Photography Education

Thank you to the Cultural Alliance of York, their many partners, and Greg Timmons of Diemo Productions for the production and guidance in making this so easy. 

Artist Narrative

Bringing creativity to the classroom is a concept I believe is crucial to gaining knowledge. We are fundamentally creative beings, not that everyone can all draw, but we all create. Bringing creativity into the classroom allows us to get ideas from our heads to our hearts using our hands.

School was grueling. It was taxing. I spent years with my nose to the grindstone and never seeing the results of my effort, and in 11th grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, which helped me understand the struggle as to why I was not able to decode the information slung at me.  Fast forward 20 years, I’ve now become a mother.

I began watching my children learn, and it was like looking in a mirror.  I had this eerie feeling that I had passed my inability to decipher information in a traditional environment onto them.  When I would bring my concerns to their educators, they promptly dismissed them. Continuing their educational journey, I watched my youngest daughter lose ground in education.  She would put forth tremendous effort, profoundly wanting to read, but nothing clicked. My instinct told me to research.

As I began sifting through book after book on learning disabilities, specifically dyslexia, I stumbled across fascinating research that suggested that people with dyslexia see the world in pictures. With that knowledge, I began to repackage the curriculum used by the school to teach my daughter. I took the words and turned them into pictures. The repackaging or putting text into pictures was the boost she needed for the gates of learning to open.  The information began to pass from her head to her heart. Instead of her being given mere information, we had capitalized a way to make it knowledge. It revolutionized the approach to educating her.

Though this is a personal journey, I can’t help but think other struggling students can benefit from what our family has uncovered.  I want to be part of figuring out ways to bring creativity into the classroom so all our students can thrive.  The education journey begins with the foundation that we are ALL creative beings. Creativity is the key to converting information into knowledge.

The starting point of bringing photography into the classroom is that when we use creativity, we unlock information, turn it into knowledge, and transfer what we know from our heads to our hearts.

Bringing photography into a history class applies the concept by using visual media to help tell the story, making what happened in the past relatable to the present. If students can connect emotionally to a photograph, they can connect to the story. Allowing a student to feel something when looking at a photograph brings a deeper connection to the past; by default, the student will remember the story and possibly even begin enjoying a subject many loath. 

In an English or Language Arts classroom, using a photograph as a writing prompt, after all, photography is visual literacy. The struggle for many people who hate writing is they don’t think they have anything to write about. A photograph, whether it is a personal photo or something provided by the classroom teacher, gives a prompt for a student. It is a jumping-off point. It allows our imaginations to run free. Combining visual literacy and written literacy helps students with writer’s block get going creatively.

In a math class, I would break down the technology of photography. Camera settings use fractions to measure shutter speeds and angles to bounce the light from a flash. Photographers intrinsically make calculations based on light, distance, and depth. By using math in tangible ways, the age-old question of, “When am I ever going to use this in life?” is answered.

In the science classroom, you can discuss the chemicals of developing film or the specialized paper used. We can also discuss the science behind developing negative and photo printing. Motion and depth are huge elements when it comes to photography. Using photography to teach these concepts allows students a practical and tactile application in which they can apply the laws they are learning creatively. 

The biggest asset I bring to the classroom is my own unique experience. I am an artist who also has dyslexia. I intrinsically see the world in pictures; my craft and occupation allow me to make pictures of the world I see.  I also understand the agony that so many students experience daily because we have immersed them in an environment of words when they learn by seeing pictures.  The unique educational experience allows me to help the teacher present topics using visual literacy, thus connecting the head and heart, turning information into knowledge.

Since my children have been school-aged, I have been dipping my toes in the educational process in several ways. I began my educational journey with them by enrolling them in a cyber education plan. When you choose cyber, it is a hybrid of homeschooling and public school. The experience has made me acutely aware of what it takes to educate a child.

My personal experience in my education choices prepared me for the hands-on work I did while substituting with Source 4 Teachers in Lincoln Intermediate 12 Classrooms. Being immersed in a special education environment allowed me to see the challenges and rewards of teaching children with special needs.

Additionally, I sat on the board of trustees for Gettysburg Montessori Charter School. While serving on the board, I learned about the administrative side of education. I was introduced to curriculum, scope and sequences, and core curriculum, and I learned how those things impact the classroom teacher and the school. I navigated how to marry a traditional education with a Montessori approach.

Last, I teach photography workshops, camps, and classes at the Hanover Area Arts Guild. I wanted to write a curriculum that helps amateur photographers begin to feel confident in their ability to make photos. I find great satisfaction and joy in teaching others a craft I enjoy richly.

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