Thursday, November 29, 2001

The principal's office


Mark M. Hancock / © The Dallas Morning News

Fifth-grader Dietrich Irving (center), listens to both his grandmother Dorothy Holley (left) and Sister Roberta Fulton (right) during a parent conference at Our Mother of Mercy Catholic School on November 29, 2001. Sister Roberta is the first black principal and nun at the oldest African-American parochial school in Fort Worth.
 

6 comments:

CarmenSisson said...

That's a great photograph. I love his posture combined with their expressions. It really gives that "Catholic parochial school" feeling.

Mark M. Hancock said...

It was tense.

Adventuring through Florida's WILD life! said...

Great shot!!! You can feel the tension of the faceless kid. Man, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!

Bryon Houlgrave said...

Mark, I agree that this is a great and powerful image, but I want to know what their attitude was toward you being there shooting? It seems like a personal moment. You don't mention whether the student was being laid in to, but we get that impression from Sister Roberta. I wonder if some new PJs could benefit from your expertise on shooting personal scenes like this, how to handle themselves when they're scolded, told to leave, etc.

Mark M. Hancock said...

I was documenting Sister Roberta all morning. I asked the grandmother if it was OK for me to hang out with them since meetings are a large part of a principal's day. She had no problem with it. This moment happened about 20 minutes into a conversation and was sparked by something the student said. By then, everyone was accustomed to me and the sound of the camera.
It was a brief moment in a relatively calm meeting. If I hadn't been working the situation hard, it could have been missed entirely.

Marie said...

'Diary of a Mad Black Woman'. 'nuff said.
You captured it baby! Too bad for him.