Medium Specificity: Photography

https://www.instagram.com/katiehogganphotography/
I want to give credit to the person that helped me with these photographs: Katie Hoggan

Artist/Teacher Statement: 

The digital media form I chose to fully explore was photography. I’ve always been interested in learning more about photography since I think it is such a cool medium, and it worked out perfectly because my roommate is a photographer. This weekend I was able to go do a photoshoot with her to fully explore this medium as she tutored me through the camera workings and software editing. She had a project to do for school as well, and while she took most of the pictures of our subject, she helped me use her camera and take some of my own. Photography offers a lot of affordances as a digital medium. More so than other digital mediums, photography is able to capture a moment in time. It is able to express and capture a portrait of a person, subject, or scene so intensely and so beautifully. That is what I loved about photography and wanted to explore myself. You see photographer’s pictures or photography online and it celebrates those moments and elements of life. Also, one of the biggest affordances of photography as a digital medium is how much you can edit the photographs! My friend Katie taught me just how much photographers put into the composing and editing of their photos. I wasn’t aware of how photographers can change the exposure on their cameras with ISO, shutter speed and F Stop and how many settings there are on a camera (at least nice cameras). Not only is there a lot that photographers edit while composing and taking the pictures, but there is a lot of editing software to use after. I don’t think audiences are always aware of the editing of the original photograph. I used photoshop and editing techniques such as clone stamp, dodging and burning to edit/manipulate my photos to the way I wanted them.

Some of the limitations of photography are that in only capturing a single image, pose, movement or overall moment, photographers have to try to fit everything they want to communicate and include in one picture. Photography can tell a story and show movement just like film can, but it is more limited by its form. Photographers must be smart and thoughtful in the composing and editing of the photographs, in order to completely capture everything they want to in the photograph. This is why photographers take so many pictures on photoshoots—to get the right ones. We ended up taking about 400 pictures! Another limitation of photography is that if you want high quality photos you need a good digital camera/software and the knowledge to use it. I gained a lot of respect for my roommate Katie and this profession/artistry in general, because of the expertise and money it takes to do photography. There is a lot more to learn and know about photography than I ever gave it credit. You can’t just pick up a camera and take pictures and know how to use it (well maybe with a cheap camera or iphone). There are a lot of settings and equipment on a nice camera that photographers know how to use/adjust. Now I realize how much my roommate had to study and learn at school to be a photographer and take good pictures. You have to get the settings of exposure and lighting just right and coordinate the numbers on ISO, shutter speed, and F stop right where you want them before taking the picture. You also have to know how to compose the picture, how you are going to set up your frame and where you are going to place your subject. You want to make sure the person you are photographing feels comfortable and looks genuine, because if they look posed or stiff it looks awkward no matter what they’re doing. Katie says, "With composing its learning to give the least amount of direction to the person but still have them look good, because the more direction you give them the more tense they get unless they are more experienced and not self-conscious in front of the camera, which is not the case for very many people." Luckily, the girl we shot had a lot of experience with photo shoots before, and she knew dance/ballet so she was very comfortable in front of the camera. I still don’t know half of all there is to learn about camera settings, composing and the editing software but it was so interesting. 

From this project and Thevenin’s “Responding” essay, I’ve learned that as a teacher I can aid my students in responding to and within particular digital mediums by going through the processes of responding through class discussion, creative production and self-reflection. I will aid them by stressing inquiry, because we all start by having questions about a medium, like I did with photography. Class discussion should revolve around questions and analysis of a medium. Then students find a “source of inspiration” that they are interested in to do a creative project on. I want my students to be able to analyze the affordances and limitations of the medium they chose to see it’s unique characteristics. If affords some things like photography did with editing and capturing a moment in time, but also limits some things like with movement/motion and sound. Then the class and the individual can reflect on ALL the different art mediums and their unique characteristics for use. The main take-away I got from my individual exploration is that just like Katie tutored me in an art she was skilled at, students can also tutor each other in certain mediums and in an art they are good at. I never would have explored professional photography to this capacity and been able to produce these photographs this quickly/easily without a tutor. She bridged that gap and made it accessible. She made me appreciate her art that she was so passionate about. Even though she helped me the whole time, I still got opportunities to make my own artistic choices along the way with editing. I think students can do this tutor/learner thing too. Having students tutor each other in digital media is a very great idea and possibility in my classroom. I also want to teach my students to appreciate professional artwork and see how much goes into these artist mediums in comparison to other qualities of art. There are different qualities of art. If they have opportunities to learn from professional artists and tutors they can see this.