Teaching Photography to Teenagers

[Jim Moore]

Give them some film and tell them to photograph what they see, you'll be surprised at the results you get back. It may be wise to give them a little help on how to use the camera meter to get in the ball park with exposure.

This is what I did with my 15yr old Daughter the first time she went out with me.

I handed her the camera (Pentax 645), showed her the basics and said "have fun"..... It was an overcast day so the exposure was constant.

Here is two of the photos she took on that day. (She printed them her self too).

Jim

[Whiteymorange]

I've been teaching art to kids for almost 30 years. The only advice I can give you is say little and do lots. A lot of talking at the beginning of a new venture is a hurdle kids won't appreciate. Let them get out there and make mistakes. It is only when a kid wonders why something happened that he/she is really receptive to hearing about it. The "need to know" principle means that when someone decides its necessary to know something, because they want to accomplish some task that they have defined as important, you will only have to explain it to them once. (OK, twice... they're still kids.)

More important than anything else - have fun! It's why you do this thing, isn't it? Pass on that passion and everything else will take care of itself.

[mark]

As a teacher I say show them to use the meter then let them shoot. No offense but your first session, unless you jump around and act like a clown will probably cause some serious spacing out. Let them shoot first and develope what they get. Then you will have what they did to talk about that whole inspiration, and image stuff.

Show them how to have fun with the equipment and they wil be yours talk alot and they will go on vacation.

[noseoil]

My 15 year old son and I just printed his first black and white images this afternoon. I found an old 35mm SLR on ebay for him and he was interested in printing his first images. They turned out pretty well. I try to give him just enough practical information to get the job done. Not much theory, just the basics he needs to know to do the next step. He's very proud of them.

This seems to be the easiest way to learn. Go out, take the pictures, look at them and decide what would be better next time. The theory is much easier to understand if there is something concrete on hand to examine as a point of reference.

[argentic]

One technical advice:

When you send them out to photograph, make sure they use a film YOU are used to. Tell them which ASA value to set on the camera (and control it !). An overcast day is best. And develop everything in a two-bath developer. That greatly reduces the amount of unprintably hard or soft negatives.

In the beginning most people probably like a little more contrasty prints than you would.

Good luck.

[joeyk49]

I've been in a classroom with kids from different age groups and found that teens are not the hardest to get to (7th and 8th graders top the list). All of the points mentioned are very good and will definitely help. It sounds like they all want to be there, so basic motivation won't be a factor.

But, with teens, I've found that you still have to reach out and grab them right away. Wow them with an example or two of what they might be producing if they put their mind to it. Now the catch: Try to connect the art with their culture. Sure some will want to shoot flowers and birds and clouds right away. But the majority will need to be shown (just a gentle nudge, mind you) that cars, or athletes, or kids hanging out on the street corner can make really cool images too. Don't tell them what to do. Hint at where they might find some ideas and let them get it themselves.

Ask more questions. Make fewer statements.

[andrewmoodie]

And keep it coming. I find teaching quite a challenge but it's something I'd like to get better at. All of the advice you've given me is very useful.

I'm not done yet. Last week I provided them with masses of pictures to look out and I asked them to pick out the ones they liked and I asked them to say what it was they liked.

Then, mercifully, the cameras and the films arrived and I let them go to it. One of the other exercises I did was pick out pictures and then ask them to come up with words. When they got the cameras I then suggested that they think of the word to describe what's in the view finder. I get the films back in a couple of days so I'll see what they came up with. Can't wait. The printing advice you've given me will be very useful.

Thanks again everyone.