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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.