What do we say when we speak without words? Is it possible for our pictures to really say a thousand words for us? At the forefront of our day were big questions about the ways we communicate verbally and the ways we can speak without words.

On a beautiful spring day in Manhattan we took on a seemingly simple task. Each member of the group had two hours to wander around New York solo. Their mission was to shoot one roll of film which told a story, answered a question, or communicated something. When we gathered together again at lunch, we could only tell our stories nonverbally (which led to some frightening versions of charades!) While we ate, our film was being developed at a number of one hour places along 42nd street.

In our continuing quest to explore the nature of communication without words, we visited the central park zoo to see the ways animals communicate with each other and how humans and animals communicate. We even found a mime who tried to charge us to have our picture taken with him (proving that nonverbal communication can be profitable.)

With the zoo behind us, we gathered our pictures and sat in Central Park. Without speaking or explaining, we passed around the pictures and tried to identify the photographers, based on theme or vision. Some were more obvious than others and only when we had all had a chance to look and appreciate in silence did we begin to talk about what we saw in each other's work. Shapes and reflections, colors and questions, society and relationships, color and light, destruction and creation. It seems that our pictures did speak loudly as to who we are and what we see.

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