Dear Photons,
I hope you enjoyed a restorative and productive winter break that was full of good food, fun reunions, celebration, and a lot of love. If you spent yesterday's holiday engaged in service in observance of Dr. King's legacy, thank you. Those of you who are new to CCAD, welcome! You're receiving this monthly newsletter that contains updates and opportunities because:
you're a photo major/minor
you're enrolled in a photo course this semester, or
you're a friend of photography
Labs and Equipment Room Hours
Labs and Equipment Checkout will be staffed and open for normal hours starting TODAY, January 17th. Hours are posted in the department and in the "Policies" doc below. Please review these documents and ask questions of your professors this week so that you know what resources you have access to. See me or Shawn if you're unsure about anything.
Booking link for KH310 Photo Studio (for students who have already taken Studio Lighting 1)
Booking link for Alternative Process Darkrooms (for students who have already taken one of the alternative processes courses with Hiroshi or Helen)
Dealing with the Winter Blues
I don't know about you, but the long hours of darkness at this time of year can sometimes get me feeling down. Depression, seasonal or otherwise, can become a kind of positive-feedback-loop, reinforcing itself and making it harder to make the changes needed to do our work and achieve our goals. The first step toward health is to recognize the power of our own thoughts. By taking the time to reframe negative thoughts in a more positive light, we can start to make more pro-adaptive choices.
The next step is to set realistic interim-goals, small, iterative benchmarks to help us get to where we need to be. To put it another way, it's not possible to reach the second floor in one leap; we walk upstairs a step at a time. This helps us to focus on the present and remember our sense of purpose.
Most of all, it's vitally important to practice self-care. This includes getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, eating actual food (not stuff that comes in packages and has an ingredient list that only a chemistry major can understand), exercising everyday, and taking time to socialize. Laughing with your friends is literally good for you. When we take the time to take care of ourselves, then we will feel more energized, motivated, and happy. Listen to music (playlist below) and go for a long walk in the winter sunlight. Be well!
Tips for Success (in college and beyond)
John Waters once offered sound advice for what not to do with someone who has no books in their home, but the truth is that all of us are suffering from shorter and shorter attention spans and that has made it harder for us to understand what we're reading. Our success as creatives relies upon our ability to read closely, think critically, and communicate effectively, all of which require deep concentration.
This January 9th article in the NYT explains some of the science behind what we all already know – it is largely our devices and how we interact on socials that are getting in the way of our capacity to understand and retain information – and provides some strategies for increasing our ability to attend to mind-expanding texts.
This January 5th WaPo article explores what scientists have learned about procrastination – it seems like it's based on an unconscious, incorrect assumption about our future abilities compared to our current abilities – and it offers some suggestions for avoiding the trap of putting off till tomorrow what could be done today.
And in this insightful conversation with Ezra Klein, researcher and scholar, Maryanne Wolf discusses how scanning and scrolling differ from “deep reading,” how our brains process information differently when we’re reading on a Kindle or a laptop as opposed to a physical book, how exposure to such an abundance of information is rewiring our brains and reshaping our society, how to rediscover the lost art of reading deeply, what Wolf recommends to those of us who struggle against digital distractions, and how Wolf’s theory of a “biliterate brain” may preserve our species’ ability to deeply process language and information.
Grant Opportunity
Innovate Grant is committed to supporting the most talented artists and photographers from around the world through quarterly $550.00 grants. In addition, six honorable mentions (3 in art and 3 in photo), are featured and recognized on their website, helping emerging professionals to join a growing community of vibrant and talented creatives. Please see me if you would like any assistance, including possible fee support. For more information or to apply visit innovateartistgrants.org
Spring 2023 Visiting Artist and Scholars
CCAD once again has a stellar line-up of world-class speakers for you!
Thursday, January 26, 6:30 - 8:00 PM in Canzani Auditorium – Colleen Macklin is a game designer and Associate Professor in the school of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design. In 2006 they founded and co-directs PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab), a lab that develops games for experiential learning and social engagement.
Thursday, April 6, 6:30 - 8:00 PM in Canzani Auditorium – Nicole R. Fleetwood is a writer, curator, and art critic. She is the author Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, and curator of the traveling exhibition, Marking Time: Art in the Era of Mass Incarceration, listed as “one of the most important art moments in 2020” by The New York Times and among the best exhibitions of the year by The New Yorker and Hyperallergic.
Thursday, April 20, 6:30 - 8:00 PM in Canzani Auditorium – Stalled! takes as its point of departure national debates surrounding transgender access to public restrooms to address an urgent social justice issue: the need to create safe, sustainable and inclusive public restrooms for everyone regardless of age, gender, race, religion and disability. Stalled! addresses this issue through lectures and workshops, writings and interviews, design guidelines and prototypes.
Start of 2023 Playlist
Maybe you make playlists, too. I hope you like mine, and I would love to hear yours. My tastes are wide-ranging, and I'm always listening to what's new in addition to the tried-and-true. Please feel free to share back with me and let me know what you're listening to.