Defending the Darkroom in Education

[Fred L]

Mark,

That truly is sad and depressing and while she may very well be taking orders from on high, I would think TPTB might appreciate someone who had the temerity to stand up for what is in the best interest of the students. Such administrators don't have long careers when change inevitably happens.


Good luck,

Fred

[BarryS]

She sounds like a dimwitted martinet--unfortunately they're not in short supply. If you were in for the long-haul, I'd suggest banding together to get rid of this life-sucking vampire, but you may want to just grit your teeth and hang-on. With those reviews--it sounds like she's preparing to axe you--so you may have little choice. How about the "School of Rock" solution? Find a way to take the analog classes and darkroom stuff off-campus.

[Drew Wiley]

Dark rooms have less light bulbs on, and therefore save energy (not really, but it's a politically-correct argument). Therefore, building codes should mandate a darkroom in every new home or apartment.

[Mark Sawyer]

Just a note: I retired several years ago after the darkroom was closed. The photo program was about 75% digital by then, but the darkroom still taught a lot of math, science, history, craft, and art. Of the dozen or so high school photo programs in Tucson, none have a darkroom. Progress marches on...

[JMB]

Your principal's intentions are misguided and unfortunately predicable.

The questions raised here are deeply political and only deeply political responses will cast real light on the matter. In the meantime, its very good to hear that counter measures are afoot. Congratulations, e.g., and good luck to the Weston Collective.

[faberryman]

I am surprised you have a photography program at all.

[Jac@stafford.net]

My University darkroom was closed and all equipment auctioned off at scrap prices. I was disappointed because they had one unused extra room with a tall ceiling, proper plumbing and ventilation to take a Saltzman 8x10 enlarger I was going to give them.

One important thing I noticed about the students' work coming out of the darkroom was an indisputable poor quality of their prints. Just terrible. Their opinion was evinced by one student, "Why should I spend so much more time printing an image, getting wet in a dungeon when the digital students do so much more in so little time sitting at a desk."

I add that the chair overseeing the photography division had a terminal degree but had not published a photograph in over twenty years.

[Mark Sawyer]

I learned their opinion evinced by one astute student, "Why should I spend so much more time printing an image, getting wet in a dungeon when the digital students do so much more in so little time sitting at a desk."

Without at least one dedicated faculty member, any area of any university program is likely to falter, along with the students in it.

[Jac@stafford.net]

[...] I'm largely self educated

So am I, but unfortunately I had a bad instructor.

[Duolab123]

Anything that gets people to interact with the real world is a good thing. When I was in high school we had an extensive industrial arts department. I took every science course that was offered. Physics, chemistry, botany, geology, marine biology, astronomy, biology. I took metal working, 2 years of auto mechanics, lapidary .

Everything today is on computer. Learning digital photography might help you with computer skills. I think photography as a vocation, digital, analog whatever would be very difficult to make a living today.