When I'm not taking pictures, I teach Digital Photography to a group of high-school students in Scottsdale, Arizona. We've gone over things like basic exposure (ISO, shutter speeds and aperture) as well as focal length and some of the other things that go into making a good photograph.
Some of the exercises we've done, examined the elements of good photography (does the image have a theme or point of view? Does the image focus attention on the subject? Does it simplify?). How can you tell if a picture is good unless you study the things that make it good?
For one assignment, I had the kids scour the Internet and find "good" pictures and "bad." Some kids were able to show images that clearly didn't have a theme or failed to focus attention on the subject. But the surprisingly many students' examples showed something unfortunate happening and they categorized the image as bad. It was hard to convince them that people running from a tsunami was actually a good picture (of a bad event).
While discussing "good" and "bad" pictures, one of my students told me that she DID NOT LIKE one of my pictures. She was adamant. Her dislike for my picture actually made me happy. What she was really telling me was that she was able to think critically about the image and she wasn't going to let me talk her into changing her mind.
Not everyone likes to eat steak. It's important to know what you dislike and be able to defend your point of view. "Because" is not a reason. It's important to think critically.
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1 comment:
Good thoughts. I think I'll expand on your idea what elements make a good photograph and a bad photograph in my classes.
Rosh
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