I have always enjoyed teaching art to children. For six summers, I have worked as an art instructor at an academic camp with children who choose to take three weeks out of their summer for yet more schooling. Art class is their time to escape the rigidity of the academic classroom, call their teacher by their first name, and spend the period actively making discoveries and experimenting as opposed to passively taking notes. The question I hear most often is always, in awe, “You mean I can make whatever I want?”

I thought of these children often when I began teaching Photo I at the college level. My favorite part of this course was the moment they watched their first print go into the developer and an image appeared. All the trials of introductory drawing and design classes, grueling exercises in perspective and embarrassing critiques of still-lifes that they felt nothing for, all of that melts away into a moment of silence as they re-experience the simple curiosity they felt about art as a child when this print “magically” appears in front of them. For many of my students, I’ve seen the wonder re-emerge. Fostering that feeling is my chief responsibility in a Photo I course: invoking the curiosity about the world they had as youngsters and helping them realize that its pursuit is in fact a worthwhile cause to devote a life and career to as an adult artist. I have learned that I enjoy teaching the college level more than the children, because it poses a challenge to me to have to rekindle the enthusiasm.

This is not to say that I feel craft should fall by the wayside. While my personality in the classroom is fairly laid-back, I am strict initially when it comes to the technical aspects of printing and developing. This is both to promote a sense of civic responsibility, reminding them that their actions affect the quality of others’ work, but also because good technical skill helps develop confidence. Towards the end of Photo I, particularly with their series assignment, I place more emphasis on the subject of their project and their interests, considering technique to be just one facet of the assignment. Many Photo I students do not go on to Photo II, and I want them to leave with some exercise that has at least posed the question of what they actually want to say with art, if not started them on an answer. This is a lesson they can bring to other media, rather than unnecessarily harp on technical printing aspects that they may never deal with again.

The beginning of Photo II revisits these technical aspects of photography, getting the class up to speed together and impressing the importance of craft. The bar is raised on quality and assignments are given on technique that will also challenge them conceptually. The remainder and bulk of the class is devoted to helping students discover exactly what it is they are going to say with their art. Some may need more direction and are given assignments, but most work freely with their subject. One on one discussion happens daily, and group critiques are frequent. Even at this early-on point, I feel it is more important to feel strongly about something and make art about it, even if your technical skills aren’t totally up to par, rather than being an expert printer of photos for which you have no passion about or connection with. I work well with students who see the value of art as something more than just another major and bigger than school. To introduce this belief to other students who may have a harder time with this concept, I am prone to class discussions in the darkroom on various topics that may influence their work, I give readings on art and creativity processes, I keep them updated on local art and photography shows to visit, and I require Photo II students and beyond to submit one piece of work to a show or publication on any regional level.

Due to my frequent interaction in the classroom, I tend to be more of a mediator in the critique situation, allowing the students to take the discussion by the reins. This promotes critical thinking better than hearing one voice come down from on high, and supports the idea that art is subjective and, for this reason, how importance audience is. I step in when students do not qualify their comments (“I like it.”), when I feel discussion may be straying off course too far, and when the class simply falls silent. In the latter case, I always remind them of my young camp students, who are actually brilliant and astute in critiques because they don’t yet have that awkward filter of the need to say something “arty”. I tell them not to be intimidated, as the “artiest” conversation often stems from the most basic observations. I want them to feel that awe again as adults, that with proper training, skill, attitude, observation and passion, that they can do “whatever they want”.