Just over a year ago the International Center of Photography initiated the hashtag #ICPConcerned. David Campany, reflects on how it became an exhibition and book that democratized the curatorial exchange between image maker and museum. With over 800 images from 70 countries, the project looked at devastation and hope in a time of pandemic and civil unrest. Join us to hear about this collective endeavour that occurred both online and in the museum at ICP.

https://icpconcerned.icp.org/

David Campany is a curator, writer and Managing Director of Programs at the International Center of Photography, New York. He has published over 200 essays and authored seventeen books including On Photographs (2020), and Art and Photography (2003). Last year he curated the six-museum Biennale für Aktuelle Fotografie.

See you WEDNESDAY, April 14th, 4pm EST at:

ZOOM ID:

https://zoom.us/j/93761631388?pwd=eTYxL0NSVkVNWDh4SnVhclFXTEorQT09

ZOOM ID:https://zoom.us/j/93761631388?pwd=eTYxL0NSVkVNWDh4SnVhclFXTEorQT09Zoom –

PWD – fotofika
https://zoom.us/j/93761631388

John, Betsy, Anne

Q: Fewer assignments and fewer prints does not seem unusual during this time. What strategies might you be employing to still have rigor in your classroom? Or can you? Does less work mean better work for all?

A: To keep some rigor, in-progress critique has become much more important for my classes this year than in the past. More in-progress critiques also helped check student understanding (and misunderstanding), esp. when communication is weird… students coming in and out… some on hybrid plans, etc.

– I usually do 4 projects, this fall I did one semester long project so that everything they did was working towards one thematic direction, there was structure build on technical skills and conceptual readings but gave a lot of flexibility on any potential issues related to covid as well as conceptual flexibility for students to approach the project with their own interpretation

My class size and se-up is similar to Tom’s. I’ve cut assignments in half and requiring both digital file and prints, with an emphasis on the files. Scanning will be covered in the second week and the students learned to convert a color file into black and white in-depth last semester.

– Yes. I agree there is a loss. why do we teach B&W when we can’t be in the darkroom? Most schools already have a separate digital photo class.

– (Re assignment load/change) The project was called “The Poetics of Noticing”. I gave them readings from the White Chapel “The Everyday/ Documents of Contemporary Art” as well as readings from Georges Perec, they also did observational writing exercises they presented along with their work. I had 3 in-progress critiques and they had to meet certain technical benchmarks for each one. The main premise was based on being a slow and intention observer and to question how and what they allow themselves to notice in their day to day lives

Q: I’ll be teaching totally on campus with a very small class so there is room to do everything we normally do but I wonder if anyone has ideas about what to do with students who get quarantined for two weeks.

A: I’m wondering if I should give alternative “at-home” assignments or just let them make it up when they come back.

– I am arts dept chair for a boarding high school and we all pre-packed “two-week kits” for kids who have to go home to quarantine. For darkroom kids, they went home with a (full – yum!) Pringles can to convert into a pinhole viewer – no film or paper loaded. Couldn’t really grade that work, just hoping that they could have an art-related experience during a time that would be stressful/difficult for them.

– I had pre written quarantine assignments that allowed for homework to replace an in-person exercises.

– I assigned everyone to do “at-home experiments” and had a long list of possibilities: Lumens that aren’t fixed, pre-coated cyanotypes with ecodye, a camera obscura in your bedroom, etc. Every student had to do one over the course of the semester and if a student had to quarantine for 2 weeks, they made up the in-class work by doing an additional “at-home experiment”. I had great results and pre-planning for students missing days was essential because we were doing things like wet plate collodion in the classroom and I wouldn’t let a student do any of that at home.

Q: What are the best apps for being able to control F-stop and Shutter speed with iPhone? Arizona has the highest per capita infection in the world. I think we may need this option for spring semester.

A: There is no app that controls shutter speed on an iPhone bc it does not have a shutter.

– I have found the Lightroom app gives some control

– LE Calculator App may work

Q: Does anyone have a good way to replicate a Gum Bichromate print in Photoshop

A: Camera Sim (old version is free) https://camerasim.com/camerasim-free-web-app/

Q: What kind of assignments and how are you conducting analog classes?

A: Made head mounted camera obscuras, lumen, cyanotype, anthotypes with turmeric.

– At UArts for Spring Semester, we just added another section (that is now full) of our black and white analog, Intro to Photo course. We are 100% remote and offering 4, at capacity analog/film courses! Our program at UArts is partnering with a local service bureau to process and scan film (that is mailed in and sent back to student as well as scanned film files sent to student via dropbox) and promoting a creation of  black/white analog catalog of negatives that will be used (fingers crossed) for printing in darkroom in Fall 2021.

– Similar to UArts, we’ve been able to include film again, but have the students drop it off for myself and our lab assistant to develop and scan in for them. I definitely don’t get paid enough to babysit the scanner but the students are thankful.

– We’ve been totally remote here at UW since the end of March, and the past two quarters I had students make pinhole cameras for long exposures and most students really enjoyed the assignment and got great results. Some even experimented with shorter exposures and caffenol developer.

– I’m using the app Massive Dev (free). It takes the student through the complete film processing procedure, film type, ASA/ISO, dev. type/dilution, then the complete dev, stop, fix timed process, with timer and sounds for agitation etc.

– For students who cannot come to campus, we do outsource our 4×5 to ACCL in Akron Ohio- they ship us the film and our work studies scan the negatives this semester – it’s going to be quite the challenge
Thanks everyone for the insight + I really appreciate this

Q: Has anyone used any of the cellphone film scanning apps?

A: I have. I find its good for a quick preview of negs but not anything else really. “Filmbox”

– At UArts our students have used Neg Pro software that worked well during fall semester and also FilmBox scanning App (phone)for quick scans for critiques and presentations.

Q: Which light meter app do you prefer?

A: LightMeter or myLIghtMeter are both free

– Light Meter (WBPhoto)

– I like Pocket Light Meter.

– Lux (free and paid versions)

LINKS

https://www.butkus.org/chinon/index.html

https://www.figma.com/

https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/6/22217200/overviewer-app-teachers-overhead-camera-iphone-zoom

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DoJDqQDDl53LHPIgajQVDoxYfgyM9VGlPhOuwuO5IEY/edit?usp=sharing

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMYTOWED2RUuRD1QWVcbdiw

Online, Hybrid and Traditional all have their challenges and advantages and I am hopeful that once Covid no longer dictates our teaching we will emerge with more ways to teach than ever before. And while FotoFika began as a place s is help us develop coping strategies, we are hopeful that it can become a place where we all continue to grow as educators, students and artists.

So all are invited to come and share your experiences from the last year, to talk about different strategies and resources and ways of approaching darkroom in the age of Covid or if you wish just come and listen. We will share resources and assignments, we will build on ideas and talk about ways to approach this coming semester and beyond.

Here is a short list of possible launch points for the 2 hour session.

• What is essential in a darkroom class?
• How do you cover what you deem to be essential in a darkroom class?
• The challenges of teaching darkroom without a common meeting area.
• Different strategies for remote teaching? For socially distanced teaching? For hybrid?
• Alt processes? At home processes?
• Approaches to using PhotoShop for black and white post-production.
• Specific tools?
• Discussion about object-ness and engaging physically and over distance.

Any other ideas or strategies are welcome. See you on Wednesday January 6.

Atget Studio provides a simple digital platform that makes a back-and-forth exchange between creator and teacher fast and effective. Ask questions, share your art and receive critical and clear feedback that helps you better communicate your ideas.

Gest is the Associate Chair of Part-Time Programs at the International Center of Photography (ICP), and has taught art at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), Barnard College and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in NYC and Princeton University and Rutgers University in NJ and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. His work is in the permanent collections at The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; LaSalle Bank, Chicago; Tweed Museum of art, Duluth and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City. His photographs have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Museum, Baltimore; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Ben Gest is currently based in NYC.

See you Wednesday, DECEMBER 2nd, 4pm EST

at:ZOOM ID:https://zoom.us/j/93761631388?pwd=eTYxL0NSVkVNWDh4SnVhclFXTEorQT09

Zoom – PWD – fotofika
https://zoom.us/j/93761631388

4pm EST – Wednesday, 11/18/20
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/93761631388

Terry Barrett is the author of books on criticism and aesthetics including Criticizing Photographs and CRITS. A new edition of Criticizing Photographs is being published later this month and is available for pre-order now (Routledge Press). CRITS is a manual written to and for students about studio critiques published (Bloomsbury, 2019).

https://vimeo.com/161259012?fbclid=IwAR3tgZ3ykRhKLzT01ICCmYd-OPs_r8YvX-wuVOHJObfC3EeYMuuBUzRyx0k

The second thing was well, the semester itself. Teaching in person small classes spaced out with no darkroom time, no close time and a mid-level asynchronous class with 30 students known by name only– I began to get frustrated by the lack of deep engagement. No one it seemed could say anything even slightly critical or negative about each others work. So when I do its sounds like I’m just out of it or adhering to old ideas.

And then a former student sent me this Tik/Tok by Ghost Honey–which is funny and was funny until I realized that as much as old school art school critiques drove me crazy– the only thing that still happens is that people say “I like the colors”–

https://twitter.com/tylergaca/status/1313308793237721088?lang=en

And then someone posted Terry Barretts tips for running a critique and that launched a discussion on the Photography Professors page that made me realize that I do not use silence well, at all. And I wondered what I could do to get better at this thing I’ve been supposedly good at for the past 20 years. 

And well, I have a lot more to say but its Wednesday and FotoFika day and I am looking forward to hearing what others are thinking as well.

Looking forward to beginning to dig more deeply into this issue later today.

Betsy 

Workshops will take place on Wednesdays but unlike the regular FotoFika slot, we will meet from 2 to 4 (EDT). The dates and general topics are as follows:

Workshops will be participatory and emphasize problem solving and solutions through communal engagement.

June 17  POSTPONED TO JULY 1—Solidarity

The first workshop will address issues of political and social concern for the students and the faculty. Scheduled for the 17th of June which is the anniversary of, John said there was something but all I found was the 119th anniversary of the establishment of the College Board (boo). But there is a lot of other cool stuff that happened on the 17th of June  (check it out here: https://www.onthisday.com/events/june/17).

This workshop will address how we can advocate for our international students, concerns about access to equipment and software for students in a distance, hybrid or socially-distant campus situation, what this means for adjunct, un-tenured and other contingent faculty–as well as tenured faculty and how we might approach this with a shared sense of mission.

July 15– Tools and Concepts

The second workshop will address conceptual concerns,  questions about teaching portraiture in a Covid era, intimacy and distance learning, ways to provide an open and rigorous classroom environment, giving feedback, conducting critiques , using flexible techniques for giving feedback.

August 5 -Syllabus Boot Camp

We will go over assignments and strategies for planning our classes including assignments, readings, sharing lectures, artists visits and sharing resources.

August 19 – On your Mark, Get Set, Go (or Ready, Steady, Go)

Who knows what things will look like by the end of August. Wherever we are we’ll use this workshop to respond and work together to be ready to take on the new and the unknown.

Confirmed All Star Reviewers:

Russell Lord, New Orleans Museum of Art
Deborah Willis, New York University
Shoair Mavlian, Director, Photoworks, London
Todd Tubutis, Art Museum of West Virginia University
David Chickey, Radius Books
Ashlyn Davis, Houston Center for Photography
Ann Jastrab, Center for Photographic Arts
Kate Albers, Wittier College
Susan Bright, Independent Curator, Paris, France
Michelle Dunn Marsh, Minor Matters Books
Mitra Abbaspour, Princeton University Art Museum
Kate Bussard, Princeton University Art Museum
April Watson, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kristen Gresh, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Drew Sawyer, Brooklyn Museum
Julia Dolan, Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Elizabeth Cronin, New York Public Library
Sarah Eckhardt, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Alison Nordstrom, Curator
Amber Esseiva, ICA at VCU – Richmond VA
Melanie Walker,  Arisit from the original 1975 Project
Alex Sweetman, Arisit from the original 1975 Project