"Horse" Selective Development Silver Gelatin Print
Megan Thompson 2006
Today’s informative rambling is going to pertain to a question I often find in my inbox…
“How did u learn to do all that stuff u do in photoshop? Can u send me a link to where u learned it?”
I can usually tell from their slaughtering of pronouns that they are not currently enrolled in a four-year program the local college. Here is my usual reply…
“I went to college, here’s the link to where I learned photography… www.montana.edu”
Snarky yes, but hey, that’s me. There are always people asking where they can find a short cut, a tutorial, or a how to. Very few people I encounter actually want to take the time to study the art and science behind making a photograph. Ask them what SLR stands for and they will stare at you and blink twice before mumbling, “Lens something… I dunno”. Here’s where the digital age gets tricky. Do we spend time educating students about silver halide crystals when there’s a huge chance they’ll turn out like me and exit the darkroom never to return? In my opinion yes. I’m a snob though, so if you ask me flat out, I will say, “Yes, I consider myself a better photographer because I learned alternative processes!” So HA!
“Should I go to school for photography?”
My professors would be the first to say that, no; you don’t need to go to school to be a great photographer. I back this up whole-heartedly; I know a lot of great photographers who don’t have $22,000 in student loans like I do. But most of the people I know who don’t want to “waste their time in school” aren’t that good. Chances are if you’re reading this and found me on myspace and you think that I am the greatest damn photographer in the world, then you my friend should go to school.
I know that for me personally going to school for photography was probably the best decision I ever made in my life. Up until I switched to the photo department I, A) Wanted to be a band videographer, and part time horse trainer, B) thought I was awesome already and most importantly C) Thought that taking good photographs was EASY. It is not easy. If you think it is easy, you probably need to go to college.
I decided to double major in graphic design and photography after seeing Annie Leibovitz’s portrait of The White Stripes. I looked at that photo and thought to myself “WOW. I want to do this for a living… what she does… this right here.” I decided to major solely in photography after the graphic design department made the executive decision that I sucked, and booted me out of the program. Failing so splendidly made me work about twice as hard as most of the people in my intro photo class because I was so afraid of not getting through that gate too. Fear is a powerful motivator, that’s why I edit with a bear in the room.
Like I said when I went into the program I thought I was pretty awesome. The reason most people should go to school is to be ridiculed and criticized and to learn how to let it roll of your back. I would have never gotten any better had it not been for my professors telling me when something was terrible. They also saw through any bullshit in about .5 seconds so they kept me always making better work. Working on assignments also makes you look at your work from all different angles. How do you see the 7 deadly sins versus your classmate? Working in such close quarters creates a competitive edge that will prepare you for competing for jobs in the real world, and keep your brain always producing. That’s how I come up with these ridiculous ideas for bands, my brain is always producing them, and I just need to remember to write them down.
This gets me to the last point I was going to make about photography being easy. If you think that taking photos is an easy gig, then you haven’t taken enough photos. Look at your favorite photo, then go out and try to recreate it. I’ve been trying for about three years to get an Annie feel in my lighting and I can’t do it. I can’t do it because I’m not Annie Leibovitz, and I haven’t been taking photos since the conception of Rolling Stone Magazine. But I’m finally able to take what I like about her photos and put my spin on it. Taking a photograph is easy, you just push a button, but making a good photograph is very hard. Look at how many images a photographer takes to get just one image that’s good enough to publish. You should never feel like you're good enough, because then you won’t strive to get better. That’s why I went to school. I’m the type of person who can’t learn anything technical unless it’s forced into my brain for 20 hours a week. I don’t think I’m anywhere near as good at photography as I want to be. I want to keep learning, and I think all good photographers should feel that way. I never stop reading, and looking at new work and you shouldn’t either. I feel like my generation is spoiled, and kids want to be handed a fun, cool career like “rock photographer” without working for it.
So should you go to college? If you’re like me, then yes, you really should. Go for nothing more than the opportunity to learn so much more than just photography. Go to learn how to teach yourself about photographers, learn about new and exciting processes, and learn about fine art. Maybe you don’t actually want to photograph bands. Maybe you want to document cornfields and the people who maintain them, but you don’t know it yet. Most importantly, COLLEGE IS FUN! Go to college and live it up while you’re still young enough to not be the creepy nontraditional student.
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