From left: Andrew Wright, Jennifer Crane, Rafael Goldchain and Vikky Alexander / photos by Andrew Wright, Eileen Murray, Jason Moreland and Laurel Breidon
For many of its early years, photography was thought to be at best a useful tool, at worst an aberration. Critics alternately heralded the medium as a miracle and debated its purpose. Now, new debates are on deck as a medium that was already complex is in tumult thanks to the advance of digital technology. Here is what some photo profs across the country have to say about the changes.
Andrew Wright, University of Ottawa
“Photo technologies are so ubiquitous and straightforward to manipulate that making images that bear a striking resemblance to photographic art is relatively easy. In teaching photography, we need to help students identify what can be subtle distinctions between images and autonomous works of art. We have to encourage consideration and deal with issues of meaningful communication.”
Jennifer Crane, University of Saskatchewan
“It’s exciting that photography students today have a wide range of tools and techniques to choose from to explore their ideas. But this presents a challenge, too—to try to maintain a high-quality facility that allows students access to the newest technology and older processes in an era when resources are shrinking.”
Rafael Goldchain, Sheridan College
“Because the photography industry has changed so much—a huge chunk of it went away with the advent of digital technologies and stock photography—we are trying to concentrate on just those areas of the medium in which photographers can still make a viable living. We want to include in the curriculum things that will always be in demand: product photography, fashion photography, portraiture.”
Vikky Alexander, University of Victoria
“Maintaining a high level of commitment to the production of fine art–quality prints is difficult now. Most students’ images are seen, for the most part, either projected or on their laptops. But as an instructor in a visual-arts program in a university, I feel that it is very important to have the students make physical prints that will eventually be shown in a gallery.”
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2013 issue of Canadian Art, a special issue on photography.
