Wow teaching film is the bomb.

[Drew Wiley]

The University here still teaches film in the Fine Arts Dept (whatever the hell that means)... but the big vacuum is in the commercial art schools which enroll a much larger number of aspiring photographers and graphic artists, and teach only digital nowadays. I hear constant complaints about it from the students themselves, who are looking to learn film and traditional darkroom on the side. In this area pure digital equates to a helluva lot of competition. Some of the community colleges still have small RA4 machines in place. And it will be interesting to see if the main photo store in town expands its rental darkroom space when it relocates for growth this summer. But there's quite a difference between teaching basic black and white and dealing with nasty color chemistry, which might not be so appropriate for beginners.

[Vaughn]

Its been years, maybe 12 or more, since I taught a beginning university level film class. I completely forgot about the thrill that kids get when they see their first negatives that they created with their own hands. Their enthusiasm has been a huge high for me as well. There is simply no equivalent high for students when I teach a digital class. Long live film-now an alternative process to most kids.

As the university's darkroom tech for 20+ years (and volunteering as a darkroom assistant for 10+ years before that in the same darkroom), it has been a constant joy to watch. Though I do admit that early in the semester, a lot of the students crossing the hallway to my office are holding wet uncut 36 exp film with major problems. Much of my work is playing detective..."What could have and what did go wrong here...? " And some "To the rescue!" type stuff, too. And even though I do not teach classes, I have opportunities to teach a little to students.

Vaughn

[SpeedGraphicMan]

Helping someone else learn is the greatest feeling...

[Jess C]

For 34 years film based photography is all I taught. It was always a joy to see the reaction my students got when they developed their first roll of black and white film. I was a greater joy when they reacted to the "magic" of the image appearing in the Dektol under the soft warm glow of the darkroom safelights. I will miss that experience and the interaction of the students.

I held on to the darkroom when all of the other high schools in my district closed down their labs and went digital. I just retired this year but the writing on the wall for the darkroom lab has been written I'm afraid. One more year at best is what I figure at my school. Here is a link to a news video our local ABC News affiliate did a couple months ago.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region...after-34-years

[Drew Wiley]

Hopefully community colleges will take up some of the slack. Many of them offer electives to non-students in the evening etc. I work with several in setting up shop
courses, for example. But I'm beginning to wonder what a college degree amounts to any more. I know phD's in electrical engineering who don't even know how to use a soldering iron. Everything is so techie nowadays. A honest car mechanic is far more in demand than a programmer. I know of US mfg startups who are failing simply because they can't find competent machine shop help. Every corn-syrup-fed kid thinks they're going to become Mark Zuckerberg if they just sit on their ass
long enough and buy the latest computer games. Alas - the "jobs of tomorrow" are already massively outsourced to become the jobs of yesterday. I'm sooo glad that where I grew up we didn't even have phones or TV yet. I run into young people (and older ones - including techie engineers) all the time who wish they could learn basic b&w darkroom - but I don't have teaching space, and my gear is way to fancy and fussy to risk it getting messed up. The whole mentality of this
is disgusting. Plenty of people still ride horses. At least Henry Ford didn't go around shooting them all once the Model T was marketed - but that's what the consumer electronics industry would like people to believe in this case. Darkroom gear is more affordable than ever... but maybe not the spare room to put it in.

[Tin Can]

This has been going on since I was in HS and I graduated HS in 1969. I was not allowed to take the shop, art, drama classes I wanted, I was deemed advance placement college meat. I dropped out of college almost before I started. Too damn slow and regimented and they wanted me to repeat HS classes I already had taken, despite testing into 3d year of college.

I became a self trained mechanic and worked automotive test labs all my life, then 'they' decided, they didn't need people who could actually make things work. Bean counters.

Thank God, I can now retire and work with my wet hands in the darkroom I always wanted.

We need another Sputnik wake up call.

Hopefully community colleges will take up some of the slack. Many of them offer electives to non-students in the evening etc. I work with several in setting up shop
courses, for example. But I'm beginning to wonder what a college degree amounts to any more. I know phD's in electrical engineering who don't even know how to use a soldering iron. Everything is so techie nowadays. A honest car mechanic is far more in demand than a programmer. I know of US mfg startups who are failing simply because they can't find competent machine shop help. Every corn-syrup-fed kid thinks they're going to become Mark Zuckerberg if they just sit on their ass
long enough and buy the latest computer games. Alas - the "jobs of tomorrow" are already massively outsourced to become the jobs of yesterday. I'm sooo glad that where I grew up we didn't even have phones or TV yet. I run into young people (and older ones - including techie engineers) all the time who wish they could learn basic b&w darkroom - but I don't have teaching space, and my gear is way to fancy and fussy to risk it getting messed up. The whole mentality of this
is disgusting. Plenty of people still ride horses. At least Henry Ford didn't go around shooting them all once the Model T was marketed - but that's what the consumer electronics industry would like people to believe in this case. Darkroom gear is more affordable than ever... but maybe not the spare room to put it in.

[Drew Wiley]

Gosh that sounds familiar Randy. I was done by all my high school curriculum by the time I was fourteen or fifteen, and they wouldn't allow me either to graduate or
take shop classes - that was for the dummies. I was expected to read Sophocles. Had fun anyway - spent most of the time running cross-country, and since the
school was a long, long ways from any city, that meant climbing the hills, swimming in the creek, hunting arrowheads, and legitimately being everywhere except class
until you had to catch the schoolbus home. ... then more hills and fun until dark. The school had a popular darkroom ... but that was more for, well, unmentionable
things that naughty kids did.

[Drew Wiley]

Oh... and college, well I finished.... but most of the time I was doing independent study anyway. Seems I've always learned more on my own.

[Tin Can]

Yes, I spent as much time outside, preferably in deep woods, ice skating on lakes and building rafts. We were not military, but we moved nearly every year with a new school, new bullies and new teaching 'methods.' Shop class for dummies was told to me also! Applied physics...

I can be adaptable, when I choose...

I think our young need more outside. Fortunately my step-daughter camps and climbs with her 2 teenage boys and she married a guy like me. Something's working.

Gosh that sounds familiar Randy. I was done by all my high school curriculum by the time I was fourteen or fifteen, and they wouldn't allow me either to graduate or
take shop classes - that was for the dummies. I was expected to read Sophocles. Had fun anyway - spent most of the time running cross-country, and since the
school was a long, long ways from any city, that meant climbing the hills, swimming in the creek, hunting arrowheads, and legitimately being everywhere except class
until you had to catch the schoolbus home. ... then more hills and fun until dark. The school had a popular darkroom ... but that was more for, well, unmentionable
things that naughty kids did.

[pierre506]

Dear Kirk， you started a heavy topic.
However， it's the cruel reality.
Hugh...