I taught three back to back photography classes this past week back at Nazareth Area High School and survived the experience. Actually I had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again! The first two were Photo I classes and were a bit of a challenge. The kids didn’t say very much. The third was the Photo III class I have worked with several times before and they had recently co-exhibited with Monalog at Penn State.  They were great!

I showed them the gear I use and then about twenty prints, including those from two projects.  Then several of the students showed me some of their work for a critique. They were all a little bit nervous as I suspected they would be, but there was no reason at all to be scared. While I intended my critiques to be “friendly”, I didn’t expect that little or no changes in any of the work should be made! Their photographs were that good!

First, I was shown a delicate platinum landscape made at Glacier National Park. It was beautiful!  Next up was a diptych; two self-portraits that told a story that was immediately easy to see and understand. Well done! Finally, there was a large double exposed portrait of the great photographer Larry Fink who lives in the area. While the double exposure was unintended, the student was gifted enough to realize he had made a gem!  So much so that we discussed the possibility that he might wish to make more such portraits in the future.

I was humbled by the quality of the student’s work, their thoughts concerning how the work was made and most of all what they were trying to say with their images.  I felt I could learn something from them!

Truly a great experience. Again, I would like to thank Nicole Stager for giving me this wonderful opportunity.  She’s a terrific teacher and a great photographer, who really cares about her students … and it shows!

We talked about me coming back in the fall and I hope I can!

Stay well,

Michael