End of the Semester Craziness

So today is the first day back after Thanksgiving. Students are just realizing that the end of the semester is upon us and that all the casual time management is coming home to haunt them. They have begun to be forgetful due to lack of sleep. One of Matt's students left his Nikon DSLR in the classroom on the desk and went off. Luckily, I realized none of my students were sitting in that place so none of them left it, so I retrieved it and gave it to Matt to identify which student it belonged to. Then one of mine left his hard drive after printing. Hope it gets better as the week proceeds or we are in for a bad time.

 ThinkTank makes pretty nice camera bags in all sizes and of incredible quality. They are a favorite of one of my colleagues who has a bundle of them. I have been a Domke bag girl for years but am trying out these. My pals tell me I will love them. I want a bag that lets me grab my camera while walking and then slip it back in the bag without having to set the bag down again. I want a bag that makes my life easier rather than more difficult. 

If you are like that too, follow this link to ThinkTank and see what you think. They each come with a raincoat for the bag, they are soft sided so they fit to your body. And if you buy from this link, you will be given a choice of a free gift. Students who have studied with me, alum of NKU, and colleagues can get the student discount from a link off http://www.nku.edu/~photo, but the rest of us can get the gift and purchase from clicking on the camera bag above. 

Peter Pan and Me

Each year at this time, I want to find a Peter Pan costume and sing his song "I won't grow up, I don't wanna go to school...." But once I get into class that first time, I am fine. It is a bit of stage fright. I am always remembering that what happens in classes can change people's lives. It's a lot of responsibility to have on our shoulders.

But here we go, off on another year's adventure in learning and life. I guess I will only hum Peter's song in the morning as I am getting ready to face the beginning of another academic year. You'd think, that after all these years, I would be used to it. This will be the beginning of my 38th year of teaching photo in higher ed and the my 19th year at NKU.

I spent my summer working on art, visiting with great friends in photo and former students, learning new software, and being a construction worker in our yard.

See you all and let's see if we can make this a great year.

Last night at LOOK3 slide show and performance by dancers from a video in the Pavilion at the end of the mall.

We go to LOOK3 every year in June and are impressed by how good these 3 days of peace, love and photography are done by the folks in Charlottesville and the festival supporters. I wish that all the students would come to participate in this amazing festival. Photo is everywhere in town during this time. Not only is the LOOK3 festival great, it is so very affordable with students paying $50 for 3 days. Dorm rooms can be rented for cheap and a free shuttle gets you back and forth from the U of Virginia campus to the downtown mall. You will be walking along and run into the likes of Sally Mann or Mary Ellen Mark or James Nachtwey. Take a look at their own website to find out more. http://www.look3.org

After the evening talk, we enjoyed some wine and conversation. L to R Rocky, Chris, Keith and I

Graduation marks the beginning of a new phase of life

Today many of our students will graduate and begin the new part of their life. I almost always go to graduation and love to witness this important mark in their life. When I graduated with my undergrad degree, I did not go to the ceremony because I was not interested in the pomp and circumstance of it all. I had finished the quarter before and saw no reason to spend the money on the gown rental. I had moved on. But I missed that recognition of my accomplishment by not joining my friends at this life marker.

Today, I will mark theirs and celebrate the work they put in to get to this place. I will send them my hopes for a continued life making art, and making a difference. I will come to understand that my time with them will change. They will be come art colleagues. I will miss them.

Some work from Senior BFA Shows that I think are as good as any graduate show

Kate and her images by Diane Kruer

Outside the installation

These are from Kate Dube's installation Simple Truths Speaks Volumes with 24" square images filling an 8' square space. A soundtrack is also filling the space with sounds of each person pictured sharing personal epiphanies.

These are from Spencer Sturr's photo installation called Is There Anybody Out There... which included a couple more images and sound. These stunning images were printed very large and commanded quite a lot of attention. Spencer will be going to graduate school in film at Chapman in Orange County.

Michelle Moore's Photobooth included enlarged strips of 4 like the traditional photobooth produced and as installed read like a story across the central sections.

Senior Shows

Senior shows are something to celebrate and also bring a bit of sadness to me. It means that these artists will leave school soon and move on with their lives. We will be left behind. It is nice to spend time with your students and see them develop into fine young people with a set of skills that will help them in their life pursuits. One of my main goals as a teacher is to teach them not to need me to tell them what to do next but to teach them to be able to figure that out on their own and to trust their instincts. This will serve them well as they continue on as artists.

But it still makes me sad to see them walk away just when they are getting really interesting to watch. I love seeing them know what they want to do as artists, to see them secure with their decisions and ready to do what it takes to make the work strong. What has been so easy is those little conversations as they stop in at my door to share an idea, ask a question or just hang. These will be memories soon.

Now we just need to celebrate!

Congratulations are in order!

Two of our current undergraduate students will be in graduate school next year. Makes you proud that you had some part in their development as artists. Clarissa Peppers was accepted into the MFA program in Photography at University of Colorado at Boulder and Spencer Sturr was accepted into the MFA program in Photography, Video and Related Media at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

And our annual student show is really something to be proud about. The work is strong and inventive and can stand up to any other school.

A larger community of photo professionals

Kenda North and Jim Stone at a diner for breakfast

Me, Joyce Neimanas and Kenda North

I am just back from the annual Society for Photographic Education conference. I have been going off and on since 1974. Mostly I go. It is one of the most important groups I ever joined and because of this amazing society, I have made life long friends and have had a support group that I can call on to help my students as they move on in the world. These friends teach and/or work all over the country and are such valuable resources for all of my own students. Our own Matt Albritton came to us from one of them as a newly graduated student. That would never have happened if I had not contacted Lawrence to ask if there was anyone who might come help us out when Barry moved to the Dean's Office for a while. Lawrence is so proud of Matt and that he could help Matt in his career.

Also, because of friends, knowledge of their grad programs is shared and special attention is paid to our own students portfolios when applying for grad school with them. Don't get me wrong, we don't get our students into grad school but we do assist in calling special attention to them. The student's own work is the key to admission. Lately, Leigh Wells studied with an old friend of mine at SVA, Josh White went to ASU with a few old friends of mine, Kate Helmes is with my dear friend Kenda at UTA, David Martin is at UK with others, and Clarissa will go to U of Colorado at Boulder with more dear friends. The photography world is not that big, but our interactions yearly at conferences does help our students progress because when we recommend, they know we don't do it lightly. The mutual respect provides some background for weighing the portfolios and when two are equal, a trusted recommendation counts. 

Judith Thorpe, Janet Pritchard, Leslee Broersma, me, Zelda Zinn

I am suggesting that as soon as any of you can do it, you join and become active. What you receive back is much much more than you will ever give. Each year there is a regional conference and a national conference. This year we began the pre-conference on Wednesday with technical courses, demos, viewing of exhibitions, and visiting with friends. Students from around the country were there and when I spoke with some of them later, they were so excited at what they had received from this welcoming group of photography teachers and professionals.
To join SPE go to this link: http://www.spenational.org  Student level memberships are available.

Why would I blog?

It's hard to begin to write in a white box, to fill in the space with ideas and words. It's hard to figure out where to start and what to share and what to leave out. This blog will be more about working in photography and education. It will be my way of talking about the 36 years I have taught photography at the university level as a full time faculty member. It will help me to share images, projects and why I love my job. Where else can you spend the major portion of each day talking about ideas, seeing young people develop a visual vocabulary and grow confident in who they are and what they make?

Don't get me wrong, not everyone strives to be more than they are at any particular moment, but everyone does from time to time make large steps forward in understanding their art making and their lives. To witness this is to be a very lucky person.

For all the students I have had and for all that have made the world they live in a better place, I am thankful. You are the future of this world and some of you are the future of photography and art. I was lucky to know you at a point in your life where we could make connections and share ideas regularly. You have all kept me younger than my years. You have all given me your greatest gift, that of trust.