Internships

Its that time of year when many students are preparing to apply for summer internships. I always talk to my students about the importance of internships. Art students do not typically think of them as an essential step in their education - so I try hard to explain the benefits (which are extensive!). I had a boss once who used to say that even if you did not enjoy your internship at least you learned about what you don't want to do with your future. He was so right!

Ultimately, internships offer the chance to gain so much on-the-job- experience that can help shape the direction you take your career. Its a chance to dive into something you love - or something you want to learn more about. There are internships to work directly with photographers on shoots, or in their office on the business/organization side of things. There are internships in photography galleries/museums, educational facilities, post-production studios and not-for-profits. There is so much opportunity out there for students with a desire to learn and work hard.

There are many opportunities within venues and artist studios in the city but there is also quite a few options in our region. The Center for Photography at Woodstock is one of the Hudson Valley's gems for many reasons - one beings its internship opportunities. CPW offers two outstanding internship programs. You can read more about them here.

It is important to go into it ready to take on any challenge and work very hard (for free or for very little). The truth is, you may not get paid in cash for your work and dedication but you will get paid in experience, contacts, knowedge and fun.

Cindy Sherman

Class, we ended last week's slide presentation with the early work of Cindy Sherman.

I wanted to share this very informative interview with artist Cindy Sherman about her retrospective that is opening at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Lots of other info too.

Check out the article here.

If you are in NY - go see this show!

Snapshot vs. Fine Art?

Can you guess which of these is considered a snapshot and which is considered fine art?

image by Keith Carter

Photograph courtesy of National Gallery of Art. read more here.

image by Weegee

image by Henri Cartier Bresson

image courtesy of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
image by Elinor Carucci.

image by Nan Goldin

image courtesy of the Burns Archive

Spring 2012 begins...

image by Lisa Robinson

It does not feel like Spring outside...
...yet here we are, beginning our Spring 2012 photography course!

Welcome Class, to your Blog!

For the first week it is important for you to get adjusted to all the technology you will be using in this class.

Reviewing your camera manual and getting adjusted to using your camera's manual functions is the first priority. If you no longer have a copy of your manual, I suggest searching for it on google and you will likely find a digital copy to use.

In this class you will be using SUNY Ulster's Apple computers. I suggest using this link to learn the many keyboard shortcuts available to help make your workflow as easy as possible:
Apple keyboard shortcuts

In addition, I do recommend that you review the links on this blog. Many of them will lead you to artist websites, where you can review their portfolios. It is imperative to look at as much photography as possible during this class. The more you see, the better you will be able to get as an artist.

Keep checking in to this blog throughout the semester. I will continuously post important information for the class.