Want to learn the art of traditional B&W photography.

[Seal986box]

I have admired the art of black and white photography for a long time and over the past several years have even started collecting. I recently decided that it is time to start taking and printing my own photographs.

In New England I have found that NESOP offers classes as well as the Maine Photographic Workshops. Can anyone recommend other local schools, education avenues or personal/private lessons that are offered in or around Boston?

Thanks in advance
Ken

 

[BWGirl]

Well, Ken, there are a lot of people here from that area, so I'll leave technicalities up to them.

Welcome to APUG! This will be a great learning tool for you! This is a pretty knowledgable group, so as you begin your studies, don't hesitate to search the archives or ask questions!

 

[Mark_S]

Welcome Ken

I live in Maine, but keep an apartment in Watertown. I am not all that familiar with the Boston scene, but up north are a few opportunities:

The Maine College of Art (MECA) offer classes in traditional B&W photography.

The last two years, I have attended a Large format workshop in New Brunswick put on by Jamie Wilson and David Hoyt. Great intro workshop, reasonably priced.

 

[SuzanneR]

Welcome to APUG, both of you, Mark and Ken!

We have a pretty active regional group, and the past couple of "get togethers" have been workshops. We had a great LF portraiture workshop last spring, and more recently we had a darkroom workshop with some great demos, and we even just had a wonderful show.

With all that said, if you are just beginning to learn, Nick Johnson's darkroom classes at NESOP are great. If you take any of his evening classes you can pretty much go use the darkrooms any evening or weekend, and he's there at least two or three evenings each week. I've taken a few classes there, and aside from parking hassles during Red Sox games, I would recomend them.

And of course, the search function on APUG is a great resource, and if you can't find what you are looking for... just ask!

 

[papagene]

Welcome to APUG Ken. I am too far west to recommend any classes for you. But keep an eye out for any activities of our informal group here in New England. We have a great bunch of people with a lot of knowledge. I hope that you get a chance to participate in some of our get togethers.

gene

 

[jgjbowen]

Check out Fine Focus Workshops www.finefocusworkshops.com Richard Ritter, Bruce Barlow and Ted Harris do a great job. I will be attending my third workshop with them and after 20+ years of large format photography, they have taught me much. If you go to one of their workshops do bring prints for them to review. They do a great job and never poke fun of anyone's work. The reviews are truly constructive. They normally hold their workshops in the Brattleboro, VT area, but this weekend, they are hosting a fall foliage workshop in Northern NH, near the Canadian border.

I enjoy their workshops enough that I will be traveling over 750 miles (from Richmond, VA) to attend this week's workshop. I also plan on taking my 15 year old son to a workshop next summer, so he can get some fine instruction from Bruce Barlow on the handling of a 4x5 camera.

I think you will find these workshops well worth the $$.

Best,

John

 

[PhotoPete]

MassArt and its neighbor, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, both have decent offerings on the continuing ed side, although they are weighted towards the summer. The quality of the profs will vary, howver, and to get at the big names teaching at either school, you may have to enroll. BU and Emerson have some limited continuing ed offerings. Unless you are looking to earn college credit, NESOP might me a more economical alternative, although MassArt may be almost as cheap, being a public College.

The Cambridge, Brookline and Boston Centers for Adult Education also generally have photo classes, but tend towards digital, and, again, the quality of instruction will vary widely.

 

[Drew B.]

don't forget RISD which offers much in the way of both black and white and LF also. Its an easy train ride down there....

 

[removed account4]

i think the art institute of boston in kenmore square still offers
photography courses. a friend got his degree there years ago
and he has an amazing techical and artistic background.

good luck!
john

 

[PhotoPete]

AIB has a strong photo dept, with excellent representation of alt processes in the form of department chair Christopher James. Frank Gohlke, Cig Harvey and John Lueders-Booth are all adjuncts. They have some pretty nice darkroom facilities, as well.

Other than their summer offerings, I think you have to matriculate in order to take classes there. They have a master's program which is low-residency and provides art history, art theory and crits, but no technical instruction- probably not what you are looking for.

 

[RobLewis]

Since my wife is a Director of Academic Advising at a community college, I have to recommend an into course at a CC if you have one nearby. (Please take this with grain of salt- I'm in Chicago, not on East Coast- I'm not familiar with the facilities available in your 'hood)
The tuition tends to be pretty low, and if you ever decide to take more classes, the credits will probably be transferrable or applicable to a degree program.
Just my .02.

 

[Monophoto]

Ken -

The program that Drew is organizing may be exactly what you are looking for.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[winger]

There's also the Danforth Museum School in Framingham. They have a darkroom and several classes on printing, usually in the evenings.