Meet with us on Wednesday, September 15th, at 4 pm Eastern! This year we’re taking on a new approach to working with all of you. Come back to say hello to friends, stay to hear about the new project!

What do mini-marshmallows have to teach us about taking risks, building instinct, being vulnerable, and the way personal interests can influence professional practice? Join the Center for Creative Photography’s chief curator, Rebecca Senf, as she links personal learning and development of “soft skills” to her photo historical work and research.

Dr. Rebecca Senf is Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. Her B.A. in Art History is from the University of Arizona; her M.A. and Ph.D. were awarded by Boston University. In 2012, her book Reconstructing the View: The Grand Canyon Photographs of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe was released by the University of California Press; in 2017, her book To Be Thirteen, showcasing the work of Betsy Schneider, was published by Radius Press and Phoenix Art Museum. Senf is an Ansel Adams scholar, and recently published a book on Adams’s early years, called Making a Photographer, copublished by the CCP and Yale University Press.

FotoFika meetings are every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 4 pm Eastern!

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/93761631388?pwd=eTYxL0NSVkVNWDh4SnVhclFXTEorQT09

Meeting ID: 937 6163 1388

Passcode: fotofika

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

Kim Beil teaches art history at Stanford University. Recently she’s written about  photography and climate change for the Atlantic,  the pre-history of  Zoom backgrounds for Aeon/Psyche , and pandemic bread photography for Literary Hub. Her book,  Good Pictures: A History of Popular Photography , was published in June 2020. You can find her ever-expanding collection of how-to books on Instagram. Join Foto Fika Wednesday, March 31 4PM HERE

– John, Betsy, Anne P.S. Please consider donating to our Kickstarter campaign for our 2020 All Star Trading Cards: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spenational/fotofika-2020-all-stars-trading-card-project

Strange Fire re-imagines how their archive can bring long-lasting change to the institutions educating the next generation of thinkers. They developed tools to utilize and interpret their archive in  classroom settings, making it easier for educators to find the resources we need to diversify our curriculums.

Strange Fire: The Strange Fire artist collective is a group of interdisciplinary artists, curators, and writers focused on work that engages with current social and political forces. Strange Fire is a platform for work that critically questions the dominant social hierarchy, dedicated to highlighting work made by women, people of color, and queer and trans artists. Their collective practice is centered around increasing the visibility of meaningful work and creating dialogue and community through publications, exhibitions, and events. Strange Fire was formed in 2015 by Jess T. Dugan, Hamidah Glasgow, Zora J Murff, and Rafael Soldi.

Rafael Soldi, Co-Founder: Rafael Soldi is a Peruvian­-born, Seattle-based artist and curator. He holds a BFA in Photography & Curatorial Studies from the Maryland Institute College of Art. His practice centers on how queerness and masculinity intersect with larger topics of our time such as immigration, memory, and loss. He has exhibited internationally at the Frye Art Museum, American University Museum, Griffin Museum of Photography, ClampArt, The Print Center, Museo MATE, Filter Space, and Burrard Arts Foundation, among others. Rafael has received grants and awards from the Magenta Foundation, Puffin Foundation, smART Ventures, Artist Trust, 4Culture, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and Center Santa Fe. He has been awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, PICTURE BERLIN, Oxbow Space, and the Bogliasco Foundation.

His first monograph, Imagined Futures, was published in 2020 by Candor Arts,

His work is in several permanent museum collections and has been reviewed on ARTFORUM, The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe, Photograph Magazine, The Seen, Art Nexus, and PDN. He is an SPE board member, co-founder of the Strange Fire Collective, and co-curator of the High Wall, a yearly outdoor video projection program that invites immigrant artists to intervene the facade of a former immigration center building in the heart of Seattle.

Keavy Handley-Byrne, Educational Resources Coordinator, Content Contributor: Keavy Handley-Byrne is a photographer and writer. Handley-Byrne holds an MFA in photography from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA in photography from Purchase College, SUNY. Keavy’s work addresses issues of queer identity and gender, with a particular focus on finding joy in the wake of trauma and loss. Their work has been featured online with A New Nothing and StayAtHome.Photography, and has been exhibited across the United States. Keavy is currently working with both the Northeast Chapter of the Society for Photographic Education, as well as the LGBTQ+ Caucus as their Northeast Chapter representative, and is pursuing collegiate teaching as a profession. They are currently based on Lenape and Canarsie land (Brooklyn, NY).

See you WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17th, 4pm EST at:

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

John, Betsy, Anne

P.S. Please consider donating to our Kickstarter campaign for our 2020 All Star Trading Cards:

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

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

John, Betsy, Anne

This week: ASU School of Art JEDI lecture series will host Sarah Lewis this Thursday February 18 at 4PM (Arizona Time) 6PM Eastern Time.

John Anne and I are all crazy busy right now– like so many of you. But we also realize how important it is to keep these connections and conversations going as we approach the 1 year– geez–one year anniversary of, it doesn’t even really have a name or an exact date–but that time during March of 2020 when our lives changed.  We are all in some ways waiting for things to get back to something, but I think everyone knows there is no going back so the conversations have gradually been shifting towards addressing more long term issues that will continue beyond the pandemic. As John, Anne, Becky and I negotiate launching the 2020 All Star Cards Kickstarter campaign, I am aware of how time has moved forward and how it hasn’t. We are also realizing that the Class of 2021 is also facing a compromised and different spring semester of their senior year– their whole final year of college or even for some more than half their graduate school experience, is radically different from what they expected. So first, we are thinking about that, about the difference between the emergency situation for last spring, and the much more long term adjustments and changes that we are all facing now–and yet, and still, I for one find it both difficult and inevitable to try to plan for something a bit more normal.

I wanted to blog here to highlight the upcoming Kickstarter launch for the cards, to get people ready for our idea for the Class of 2021, and to highlight some of the recent and upcoming FotoFika sessions as well as highlight some other related conversations.

Two weeks ago FotoFika hosted Annu Palakunnathu Matthew and Max Kandhola in discussion about expanding the canon and really examining what we need to consider as we make our classrooms and our field inclusive of all experiences and perspectives, particularly in relation to ethnicity and race. A discussion which barely begins to scratch the surface and something that is not easy, especially for those of us who have made our way, who have established a way of being in the world, who stand in front of a classroom and get authority from our educations and tenure– This conversation that they graciously agreed to help us start by bringing us into their experiences and lessons  started by asking people to examine and be willing to reinvent–must continue.  And we must be willing to constantly examine what we think we know, from methods of teaching, to the set of slides we show, to how hard we work to correctly pronounce unfamiliar names to how we gain our authority. It is not easy. And some of us will have to give up power so that we can fairly share it.  Opening up places to talk about it and being willing to question what we think we know is essential. And not easy. Much more to come on this topic.

This week we will take a slight, but related turn and discuss mental health in the classroom, in academia and in art. Like all college educators, we have students at a particularly vulnerable point in their lives during a particularly difficult moment in history and this has exponentially increased the stakes for our behavior in the class room and our responsiveness. As we all know the art classroom is not like a science classroom. Tangents are at the core of the experience and fluid boundaries are often the point. Subject matter weaves itself in and out of our personal lives and our work. Many of us take pride in nurturing openness and expression of the inarticulable, dark and painful.  Its not all Covid related– but somehow it for me at least seems overwhelmingly intense– and I am someone who thrives on intensity. How do we talk about this? How do we take care of our students–what are the resources for the students? What are limits of our responsibilities? And how do we pay attention to our own mental health? This Wednesday we welcome Marianna Chiokan as we begin to address these questions and more on FotoFika.

We really hope to see you this Wednesday  at 4PM (EST) and stay tuned for our All Star Cards Kickstarter Launch!

Betsy

https://closapp.space/

https://www.elixxier.com

https://miro.com/https://www.homedepot.com/p/R-Tech-2-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-R-7-7-Rigid-Foam-Insulation-310891/202532856

See you Soon: JANUARY 20th, 4pm EST at:

ZOOM ID: https://zoom.us/j/93761631388…

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

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.