My students are busy people. And I respect that. When I was a high school student in upstate New York back in the ’80s, I didn’t have half as much schoolwork as these kids have now. The work they have to do is rigorous and challenging, and they don’t have much free time. I get it. I really do. But even with piles of homework, endless extracurricular commitments and social events, I believe there is always time to take a photo–one photo–every day.
Recently, when I challenged my photography students to post a “Photo a Day” online, I was met with a chorus of boos, groans and excuses. When one student moaned, “You just don’t understand how busy we are,” I snapped a photo of him mid-sentence, just to prove a point. They weren’t convinced.
At that moment, I decided to challenge myself to take on their assignments, to try to put myself in their shoes. I’m a very busy person. I can whine with the best of them when it comes to not having time to get things done. Perhaps by doing this I will gain a fresh perspective on what it takes to be a photography student in my own class, while juggling all the responsibilities I have in my own busy life.
First up: *One Object, 30 Ways. After learning 10 different compositional strategies, students chose an object they found interesting and photographed it 30 ways, including different perspectives, backgrounds and conceptual approaches. Here’s my Monkey, 30 Ways.
*Note: This took me longer than I expected.
robyn zellar 