Picasso said the secret to being a great artist was to remain a child.
Today I started my 29th year of teaching PHOTO 101 Introduction to Photography. I have never grown tired of teaching this class. It allows me to practice what the Zen masters call Beginner’s Mind.
Each fall I go back to the very beginning and start with a drawing as a means of exploring how we see the world. Human perception is very different from camera perception. The camera records infinite detail but the human eye has to simplify the world into shapes and lines.
To make a drawing is to make the first mark on a blank canvas. In this case I chose to make the contour line of a violin. Before the students arrive I arranged a still life that included old books, a bouquet of flowers and a broken violin. It was fascinating to see that students were split evenly between starting with the instrument, the books, or the flowers. It goes to show that what we pay attention to and how we see is influenced by past life experience. This simple exercise of seeing and drawing begins the transformation of seeing the world graphically.
The next exercise is one of looking and drawing a person. This raises the awareness of how uncomfortable it is to look at a stranger and how awkward it is to know someone is looking at you. This is the gateway to the topic of why photography is a challenge to do well. We have to give ourselves permission to look and see and be prepared to share our images with someone to show them how we see the world.
When asked to make a drawing most students were nervous and felt their work inadequate. I showed them the work of Picasso and Matisse along with a more contemporary artist named Dan Price.
After awhile the relax into it and realize that drawing is active and keeps you in the moment. Photography can do this too. Drawing and photography have meditative qualities that wash away thinking about the past and future.
I was really excited by this exercise because I feel reconnected to drawing. I had done a lot of handmade art in my childhood but wasn’t allowed to continue taking art classes in high school. I got rusty and lost my confidence in drawing. I went from making illustrations for a television show to having a complete fear of drawing. Today I felt completely liberating to begin the return to drawing and I also felt like drawing would enhance my photography.
In a world full of digital text and generative AI I am encouraging students to celebrate the hand made quality of originality. We are constructing notebooks with handwritten notes and personal reflections. This was mine from our first day together.
The Japanese have a concept called Wabi Sabi that celebrates the beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and simplicity. The meaning comes from these two terms.
Wabi (侘): Refers to subdued, austere beauty, rustic simplicity, and living with humility in harmony with nature.
Sabi (寂): Refers to the rustic patina, wear, and the beauty that comes with age and the natural passage of time.
After 29 years of teaching and more than 40 years of photography I am happy to start from the beginning all over again.
