the bell rings

© Laura Hughes, left, Zachary Seib, center, Alec Schuppel, right

We've started up the MIAD-FA382 blog once again, with a new group of photography majors from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. The first blog assignment was to post their favorite picture from the summer, and a few examples are above. Please stop by and take a look at the students' work, and know that there's much more ahead in the next few months.

Also, we're also approaching 600 photographer interview and informational links on the site, so visit us for lots of additional photography content, too.

325

© Tom Owens (junior at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design)

If you haven't visited MIAD-FA382 lately, I don't blame you - the Professional Practices class concluded with the Fall semester, and the blog won't feature new student work until this coming August.

But do you like reading photographer interviews? I ask because we're continuing to post them to the site. We're up to over 378 links to interviews with photographers and industry professionals, from terrific sites like Feature Shoot, NYMPHOTO, American Suburb X and Too Much Chocolate.

How about one per day over your morning coffee?

chicago show + tell

Dave Jordano, left, Colleen Plumb, center, Brian Ulrich, right © kjm

I love it when artists whose work I admire turn out to be the nice, thoughtful people I hope they are. Thus was the case on two recent trips to Chicago - the first, with my class from MIAD, when we visited Dave Jordano and Colleen Plumb. Then, a week later with the Photography Council of the Milwaukee Art Museum, where we paid a visit to Brian Ulrich.

Thank you all for sharing your work and time!

after class

red napkin on book © kjm

class picture

© kjm

Well, the first day of the Professional Practices class seemed to go well - the students seemed engaged, and I saw no signs of a coup (yet). As part of the class, we'll have a blog, to which students will be posting work, and reading online interviews with photographers and industry professionals.

I went a little crazy in compiling the list, and there are now 201 interview links!, and we'll be posting our own interviews as well. The first assignment for the blog was to post a favorite photograph made over the summer. Please stop by to see these and future pictures by the students, as well as to poke around the interview link list.

http://miad-fa382.blogspot.com/

new kid

© Matthew Monteith, from the series Art School

Syllabi? Check. Lunch money? Check. It's my first day of class today - wish me luck.

pencils down

report card, 1973

My mom recently found a folder containing all my student report cards, from junior kindergarten through college. The early marks were good, though I was apparently a little reserved (one comment in the margin from my kindergarten teacher: "Not as pokey as he used to be.") What's noticeable (and disappointing) is a drop in the grades, beginning in mid-junior high and only picking up again during my sophomore year in college. What was I doing with my time, if not studying?

I'm preparing to teach my first ever class, for junior-level photography majors at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. I'm really excited and nervous, and plan to write about the experience here. No time to be pokey. Stay tuned.