Aloha fellow ducks,
I graduated from the U of O back in 1993. I studied photography and design and graduated with a fine arts degree. While I was in school, I hoped that my future career would involve photography. After working in the photography industry as an event photographer, I quickly realized that it was just a job and probably not a career I would be happy in. I decided to become a teacher and became certified in secondary industrial arts education at the University of Hawaii.
I taught graphic arts in Hawaii for 9 years, and then decided to relocate to Oregon. I have been teaching in Oregon for 7 years. I currently teach photography to high school students. I teach both digital and “old school” film and paper (darkroom) processes. My hope is that I will have more to share with my students in regards to visual literacy, especially in this evolving transmedia landscape that we are exposed to. I am anxious to start this new chapter in my life as a new student in the MMJ program.
I did not have the opportunity to learn about digital multimedia during my undergraduate studies, because the technology and medium was still new and evolving. After years of learning via workshops, I am excited to learn more about journalism and multimedia production in a modern school atmosphere. I look forward to working with all of you.
Hi Derek – I think its awesome that you still teach paper processes. Some of my fondest memories in college were spent in the darkroom waiting for the “magic” to happen. Do you find that students these days are less interested in learning the traditional methods of film photography? It seems like current high school students would be more interested in the instant gratification of digital photography.
Hi Katherine-
I used to think that high school students would not be interested in learning or experiencing the darkroom process. I found that most of my students want to learn it because they want to go through the experience because it is unique and rare(most schools don’t offer it anymore). Some kids want to learn the reasons why and how the image just magically appears. I have to tell myself every year that this darkroom stuff is new and amazing to a 15 year old. They want to have something to hold in their hand that they can say that they “made”.
I am planning on covering more digital photography in my classes, because more and more students already have a decent camera on their smartphone. This will give me the opportunity to link traditional and modern photo techniques. I will never abandon the darkroom process, because at the least, it gives people a perspective on how much time and effort was required prior to the digital imaging process. Plus, pinhole cameras are so fun to make and use.
Hi Derek!
I have had some similar feelings about working in the film industry in Portland (what film industry there is in Portland). I have never felt truly happy in it. I always felt like I had one foot in film/video and one foot in social services/non-profits. This past year I did get a chance to be a teaching assistant at the NW Film Center and I felt more at home in that space than I had as an editor at a post production house where I worked on more commercial projects. Through a project at the film center I had a chance to bring together my previous work with homeless youth and my love of filmmaking. It was both challenging and very exciting. This summer I also worked with middle school and high school kids at the Film Center’s summer camps. It was really exciting to see how motivated and engaged they were! I look forward to hearing more about the work your students are producing. I think some of the photography/video capabilities on the iphone, such as vine, are really awesome and younger students are really pushing their capabilities. Hopefully we can see some of what they do!
Though I agree that students are really excited about the older processes. Some of the kids this summer were really excited to hear that I had shot stuff on super 8 and 16mm. Like my interest in using home videos for projects I think their interest in what came before will remain. Though those processes are so time consuming, so maybe they’ll just go back to the iphone afterwards. Ha!
Do your students gravitate towards a certain style of photography? Are interested in a journalistic style of photography?
Derek,
You must have had some fascinating experiences, between pursuing your passion for photography and then going to Hawaii for nine years! I have always looked at photography as at least a bit of a hobby of mine, I like to at least pretend I know what I’m doing. But the ones who have taken it to another level I have a great respect for. There is an art to taking a beautiful photograph be it of nature or even just of being out and about screwing around with your equipment.
I have to ask though, do you think that teaching with traditional film and dark rooms is still relevant to people these days? With just about everything digital the need to ever use hard film and taking the time to develop the pictures seems erroneous. Also with everything digital anymore how do you feel about the integrity of photography with nearly every picture being photo-shopped?
Thanks for the comments.
Jarratt- I guess the latest trend in student photography involves images that they cannot really get authentically(without an app) with their iphones. They like photos that show really shallow depth of field or have “bokeh”. They also like to take lifestyle portraits(casual, un-posed) of each other.
Brett-Shooting with a manually controlled film camera forces the user to slow down and understand the controls of the camera. The students need to understand exposure to get any photos to come out. They realize that the darkroom is where they can make any changes to their image. At a minimum, my hope is that my students gain an appreciation for what the process used to be and how the controls for exposure(ISO, aperture, shutter speed) are the same on any camera. I tell them that automatic is nice, until your photo doesn’t come out, then you better know what you’re doing(with the camera).
This was how photography was taught when I was in school, but I still wonder why it’s necessary to learn about glass speed, ISO, shutter speed, etc on a film camera. Processing film to me seems like using a printing press- I can appreciate why some would choose to use it out of artistic preference, but otherwise it’s inefficient, outmoded, and prone to errors that could otherwise be controlled.
Part of the broader concern I have is that modern tools allow us to do more, so our responsibility to more is greater, and we therefore expect to be able to do more, quickly, from any new tool we’re given. Wouldn’t a RAW image and Lightroom offer greater potential for student learning than one-time-use film? To compare effects (like ISO, exposure, etc), I would think it’s easier to have an identical photo source for comparison.