THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE

RETEACHING OPTIONS AND PRODUCTIVE PLAY
For those students who encounter difficulties with any aspect of photography,
you may find it helpful to consider alternate approaches to teaching the
requisite skills. One way to start is to look beneath the surface and strive to
locate any underlying causes which may not be immediately apparent.
For example, one potential problem area that all photographers must confront
to some degree is a high level of interaction with others (often total
strangers) which can be extremely uncomfortable and — until identified —
may be the source of an otherwise inexplicable inability to capture effective
"people pictures." Creating a safe environment, such as encouraging the use
of friends and family members for "set-up" shots, may be all that is necessary
to solve this dilemma. Extensive use of self-portraiture may be another
useful approach to try, especially for highly introspective students who may
lack effective social skills.
Others may have a hard time grasping the core concepts of composition.
In this case, you might try some special exercises in which you work with
the student (or class if this is a generalized obstacle), experimenting with a
collection of visually interesting objects (an assortment of fruit, blocks of
wood or odds and ends gathered in the classroom). Using a combination of
addition, subtraction and rearrangement, discuss the way each change affects
the "image" (which may be viewed through the mat frame explained in chapter
3), as you seek to draw out the student's responses. With creativity and
patience, this process can often stimulate an exciting "click" of recognition,
when a student suddenly sees how composition works. If the use of threedimensional
objects proves unproductive, try the same approach using cutout
shapes of black paper (with a bit of Spray Mount on the back of each)
to produce various compositional effects on a white mat board. (For best
results, enclose the image area in some kind of frame.)
For a more dynamic approach, consider creating a "virtual camera," consisting
of a cardboard box set on its side on a table, with the top and bottom
removed to produce a limited field of vision (approximating the frame of a
viewfinder or print). One or more students may be asked to arrange objects
within this frame, then step behind it and observe the results. Alternatively,
students could take turns being the "photographer" with the "camera" aimed
at three or more other students who act as models by moving, standing and
sitting as instructed. Or you might begin with a random grouping and then
ask a student to change the position of only one of the subjects. The next
student in turn might then be called upon to make one more change, and so
on until an effective composition has been achieved. Yet another alternative
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