cc licensed flickr photo shared by Adam Melancon
a presentation for Northern Voice 2011, May 14, 2011, Vancouver, B.C.
The mechanics and art of photography unveil an intriguing metaphor for thinking about learning and our world view. For a photographer, the operation of cameras-- exploiting apertures, shutter speeds, optics, -- coexist with the artistic skills of pre-visualization, framing, composition. It is no longer a field dominated by pros with expensive gear, we can all make photographic art, damnit.
Taking the metaphor farther, creating an engaging learning experience is much more than point and shoot or flipping the settings into automatic mode. Photography is a beautiful example of how you can get better at doing something just by regularly doing (and sharing) your craft. Regular acts of photography, such as the Daily Shoot, are a model of informal learning that works.
Audio Recording
download mp3 28.5Mb 39:38]
Links Mentioned
Many are dead! They likely can be found in the Wayback Machine.
- A Professional Photographer? http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhghodsi/3049527437
- For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path (New York Times, March 2010) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/business/media/30photogs.html
- More On Instagram (or why Facebook hasn’t won everything) http://thenextweb.com/location/2010/12/30/more-on-instagram-or-why-facebook-hasn%E2%80%99t-won-everything/
- Shared Photos http://flickr.com/photos/cogdogroo
- Don't Be an Idiot (Guy Tal Photography) http://guytal.com/wordpress/2011/05/dont-be-an-idiot/
- Making a Six Word Story photo http://cogdogblog.com/2011/05/08/mayday-six-word-story/
- How Camera Work (Derek K Miller) http://www.penmachine.com/labels/cameraworks
- What's Wrong With this Photo? http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5432699692/
- Kris Krug from Story of a Portrait from flickr Homepage http://madaboutportraits.blogspot.com/2011/02/story-of-portrait-from-flickr-homepage.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/ - What we leave behind is our digital footprint (Kris Krug) http://www.kriskrug.com/2011/02/01/what-we-leave-behind-is-our-digital-footprint/
- Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire (Errol Morris) http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/pictures-are-supposed-to-be-worth-a-thousand-words/
- The 10000 Hours Rule (Malcolm Gladwell just re-iterated the concept) http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt1.html
- The Making of An Expert (Harvard Business Review, 1990) by K Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely http://www.coachingmanagement.nl/The%20Making%20of%20an%20Expert.pdf
- 365 photos flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/366photos/
- The Daily Shoot http://dailyshoot.com/
- The Daily Shoot and Creativity (Galagon Wagon) http://galagonwagon.com/2011/02/the-daily-shoot-and-creativity/
- State of Matter (Jabiz Raisdana) http://intrepidflame.blogspot.com/2011/01/state-of-matter.html
- Stranger Photos (Tom Woodward) http://bionicteaching.com/?cat=254
- 100 Strangers http://www.100strangers.com
- 7 Days of The Daily Shoot Matt Martin http://blog.electrovert.net/?p=69