Creating an Analog Photography Class.

[photomem]

I was the judge of the photo contest at Immaculate Conception Cathedral School here in Memphis last night. While I was talking to the students, apparently the principal was watching and was impressed with my ability to hold the student's attention while discussing traditional film photography. Most of the entries were shot with digital, but the students have an interest in film.

So, after the award ceremony, she walked up and made me a job offer to teach during their summer session and possibly beyond. The class is going to be strictly Traditional Photography and she has stated I will have space to create a darkroom in the science building and the curricula is completely up to me to design.

I am thinking I will at least throw in some alt. process. (Most likely Cyanotyped photograms) But, the main question I have is this:

Can any of you suggest a textbook? I need a basic primer on the use of a film camera and basic darkroom skills. I could write something myself, but a printed book might be nice as well.

Thanks,
Tommy.

 

[rwboyer]

Maybe the ansel adams books from a technical perspective but....

As a first class I would probably design your own simplified darkroom tech agenda. An to make it interesting focus on some of the great photographers of all time and their images. Then.... relate how to get from point A to point B always relating the how to the WHY of the image/s and photographer used for the inspiration.

RB

 

[Jon Shiu]

Check out Henry Horenstein's Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual. Highly recommended.

Jon

 

[wclark5179]

I would keep it basic and simple if it's students you are going to help. I find that new photographers who are getting into the business have used a film camera hardly at all. I leave that open as some schools still have a class or two on film photography but that's it. And they are using the other stuff to capture images.

Alternative processes may be beyond the students expectations. You may want to offer this as another class.

You have a lot of information right here on setting up a darkroom, chemicals, workflow, cameras.

I would start out writing what your goals/objectives would be for teaching a class, kind of like creating a syllabus. Then from that basis making an outline/agenda of each class with times for each topic to keep you on schedule.

You might see if there are funds to purchase film cameras for the students. These could be the disposable type to Holgas, whatever. This expense could be included in the fee.

A lot of this will be determined after you analyze and get to know the students in your class. Maybe you will have a class of experienced film users, then again maybe not.

Hope this helps you.

Congrats on the opportunity to help.

 

[keithwms]

I taught a short course on trad'l b&w and I didn't use a textbook, I simply listed the steps in the workflow and said, look I don't know how far we'll get, that depends on you (the student), and how much time/energy you put into it. So off we went. we made it through basic printing in about 8 sessions. Some students never got past basic exposure, others were printing happily. So I think Montessori is the only way to go, people will progress at very different rates.

Another strategy that worked was simply to show a collection of different printed output and then they pick what they want to learn. This works well with small groups. Actually they were less interested in cyanos and alt in my case, and more interested in LF contact prints. The LF gear has some allure.

 

[Rick A]

I used to use the Uptons book "Photography" very comprehensive volumn on all aspects from camera selection to finished product. Excellent chapters on exposure, processing, printing, everything you need and then some. There are several editions, and they are still available inexpensive. I still have two left, if you would like, I will send one to you for the price of postage. Then you can see if that is what you need.

Rick

 

[mike c]

I'll second the upton books.

 

[Larry H-L]

I also use the London, Upton book. New ones are expensive, but older versions should cover everything for B & W. Later versions include more on digital cameras and digital workflow.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Phil Davis books are excellent teaching resource.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Phil Davis books are excellent teaching resource.

I did not know, he had more than 'Beyond the Zone System', and that would not make a good beginners guide in my opinion.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I can recommend these text books:

Michael Langford, Basic Photography, Focal Press, 1997
This is a recommended textbook for photography courses in Europe and assumes no prior knowledge of photography. It has sold millions of copies and has been updated regularly to account for improvements in cameras and film.

Michael Langford, Advanced Photography, Focal Press, 1998
This is the companion volume to the previous book, covering color and digital photography. It also provides information to the more advanced student or serious amateur, while still being practical and easy to understand.

Barbara London & John Upton, Photography, Addison-Wesley, 1989
This is a recommended textbook for photography courses in the USA and also assumes little prior knowledge of photography. It is comprehensive, well-illustrated and easy to read, covering all aspects of photography.

Marvin J. Rosen & David L. DeVries, Photography, Wadsworth, 1993
Complete and comprehensive, this classic guide is written for beginners as well as for more advanced photographers. In addition to the fundamentals, the book also covers the history of photography.

 

[Bob Carnie]

I am pretty sure or College used the Phil Davis manuals and they were not the Beyond the Zone System.
very basic and very well written.

I did not know, he had more than 'Beyond the Zone System', and that would not make a good beginners guide in my opinion.

 

[RGS122]

I Would go with the Photography book by upton, the current edition is the 9th I believe. My community college uses this book with their photography classes.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I am pretty sure or College used the Phil Davis manuals and they were not the Beyond the Zone System.
very basic and very well written.

Please check. Amazon lists no book by Phil Davis other than 'Beyond the Zone System'. Are you sure, you've got the author right?

 

[Bluenose Neil]

Davis Book

I second Bob's reference to the Davis book. I used it in College and lent it to a buddy's little sister and of course it was never returned. It was a great book and she needed an exceptional amount of help. The book was very logical, straight forward and well illustrated. Kind of like the Boy Scout Fieldbook ofr photography. Highly reccommended once again, wish I had the book.
-Neil

 

[Kirk Keyes]

Please check. Amazon lists no book by Phil Davis other than 'Beyond the Zone System'. Are you sure, you've got the author right?

Ralph - perhaps it is this book - The Basic Photo Book by Phil Davis:
http://www.a1books.com/cgi-bin/a1Front?act=showDesc&a1code=ZPS44D7S&ISBN=0697114805

I find www.bookfinder.com much better at locating obscure and other used books than amazon.

 

[msage]

I used (as a student) Phil Davis' book in the 1970's. I do not know if he wrote newer. Check Amazon. When I taught, I used the Upton book. There are nine editions that are basically the same so there are a lot on the used market.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Ralph - perhaps it is this book - The Basic Photo Book by Phil Davis:
http://www.a1books.com/cgi-bin/a1Front?act=showDesc&a1code=ZPS44D7S&ISBN=0697114805

I find www.bookfinder.com much better at locating obscure and other used books than amazon.

Thanks for the reference. I wonder if this is the same Phil Davis who sadly is no longer with us.

 

[DaveOttawa]

...Can any of you suggest a textbook? I need a basic primer on the use of a film camera and basic darkroom skills. I could write something myself, but a printed book might be nice as well.

Thanks,
Tommy.

I teach an intro & intermediate (silver) B&W course (Dead Link Removed the books I recommend for the intro are the Horenstein & this one:
Mastering Black-and-White Photography From Camera to
Darkroom, by Bernard J Suess.
Horenstein is definitely in print, not sure about Suess, neither is perfect but they are the best I've seen out there.
You will find some info on how to prepare and run a course here:
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/darkroom/index.shtml
In the thread so far I've seen references to books that will be way too much information depth for an intro course (the gospels according to St Ansel for example...), you will need to keep things simple and expect that basic camera handling skills (exposure setting, DOF control via aperture & apperance of motion control via shutter speed) will likely need to be taught as well.
Using examples of work by high profile photographers to illustrate technical points I find to be effective (the Horenstein book uses that approach).
My courses include all ages (from high school to senior citizen) and most participants seem to have fun but the modal demographic is definitely younger; 20-30 I'd say. Young(er than me) people are actually up for this film thing.
Re cameras, one option is to ask the community for donations, many times people have a film SLR collecting dust in a closet and are very happy to donate it if they know it will be used.
Hope this helps,

 

[Andrew Horodysky]

As suggested above, both Upton and Horenstein books are excellent primers. Depending on the age of the students, you may want to extract information from each to suit your instructional needs. In addition, since you're going to be teaching in the Summer, you'll probably want to spend some time outdoors with the students going on group "shoots".

Looks like a fun prospect; good luck!

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I think it would be a good idea to know the age of the prospective students before suggesting text books.

Personally, I think one should start with a sound footing in the fundementals. I vote for: Mees, 3rd ed., Haist, Vols 1 & 2 and throw in Hecht for an elementary introduction to optics. [insert smiley if you need one]

 

[DaveOttawa]

I think it would be a good idea to know the age of the prospective students before suggesting text books.

Personally, I think one should start with a sound footing in the fundementals. I vote for: Mees, 3rd ed., Haist, Vols 1 & 2 and throw in Hecht for an elementary introduction to optics. [insert smiley if you need one]

 

[nickandre]

Horenstein's book is a very good one which our school uses.

I would caution teaching all the chemistry first. I suggest beginning with a discussion of the purpose of photography, composition, and viewing photographs to see what makes a good photograph. Then teach the methods to process and print. Lastly (for example, while you are demonstrating film processing or when going over alternate processes,) discuss what is actually going on. There's no way to lose the attention of children faster than discussing the nature of a silver halide crystal and frankly it's not necessary to the basic concept of photography.

 

[mike c]

photo grams is a good start to understanding the basic principles of photography in the dark room .Just putting your hand on sensitive photographic paper and shielding it to lite and developing it is some thing they have never experienced.If they are young, they have no experience with this process. It is a chemical reaction to lite.

 

[photomem]

Thanks for the input folks.. I did get to look at Horenstein's book tonight at the Barnes and Noble. It looks like a good basic book that would serve my students beyond my class. Because people are asking, this class will be primarily directed at 11th and 12th grade students (16-18 yrs old.) I am still trying to decide the materials list, I am thinking I might get with one of the distributors (Freestyle, B&H, Etc..) and create one of the virtual "kits" that the parents will order. Basically, the school is going to provide the chems.. and the students will have to order their own films, tank and reel, and paper. I wish I knew for sure that the Arista.EDU Premium was in fact Kodak. That way, I could have the students order that and save them some cash. On the other hand, most of the student body of the school come from rather affluent families, so having them purchase the big yellow box would not be much of a hardship.

Keep the tips coming and I will let you guys know how things progress.

Also.. Sean.. if you read this. It would be very cool if I could get some student memberships to APUG for some of the more promising students.

Thanks!
Tommy