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Vanity: From The Tableaux Vivants Series, 1994
Posted on September 29, 2010
Considering last week was only the second meeting of your Introduction to Photography class, you covered a lot of ground. To begin with, all of the students came prepared with their cameras, tripods, and grey cards as well as several rolls of film and a variety of questions. You gave a brief overview of a few topics that will be discussed in further as the class progresses; some of these issues included the bracketing of film, the variety of available light sources photographers tend to work with, and lens focal length and distortion. After this discussion, you gave a slide presentation of some of your more recent work, which seemed to spur a discussion amongst the class that I believe helped to bring some interesting ideas regarding their self-portrait project to the surface. After answering a few more technical questions regarding the equipment, you showed the class several of your own cameras and discussed proper workflow. You also gave tips on how to best maximize the use of their cameras.
After a short break, you gave a quick lighting demonstration that included three lights. The students had a lot of questions regarding the use of these lights and I think it was smart to set up the demonstration and let them participate in the process as much as possible. Shortly after the demonstration, the class was finished but a few students stayed behind again to discuss their projects with you and ask more about your lengthy career.
Mad Hatter (Dressed), Tableaux Vivant series, 1994
Personally, I thought the class went really well and that you were able to disseminate a lot of information in a short amount of time. Again, the only criticism I have speaks to the concern for the students being overwhelmed and unsure of how to execute. Having been taught as much as they have been so quickly may confuse some of them but I think the process will be evident once you are able to review their work. The only other suggestion I have, would be to begin showing the work of photographers they might be interested in. I guarantee it would be interesting for all of the students to get a taste of what is happening at the moment in the art world as a whole.
yoko grosshans
September 30th, 2010 at 04:49
caitlin, ur keen observations and candor will only make tony and his class a successful endeavor…sometimes brilliant photographers like tony are so accustomed to their work from so much experience, they may forget the fact that novice photogs are not as learned as he, just as his students’ will gain amazing insight so will tony….this is his first teaching endeavor, i believe and know his students’ will finish the semester with such knowledge and inspiration….keep up the good work!!
Evancho Lisa
September 30th, 2010 at 23:52
Once I thought about things like: why such information is for free here? Because when you write a book then at least on selling a book you get a percentage. Thank you and good luck on informing people more about it!