I have met Jack Barnosky once or twice when I joined Rachel for her photography class at SHSU. I remember looking at Jack’s photography portfolio and being very inspired. I enjoy the photographs and words of wisdom (like the ones below) he shares on his tumblog.
Teachers like this don’t come along every day. My photography teacher in high school was of a similar age and perspective as Jack. She taught me a lot about photography techniques, but then left me on my own to create artworks that ended up in a couple of Sydney museums.
No matter what the subject, if your teacher doesn’t share a similar philosophy as Jack, then ask “Why?”.
Since it’s not possible to reblog an answer to an Ask on Tumblr, I’m pasting the text (sans the HTML gobbledygook) in to this post. (Also, here’s the image.)
Anonymous asked: Hi, sorry to bother you again but I have a problem. I’m in college, working, and for what is left of my spare time there is usually a camera in my hand. However, without being in a photography class or having some sort of direction I find myself lost sometimes. I reach out to you as a professor on how you “teach” you students photography. Or how do you keep them focused when not in the classroom might be a better way to phrase it. Thank you ahead of time for anything you might say.
Hi Mike,
Silly as it might seem i really can’t teach students photography. They truly have to teach themselves. How do they do this? Simply by making photos and then making a lot more photos and then making a lot more……… I n the beginning i stress quantity way ahead of quality. because quantity can lead to quality. I’ll tell students to make 100 photographs or 200 photographs of a particular project and then edit these 200 photos down to 12. This is where the idea of quality comes in. In editing the work the students,and this applies to me also), will begin to see how they actually feel about a given subject. How they reacted to it and how they interpreted it. It’s a learning experience that they must provide for themselves. I can only act as a sort of referee. While doing this editing I ask them to be brutal and objective. The old, tired cliche, “Less is more” is painfully true. When you must admit to yourself that a photograph that you love simply is not a strong enough statement, well then you are learning, self educating. You can’t learn photography, or any art, from a book. You can learn about that discipline from a book but to really know it you must do it. I can’t keep students “focused” on their work. That responsibility lies with them exclusively. When I see lack of focus or love of the medium I just have to say, “Maybe you should study accounting”
So, what is my job? I can’t be a cheerleader. College students today are very sophisticated. They will spot the lack of transparency in this every time. I can’t motivate. That comes from within. All I can really do is be a role model. Throughout my student days I always wanted to challenge my teachers and say, ” if you have the audacity to stand in front of this class and presume to teach me how to make art, then lets see what you have done”. “Let me see your art” I never did this but today’s college students wouldn’t hesitate to challenge their teachers. This is good. This is progress. I think ( hope) I have the respect of my students for several reasons. First, they know I work at my art daily, passionately. There is nothing better in life, than to be passionate about something. Sometimes the work is good and sometimes maybe not so good. That doesn’t matter. What is good art anyway? What matters is persistence and love of what you do. Second because I only ask the students to do what I do. MAKE WORK!!! Third because I will will allow them to pursue their passions. No “assignments” , no “busy work”. Just show us, in you photographs your thought on life the universe and everything and tomorrow start over and show us again. I pay homage to the towering mind of Joseph Campbell when I tell students to “Follow your bliss”. It’s all I have ever done in my life. It’s the advice I gave to my son. It’s the advice I will always give to my students.
Your source of inspiration must be your own work. Google the artist Chuck Close for his ideas and quotes on inspiration in making art. He is very down to earth and I agree completely with him. Your work must be valuable to you and if it is, someday it will be valuable to the rest of the world
thanks for letting me give a very wordy answer to a very simple question,
Jack Barnosky
