1/9-First day of the Photography J-Term!

 Tuesday 1/9/24

By: Max and Mackenzie

Owen observes as Eli takes a low-angle photo of a tree at Bell Park.

Emma takes a picture of Kamilla, while Ambika uses her phone to reflect light.

Today was our first day of the j-term! Today we did not have much of an introduction to photography, but we collaboratively created norms for us to follow and hold each other accountable for, entailing how we should treat our peers and their work in this course, being disciplined in our work, and engaging in activities, and being open to this experience that is new for many of us. We made rubrics for assignments and took initiative for the way we’d be assessed on our work in this student-led J-term, setting the grading standards for the large projects we will be doing. We also began learning about film photography and what that entails. We began watching a MasterClass of a primarily film photographer named Petra Collins as a lesson, who walked us through everything from how film cameras operate, to how and where to find inspiration for your work. After this, we set up our own individual film cameras and our class subsequently went on a walk around the extended campus to test out the film cameras and techniques we had learned.

Emma taking a picture of Kamilla (not visible) at Bell Park.

Student Reflections

Max

I had a great time going out and taking photos, as I haven’t done that in a while. Today was different, as I had to focus on certain aspects of the scene I was photographing. For example, instead of photographing just a plant, consider how the light hits the plant and keeping it in focus, and other things out of focus. I felt like I monopolized the conversation a little too much when creating our rubrics, but everything ended up fine. Though I have used film before, it will still be a new experience for me as I haven’t used it in a photography class and mostly not taking long exposure photos. The masterclass is about using film and it seems to teach how to get the most out of your image and how to have intentions about what you are photographing, which will also be a new experience for me. I hope this course is fun and I am looking forward to doing what we will be doing and learning tomorrow. 

Eli taking a photo of the cloud column sculpture near the Glassell School, while the photographer of this picture is visible. 

Mackenzie

I’ve always had an interest in not only photography, but anything involving a camera. A camera, unlike art supplies of any other medium, can often be the only thing necessary to create a great piece of art. Photography is a beautifully accessible art form to anyone who has an eye for cool things, which I believe we all have to some degree. This morning, Ms. Harrison went around the classroom and asked us what we think is interesting about photography, and I said just that– with just a camera, anyone can capture something that speaks to someone else, even accidentally. I was very appreciative of the opportunity to walk around the museum district after we got our film cameras for the simple purpose of looking at it and capturing what captures us first. Intentionality can prove valuable in all art forms, and photography is no exception to that, but sometimes the intention finds you, and it all starts with looking at something cool.