A bit of background
Back in the day, I started the Photographers Workplace as a teaching facility to teach conventional Black and White photography. To that end I designed and built Darkrooms, Enlargers and most of the equipment needed for darkroom work. We could service eight Students at a time teaching day and evening classes. As the quality of digital photography improved, quality controls of film deteriorated. We could no longer entrust our vision to this dying medium. We shut down the darkrooms with the assumption that in short order we would retool and start teaching this new medium of Digital Photography, but that was not to be. We found that the process was still immature and that people were not well enough versed in the use of computers to undertake this transition. We focused instead on shooting events, consulting for other photographers looking to transition their studios to a digital workflow and also private tutoring. Little did we know it would take almost a decade for digital photography to catch up. With the advent of the iPhone4 we started to think again about Teaching.
Why now?
Two things predominantly! First the quality of the Image from an iPhone became good enough to supplant the "Point and Shoot" and second, with the iPhone Apple created a closed ecosystem that made the process manageable for the common person. But what we noticed in this finely manicured garden was that weeds were beginning to grow. People relying on Instagram and preloaded filter packets in applications, or over manipulating the photograph to give it an air of "Artistry". Also there is the tendency to use the camera as a reflex action to whatever is taking place at the moment with out any forethought or introspection. And ultimately sharing these images without the discipline of Editing. With this realization we thought it was time again to begin Teaching.
On Teaching Style
In Photography there is always a responsibility to two things, the Craft and the Language. Both of them demand a discipline. The Craft of Photography does not stop at the shutter release or at the camera but the whole Workflow demands our attention, from Editing to making adjustments to the photographs, all the way through to Backing up our images. The iPhone more than ever forces us to be conscious of what we are doing. Because we have become so accustomed to having it with us we pick it up take a picture and do not even think twice! This I believe makes it harder for us to be objective in seeing what is taking place in front of us. In the face of this we must all the more take the time to "look" at what is on the screen, to make decisions of what to include in the frame and exactly where to hold the camera.
The other aspect of this process is being responsible to the "Language" having something to say that matters, that will speak to ourselves introspectively as times goes by and to others whom we do not even know. The responsibility to this language is also part of how we Edit our Images, how the individual photographs work together to tell a larger story or how a single image stands on it's own to make a grand statement. So simply stated it is my Prayer that I might be able to impart some sense of discipline and a quieting of oneself so that Gods Revelation might unfold before us and we might be responsible with this technology and medium made available to us.
About me
Nothing too complicated there. Severely Dyslexic Photographer, designer and practitioner of Pilates. Husband (to Lini Ecker) for over 25 years, father of two 20 something year old boys (who make us very proud) But mostly I am just a humble creature who Thanks God to have lived such a Blessed life!
