We’re often told to ‘push yourself out of your comfort zone’ and to ‘do one thing every day that scares us’, etc. Back in the summer, the opportunity to do just that was presented to me.
New College Worcester is a national residential school and college for young people aged 11 to 19, who are blind or partially sighted. The Head of Art there, Nicky, got in touch with the idea of doing a photography workshop with some of the students who had expressed an interest. So, with plenty of initial reservations, I said yes!
After several discussions with Nicky, I put together an extensive handout document for the students which covered all the concepts we’d be covering in a clear, concise style. Then, I prepared some practical tasks for us to work on during the day, to help demonstrate the concepts in the handout in the real world.
The day of the actual workshop was a scorcher, so with all the doors and windows flung open we got cracking. The kids were great, and we used a practical test early on to get them out of their seats and engaged in the process of taking pictures. Later in the day we sent everybody off with a short ‘shot list’, and then had a short review of everyone’s pictures. One of the best parts of the day for me was when the students were asked the dreaded question… “Does anyone have any questions?”… And they did! Which made me feel that they had been interested enough in what was going on to formulate their own ideas, and have questions as a result. Made the day for me!
Nicky was kind enough to get in touch shortly after the workshop with a lovely testimonial too:
“Stuart came to New College to introduce students studying GCSE and AS art techniques in photography. He taught the students a wide variety of techniques and introduced them to new ideas and ways of working. His engagement with the students and his enthusiasm for photography has inspired the students, one of whom wants to do his whole project in photography as a result!”
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Good work! 🙂
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂