Down and Out at MareA few weeks ago I attended the Society of Photographic Educators (SPE) West conference in an idyllic conference center outside of Oakhurst, Ca, just miles from Yosemite National Park. This conference was very powerful to me for so many reasons. I think I found a bit of my soul there.
Part of the joys of having a community college nearby is that I can take classes for cheap ($26 per unit) and use great equipment. The downside is that almost all of the students are photographic hobbyists. I greatly encourage everybody to learn how to take better photos, but that is the end goal for the bulk of the students. For a few though, it is about art.
Richard and I are both students in that class. We are both college graduates with degrees in psychology. We both are trying to find our artistic voice and are toying with the idea of heading back to get Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) and teach. Fortunately, we were both invited by a former instructor to the conference.
The first night we had dinner and then started a series of presentations on various areas of art in photography. I soon found that the more conceptual the better.
I've been slowly digesting what I learned. A few key nuggets I gained were:
- It is invigorating for my soul to be with fellow artists to talk about photography and what makes it important.
- There are so many different theories about art and the world - feminist, post modern, environmental, queer, feminist-queer, and many other interesting areas.
- Some take themselves too seriously.
- Some are truly mentors, many are very supportive and want to help artists grow, and a rare few are willing to empty both barrels into a photographer and photo if they are offended.
- Artists are sexy as hell.
- It is easy to feel like a minor minnow when you look at others' art and compare it to your own naive attempts.
Over the next few days I will share some of the key things I learned about art and myself.
Coffee and the Conference Pond
I look forward to the Share.
ReplyDelete