Anybody Teaching?

DouglasUrner · #1 07-23-2006, 07:16 PM

Not sure where to post this . . .

I'm wondering if anybody is teaching and if you'd be interested in exchanging ideas, insights, book lists, etc.

Thanks, Doug

jlipkin · #2 07-23-2006, 08:15 PM

Douglas -

While, I'm new to this board, I've been teaching for about a dozen years. I'd be happy to talk with you via email or other medium. My email is jlipkin <at> jlipkin <dot> com.

What subject are you teaching and at what level?

Al Schietzsch · #3 07-24-2006, 10:13 AM

I teach photography courses at Grant MacEwan in Edmonton; if I can be of help, let me know.

DouglasUrner · #4 07-26-2006, 03:51 PM

Thank you both -- right now I'm looking for ideas for text books that would be suitable for a high school program. I'm hoping to find books that focus on learning to develop one's creative skills more than on the technical aspects of photography.

Doug

larry_angier · #5 07-26-2006, 10:57 PM

Hi Doug,

Two books come to mind on creativity:

Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design by Dorr Bothwell

Art and Fear by Ted Orland and David Bayles

HTH,

Ken_Tanaka · #6 07-27-2006, 01:39 AM

Doug: I don't teach but two inexpensive books come to mind as potential candidates.

Photographic Composition by Tom Grill and Mark Scanlon, and

Learning to See Creatively; Design, Color and Composition in Photography by Bryan Petersen

I gave the latter book to my high-school age niece last year and she really learned a lot from reading and following some of its exercises on her own.

jlipkin · #7 07-30-2006, 08:30 PM

You could try Critizing photographs, by Terry Barrett. It lays out a good framework for discussing photographs. I think the best way to get students interested, though, is to show them work and talk about why you like it. Remember that, ultimately (and especially for high school students) they wil be responding to you. As they say to writers, 'write about what you know'. Talk about what you know, what you like and why you like it.

Also, a popular concept these days in college course deisgn is 'active learning'. Students seem to learn better when they take an active role in the learning process. Faculty are moving away from the 'skill and drill' to a more interactive process.

Try to make learning fun. I recently changed an assignment where students learned about different resolution settings on digital cameras. Initially, they simply had to take a few pictures. This year, I'm going to change it to a scavenger hunt where they have to take pictures from a list of things. They'll divide up into teams and the team with the highest score will win some sort of prize.

Good luck.