I signed up to take a photography class this spring at the Penland School of Crafts in the North Carolina mountains. This one week class focuses on pinhole photography and other alternative processes, combined with digital manipulation. While this is an interesting class, mainly I wanted to take any non-traditional photography class to expand my creative thought process. I have been taking the same kind of pictures for a long time (old school, black and white film, natural light, manual camera), and I want try some new things beside different subject matter. As I have some more time to shoot pictures, this is a good time to do this.
“This class will begin with students making pinhole cameras, paper negatives, and contact prints. Then we will scan, copy, manipulate, and play with our images. Our exploration of alternative processes will include acrylic lifts, Lazertran, Xerox transfer, and more. We will make simple book forms and tin frames for presentation.”
I got my acceptance letter today, and it really is like camp. I have to be there at a certain time on Sunday for check-in. After moving into our quarters (I chose a double room over dorm accommodations), we have a class orientation, then dinner, then more class time before bed. It should be a lot of fun, but totally different from anything I have done for a long time.
