TRAC: Exploring Photography *Online*

“During this 8-week class students will explore digital & darkroom photography, digital art, and alternative processes like cyanotypes.”

This is the class description students had based their decision on, their decision to sign up for the spring session of TRAC: Exploring Photography. As you’ve already guessed, I’m sure, this is not how the Spring 2020 session went. So how did we explore photography? We discussed some technical decisions one may make when making a digital photograph, even with a cell phone! We talked about how different lighting informs a photograph. We looked at bodies of photographic work and discussed decisions made about composition and sequencing. Students worked towards their own cohesive body of work and wrote about their final series. 

As different as the class was from the one they signed up for, five teens showed up every Tuesday afternoon for eight weeks straight. Their active participation, despite the hardship of the past few months, inspired me deeply. They listened, they shared, they learned. I feel confident in that, based on the work they produced and shared with me and with each other. One student willing to share one of said bodies of work is Mikayla Guck. Please enjoy Mikayla’s series, “The Creative Process”

Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_01Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_02Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_03Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_04Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_05Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_06Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_07Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_08Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_09Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_10Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_11Guck_Mikayla_TheCreativeProcess_12

The Creative Process

It is more than what an artist makes. There is beauty, too, in the simplicity of the art supplies that create a masterpiece. I think, as artists, we often put pressure on ourselves to create a final product that blows people away. But to me, the time and thought and materials that go into what we create have just as much value as our creations.

I took these pictures with my camera because I wanted to capture as much detail as possible in order to get a look at seemingly ordinary art supplies. For me, creativity is sparked through color and contrast, and I displayed that with both the colors of the rainbow and the glow of metallics. In some of the photos I used a mirror in order to reflect my subject, in a way we might see our own reflection in our artwork.

Ultimately, understanding and appreciating our creative process will help us create art that we can connect with and use to understand our creative drive. For me, and probably many other creatives, seeing growth in my art comes not from making good pieces, but from a greater knowledge of how and why I am creating. 

– Mikayla Guck

TRAC: Exploring Photography *Online*

“During this 8-week class students will explore digital & darkroom photography, digital art, and alternative processes like cyanotypes.”

This is the class description students had based their decision on, their decision to sign up for the spring session of TRAC: Exploring Photography. As you’ve already guessed, I’m sure, this is not how the Spring 2020 session went. So how did we explore photography? We discussed some technical decisions one may make when making a digital photograph, even with a cell phone! We talked about how different lighting informs a photograph. We looked at bodies of photographic work and discussed decisions made about composition and sequencing. Students worked towards their own cohesive body of work and wrote about their final series. 

As different as the class was from the one they signed up for, five teens showed up every Tuesday afternoon for eight weeks straight. Their active participation, despite the hardship of the past few months, inspired me deeply. They listened, they shared, they learned. I feel confident in that, based on the work they produced and shared with me and with each other. One student willing to share one of said bodies of work is Carina Christman. Please enjoy Carina’s series, “Backyard Oasis”