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I've spent entirely to much time working on this post tonight. But, I'm struggling a bit with teaching, and how to bridge some gaps. Or, wether there are any gaps at all. My last post was an effort to try and draw some resolutions. Anyway, I haven't figured it out, so I'll save the long winded post or going around in circles, and just jump to the center...

In regards to teaching:

Ultimately, I want them to go out into the world and drink it in. I want them to become invested, and to love and be scared, and capture it all. I want them to bask in the face of reality and create fictions. I want them to believe that art can change the world, and that they are the ones to do it - that their images are the only answer. I want fire and swagger.

I want them to make great photographs, and I don't care how they get them.

But, my contradiction is that sometimes I do care. I also want them to experience an image on the ground glass, upside down and backwards. I want them to peer down through a waist level finder. I want them to compose inside a square. Experience the freedom of a rangefinder. I want them to struggle with a dark cloth in the wind. I want them to use a tripod. And not. I want them to rely on a single lens, and be forced to get closer. I want them to decide on black and white or color before they leave the house. I want them to get down to one final exposure, and make it count. I want them to have patience. I want them to be present.

I realized tonight, that this conversation is probably more about me than my students. A necessary realization.