last fall, i taught the same class as my sp25 class, the animation/after effects focused one. i quickly found my experience in sp25 to be anomalous, as the level of effort across the board was seemingly nonexistent. or rather, i was spoiled by a very unique dynamic that i found out later on: two of my star students were newly broken up, and how else would you approach a class in that manner except to attempt to stunt on your ex every week? there was a clear victor.
fa25 did not have that same fervor of inspiration. new living conditions took me some getting used to, and lax attendance and effort grew disheartening for me as the term progressed. i had some students that started to get it near the end, but a lot did not. there were bigger things at play, though: along with policy moves made by the government, ai was swiftly becoming embedded in student workflows at the thought level, which made me feel like i had to stay abreast of the topic as well as be aware of how my students were using it – usually in the proposal phase of the midterm or final. aka, the conceptual, the thinking part. more distress.
a month left into the term and i was asked if i was interested in a photography class, which i could not jump at faster. a motion class was conveniently swiped from my SP26 schedule, and after my lackluster experience in teaching software to students who might not care, i was more than happy to be relieved of the duty, and instead focus on this foundational ‘how to see’ concept of this photography class.
during our first meeting, i was dismayed? to learn that 90% of the students have ever held a serious camera. appalling thought. however at now current week 10 i’ve seen a handful of them really understand it as a tool, and have good conceptual ideas. it’s a total opposite experience to animation/software, as most of the class time is devoted to critique and looking through photography books; every week i go to the library and try to find 10 initeresting books for them to dig through. my thinking that these books and photos don’t exist online and they’d never have a chance to see such images otherwise, and that looking at photography in a print medium is a wholly different experience than looking at images in a digital medium. i tried to harp on these aspects of the class early on, and i feel successful in getting them to think about images in a different manner. their skill levels are still juvenile but being able to just talk to students, ask them why, understand thought processes, see their work and encourage their work has been a much more fruitful experience for all parties involved.
at this stage in the semester, we are going to start making a book with photographs they’ve taken all term. i’m excited to see the results.