Mentorship
Hey Lbobi!I'm writing this to try and get my second lbobi podcast shout out.
Just kidding.
Maybe.
But on that note, Jeff, loved the "somewhere in Arkansas." I agree, Arkadelphia isn't the easiest to remember for those who have never been here!
So here's the situation, and I'd like some feedback. None of this, "yea, let's read the post and not say anything back." I dont care if you think your response is going to be used, it'll be valued, and that should be enough to motivate you to type something back.
I'm going to be skipping some details, because I dont know what I'm legally allowed to say, and what is best left unsaid, legal or not. Long story short, through my "day job" in youth ministry, I've been asked to help mentor a student. He's a 17 year old senior in a college prep high school in my area without a father figure or any respect for authorities or boundaries. One school administrator has given him the ultimatum, "One more screw up and you're gone."
However, he has shown an interest in photography, and the administrator is hoping to use that as a means to give him some positive feedback, an outlet, and a bit of mentorship. Skipping more details, I was asked to be the guy.
I've looked for a way to combine my passion for photography and my calling to ministry for a long time now (let's leave religious debate out, just take it for what it is if you don't agree. no harm, no foul). I definitely see this as a great way to use my photography to give back. Here's the question. I dont know what to do. I have 45 minutes with this kid each week for at least a semester. I can't take him off campus, obviously. I've never taken a single photography class, and I've never had a photographer mentor, so I feel like the blind leading the blind.
So far, I've given us a goal to take a picture a day and we're going to talk about them next week, but that's all i've got. And even if that was enough for the "photography side," whether the student realizes it or not, that's not the end game, just the means.
SO, you're in my situation, what do you do?
And for those of you waiting on it, here's my traditional video inclusion.
Awesome opportunity! The young man sounds as if he may balk at the "traditional" way of teaching. I might try playing around with toy cameras (Holga/Diana), building a pinhole camera. Recreating favorite cd covers in his own interpretation. Anything that can bring out his creativity, at the same time teaching him basic skills. My two cents. Above everything else, have fun and be a friend to him...that's what he probably needs the most.
What kind of camera are you using with him? Maybe subscribe to the best camera school of thought and get him to use what he has. Set some challenges and do them together. An iphone or ipod touch or point and shoot.. and capture something every hour for an entire day. Get him thinking about how he is using his time and how he can represent that. Get him to shoot things accross a week that represent a range of emotions.. angry, sad, happy, proud.. .. that could be a great window into some discussions. Maybe some video.. get him to script and shoot something? Involve his friends or not. Maybe sharing what he shoots online would help - a flickr account or a posterous account.. etc. I guess it depends on the resources you have. I would up the activity level to more than one shot a day. Maybe you can learn together. Find some resources and work on it in a collaborative way rather than teacher/student approach.
What about looking into a simple instruction book that teaches the basics of how a camera works? Even if you've never taken a photo class, you could read together about how aperture, shutter speed, ISO and all that intermingle. How to use shallow depth of field or shutter drag, etc. You could take it a chapter at a time, read it together and then go out and shoot what you learned.
I agree that having fun with different types of cameras would be great, but maybe going about learning the technical stuff would be helpful to him too. Good luck! :)
awebb, I LOVE the holga idea, I hadn't even thought of it before. He'd mentioned that he had done some pictures of a band at school and he kind of liked that, but recreating an album cover as his interpretation is brilliant.
lanne, i'm not sure what he's using, I just know it's a sony and he can "control the shutter and aperture stuff" as he said, but just for budget reasons, we'll be using his camera. i was also told it's "probably not a great idea to bring a lot of your gear" for gear safety reasons, which also leans me toward the best camera approach, haha. I like the flickr idea though, get him plugged into some groups and stuff to get feedback from other people as well.
meredith, i've been (in the 3 seconds per day i have) perusing amazon for a book like that. i tried to explain the concept of the shutter speed/aperture/ISO using a picture of an eyeball, as i'm sure you've all heard before, but we'll see if it actually sunk in. it's a pretty basic but one of those things that, for me, took a while to grasp how they interchange.
You all rule, thanks for your input, I can't wait to see what other suggestions people have!
Awesome Austin! The world needs more mentors like you! Just a suggestion, since you asked- have you heard of the NY Institute of Photography? It is a really great course taken correspondance and you pay as you go (its only $30 a month, and if you don't pay they just don't send the next lesson). They send you assignments in the mail and when you complete them you send them back, where they give you a critique and what to focus on for next time. It is a really great course, but I don't know if you're willing to spend $30 a month for the mentorship thing--of course even if you are already a photographer, it will only sharpen your skills, and if you share them with your mentee then he will really be learning photography in a structured way, including feedback on his images from professionals. The school is 100 yrs old. Its www.nyip.com. hope it helps & keep up the great work!! :)