studio class

You should know this about me.
I write from the heart.
Photography is an overwhelming passion to me.
To give it any other explanation would be a nightmare to explain.
I love what I do..and that’s enough in it self.

I got a couple books at the library today. I love finding photography books that inspire me. I have to do research for my studio class, well actually all my design classes. Everything is very conceptual here. Every thing you do, every photograph, painting, film I were to turn in has to have an explanation of why? To examine why I did what I did. It makes perfect since in my opinion. And I wish it were required back at UCM so people wouldn’t just turn in piles of crap. Allowing yourself to form an idea, research it to the extend that it develops into your own vision and then to actually create it...In my opinion, it gives whatever I do a deeper meaning and portrays a real truth and not just a pile of crap with no meaning.
I guess to simplify it, my final project for studio will be graded on ..
Analysis – the quality of the initial problem and how you advance it (the solution).
Exploration – media play and how different things play off of each other.
Research – other practitioners who are working in similar or interesting ways.
Synthesis – how to bring it all together. The end result.
Communication – how does it reach its audience? How effective is it?
I also have to keep what they call a “process diary” but what I like to just call a personal journal. But the journal is also part of the grade.
I haven’t had to do something like this since AP art in high school. That’s really what all this reminds me of. So I thank you Mrs. Berry because without you and the amazing art department our school had, I would literally be clueless of how to even begin.

To give you an idea of my studio class during the week and what it pertains to...Mondays all the photography students and teachers meet at 9 am for a brief meeting. (This meeting is all the 2nd, 3rd, 4th year photo students and the three teachers for each other those years. There's around 30 of us.) The next 30 minutes is usually just spend going over events coming up, contests, and having a chance for the students to get questions asked and to talk about whatever. Its actually a really cool idea. Then we all break off and start our separate classes.
I'm a 3rd year and my class is the usual, all girls and one lone boy. Funny how photography is becoming consumed by the whole female race. We talk and discuss what we'll do for the week, then we break for coffee (my favorite part), and join back up in the studio and work on whatever. Right now it is still lives. So this monday we worked with large format cameras shooting Polaroid's of whatever we had brought in. For me its all a review from studio illustrations but I get an extra thrill of working with the large format camera again and shooting instant Polaroid's (i know jessie knows what I'm talking about here). Its all very exciting to someone like myself..
Tuesdays are spent meeting with any of the teachers to talk about how we are coming along on our research and our final project. They're called tutorials and are usually optional. So its pretty much a free/work day for me.
Thursday is spent in our group again. Bringing in what we are working on at the current moment and just being able to discuss it with the class. It nice to have an outside view point, especially when your mind comes to a halt sometimes.