance as well as Fidel Castro’s reign.

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