Do high school photography teachers praise poor images by students?

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Regardless of whether the student is in high school or college, the instructor has two responsibilities. The first is to teach, and teaching often involves delivering the bad news that the student's performance is unacceptable. So honesty is required.

But at the same time, the teacher has to inspire a desire on the part of the student to improve his work. And to do that, the teacher has to encourage students.

So to me, a good teacher is one who offers honest criticism, but does it in a way that is not going to turn students off photography.That means telling students when their work is schlock, but it also means complimenting them on good work. The best instructors usually find a way to have both positive and negative things to say about their students' work, and who communication in a way that allow them to deliver both the good news and bad news without discouraging their students.

Conversely, the really bad instructors, who are unable to effectively communicate with their students, are usually the ones who are also ego-driven hacks who shouldn't be teaching.
 
Do they do this to encourage rather than discourage or do they really not have a handle on what is really required in the field?

I might as well expand this to some colleges, as I was told by a college photography teacher that he would fail Ansel Adams because Adams presented the world "too pretty".
 
Regardless of whether the student is in high school or college, the instructor has two responsibilities. The first is to teach, and teaching often involves delivering the bad news that the student's performance is unacceptable. So honesty is required.

But at the same time, the teacher has to inspire a desire on the part of the student to improve his work. And to do that, the teacher has to encourage students.

So to me, a good teacher is one who offers honest criticism, but does it in a way that is not going to turn students off photography.That means telling students when their work is schlock, but it also means complimenting them on good work. The best instructors usually find a way to have both positive and negative things to say about their students' work, and who communication in a way that allow them to deliver both the good news and bad news without discouraging their students.

Conversely, the really bad instructors, who are unable to effectively communicate with their students, are usually the ones who are also ego-driven hacks who shouldn't be teaching.
 
I have seem really lame photographers get so much better - they combined passion with education education education. A teacher should encourage the strong parts of the students work, and help improve the weak parts.

In high school, photography is a way for young people to express their feelings, to see their environment in some way they are not used to, or to share their environment and feelings with others.

These pictures succeed if they express a feeling, a mood, or tell a story. The teacher's job is to respond to these emotions, moods and stories - "That's very strong," or "I don't understand why you photographed this cat." And, like an English teacher, correct "grammar" and also give a context, "Your photo is like Arbus's work - see if you like her photos."

A teacher who describes a photo as too pretty? Not a good teacher. Too "precious," better might be to show the images of other photographers who do that style well, and other photographers who satirize that style.
 
You are right ... When in a masters program years ago at a prestigious State university, I was appalled when a students single image portfolio was praised by the instructor.

The image was the result of just about every first timers mistakes when attempt at producing a photo. Under exposed, under developed and the composition of the outhouse placed it directly in the center of the frame. It was poorly dry mounted (it had wrinkles in it) and had no attempt was made to "spot tone" the obvious dust on the print.

This looked like what one would expect from a first semester student, first assignment ... not someone entering an MFA program in photography.

This does a huge disservice to the student. Without a serious critique, pointing out the technical mistakes and praising the student only when the growth of the student shows them becoming more proficient in their techniques and start to learn some elements of design and composition, the student may become frustrated, especially when facing the real world, later when they try to enter judged art shows or actually try to work as a pro

It may be that the root cause of this problem is the bona fides of the instructor. I learned soon enough that in order to get the most from my photo classes, it was incumbent upon me to choose those who were either retired pros or actually working pros, teaching one class a semester

Photography is a balance of the total control of the images exposure and the creative sense necessary to compose compelling images. Trying to politicize the craft of creating images is a bit over the top. Letting the market select the those who will succeed will actually reflect the political temperature than any forced image manipulation. Only giving value to images that are not "too pretty" is counter to the idea of art. While social commentary is one important facet of photography, it is not the end-all and be-all of using a camera.
 
I have seem really lame photographers get so much better - they combined passion with education education education. A teacher should encourage the strong parts of the students work, and help improve the weak parts.

In high school, photography is a way for young people to express their feelings, to see their environment in some way they are not used to, or to share their environment and feelings with others.

These pictures succeed if they express a feeling, a mood, or tell a story. The teacher's job is to respond to these emotions, moods and stories - "That's very strong," or "I don't understand why you photographed this cat." And, like an English teacher, correct "grammar" and also give a context, "Your photo is like Arbus's work - see if you like her photos."

A teacher who describes a photo as too pretty? Not a good teacher. Too "precious," better might be to show the images of other photographers who do that style well, and other photographers who satirize that style.
 
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