Update, Update, I'm Gonna Update

As the school year is starting at Purdue, I realized yesterday that I am going to miss teaching. There was something about it that I enjoyed, but because of the politics of the academic world, I'm no longer allowed to do it.

It's a shame that things happened the way they did last April. You would have thought that people in the positions that they were would have acted a little more professional about things. Granted, I wasn't on my best behavior either, but at least let me explore MY ideas; don't try and make me into you.

I'm disappointed how things were handled. Not just with me, but with the entire department itself. The professors and instructors have a very narrow-minded view of photography and art in general. They have a "snobby" attitude when is comes to art and, if anything, it only hurts their position. I'm not trying to criticize any of the students there, but honestly, the work produced at Purdue is, on average, not that great. Don't get me wrong, every once in a while, there will be a student who just gets it, but on the whole, most don't.

Most of the photography students who comes through Purdue don't want to be artists; they want to be photographers. The department spends WAY too much time trying to train these kids to be artists, and that's not what they want, but they stick with the program because its all they have. It's better to have a little training then none, right?

Probably not. You can learn more on your own then going to Purdue. Hell, I learned more just by messing with a camera and equipment then I was every instructed on how to do things. This is why I wanted to be a teacher, to help Purdue have a better photography program. But I guess that's not meant to be.

I was interested in taking this new job because of the room for expansion within the business. One of the things I want to push is an education program. I figure that I can teach more to someone in a 4-6 program then I can in a college level course at Purdue.

I want to teach REAL photography; not the artistic side of it, at least not yet. A person wants to know how to use their camera first; not how to make art. That's my goal with this new job. I miss teaching, but I'm going to find a way to do it, and a way to make is fun for photographers.