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The 2006 'Best Of' Series
For the second annual Best Of issue of the ASMP Bulletin, we selected twenty projects from a field of nearly sixty candidates. It was a tough decision and we thank all those who submitted their work. We hope you will enjoy reading about the projects featured in print and here on the ASMP Web site.
Photo instructor at Ben Franklin High School
Rich Dunoff’s recent job teaching photography to inner-city students at Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin High School is one of the most challenging assignments of his career. And, once his students became engaged in his class and gained confidence in their skills, it also became an extremely rewarding experience.
Portrait of Rich Dunoff
© H. Ross Watson Jr.
ASMP: How long have you been in business?
RD: 30 years; I started my own business in 1976.
ASMP: How long have you been an ASMP member?
RD: About 25 years.
© Rich Dunoff
ASMP: What are your photographic specialties?
RD: I was primarily hired to shoot people on location. Early in my career I worked primarily for non-profits and many healthcare related clients. As my business progressed, I started working for the corporate, industrial and the pharmaceutical markets as well as for advertising agencies shooting lifestyle type images.
© Rich Dunoff
I used to shoot a fair amount of stock but have not done much in that area for the past 15 years. I still shoot for myself, and most of this work is shooting landscape and travel photos. This personal work was helpful in my being selected to shoot two coffee-table photo books. The first, published by Harmony Press, was about the University of Delaware, and the most recent, published by TwinLights Publishers, is titled Philadelphia: a Photographic Portrait.
© Janae Jones 2005
ASMP: Please summarize the equipment used in this work.
RD: I use nothing other than coercion to get my students to work. The students use Canon S60 cameras, eMac computers and Photoshop CS.
ASMP: What were the goals you set for yourself in approaching this job?
RD: I work in an inner city high school. One of the main problems my students face is that they have little or no interest in education. They have experienced lots of failure and very little success. Most of the students in my school read three or four years below their grade level. I even taught seniors who read on a 6th grade level.
© Shaquana Nixon 2005
The principal and I discussed this issue prior to my being hired, and we both felt that photography might be a good way to give the kids some easy success. We thought if we could teach them a craft or skill that they could use to express themselves, they might enjoy that success and try harder in some of their other classes.
© Terrell Harris 2005
The failure rate, as one can imagine, is astronomical in my school. On the first day of school I came in and presented my syllabus to the students. I started explaining what it would take to earn an A in the class. The first question asked was, “What’s I got to do to pass?” That comment was an eye opener for me. These kids judge success in school by if they have to attend summer school. The idea of an A is alien to most of them.
My main goal was and still is to demonstrate to these kids that they can learn, and they can achieve if they try. This spring, in a city-wide arts contest sponsored by the School District of Philadelphia, ten of my students submitted work, ten of my students had their work accepted and hung, and three of them won cash awards for that work.
© Taja Henson 2005
ASMP: Please tell us about “the intimidation factor” related to your current teaching job and how this relates to or differs from past experiences doing commercial work.
RD: Most of my students live in an area of Philadelphia known as North Philly. They are street kids. Drugs, violence and poverty are the three things that rule their lives. In order to survive they develop coping skills. Intimidation is one of them. Though not academically talented, these students have learned some important street survival skills. Acting tough is usually one of them and they love to pull that act on new teachers. Interestingly, prior to teaching I spent a great deal of my time photographing corporate CEOs, doctors and lawyers. The tricks I had learned to deal with them are the same ones I now use in the classroom.
© James Whitehead 2005
ASMP: Is there any one strategy you find most successful in turning around a student’s negative attitude?
RD: I spend a lot of time with my students talking about anything and everything. I treat them as equals and learn more from them than they learn from me. For some of them, this may be the first time they are treated as an equal by an adult in a learning situation. I have high expectations of them and, fortunately, many of them meet and surpass my expectations. I am interested in what they have to say and encourage them whenever possible. Trust is another big issue. They do not trust most adults or teachers and, for good reason, we do not trust them.
I spend a great deal of time and effort building trust with them. My strategy is nothing more than listening, talking and being honest. The same strategies I use with my photographic subjects and clients.
© Walter Glover 2005
ASMP: What have you learned about photography from teaching these students?
RD: Due to the area they live in and the types of backgrounds they come from, there is a certain rawness to their work. I am trying to incorporate more of that quality into my own work.
I have basic digital skills and frequently, in their explorations with Photoshop, my students will find unique and interesting effects. I try to get them to explain what they did and have learned a great deal from them.
I teach a number of students who are classified as learning disabled. One of these students partnered with a couple of other students to shoot portraits of himself. At first I thought his buddy was coming up with the ideas and the approach. About half way through the semester the buddy was transferred into a different period. The first kid’s work continued even though he had someone else shooting the images, while the kid who was originally shooting the work never seemed to be able to come up with anything interesting on his own. The first kid would take the self-portraits and then combine images of himself together. The images are raw and give you a sense of what it must be like to live on the street.
© Taja Henson 2005
ASMP: Was there any one teaching method you used or assignment you gave that was most successful?
RD: My students love to photograph themselves. My biggest surprise was how much they like to have photos of themselves. Prior to teaching in high school, I taught as an adjunct at a number of different colleges and art programs. When I uttered the words “self portrait,” most of my students slunk in their chairs and groaned. At Ben Franklin the students have the exact opposite reaction. For that matter, one of my biggest problems is to get them to focus their cameras on anything other than themselves.
© Walter Glover 2005
ASMP: Are there specific teaching methods or assignments you tried that didn’t work?
RD: Technical assignments like depth of field were the most difficult to get them to understand and do. Many of the students are not disciplined enough to follow directions and it is also somewhat difficult for them to see the differences with the cameras we use.
ASMP: What is the most valuable lesson you have tried to convey to your students?
RD: Trust, and also that if they really set their minds to learning and doing something, they can achieve it. I spend a great deal of time showing them alternative ways of looking at things and opening their eyes to new possibilities.
© Maurice Hayes 2005
ASMP: Do you plan to continue teaching and how do you foresee structuring this with other aspects of your career?
RD: I am currently teaching full time and my commercial photography career is now secondary to my teaching. I will continue doing this as long as the school district continues to renew my contract.
During my vacation time, which is the entire summer, I will be shooting any jobs which come my way and, more importantly, I’ll shoot personal work. I will not be shooting during the school year unless a shooting job can fit into my schedule.
© Teng Chen 2005
ASMP: What is your most valuable insight that will be applicable to your own photographic work and business?
RD: I need to follow the example I try to set for my students. My students constantly show me new ways of looking at things and I want to continue to explore this in my own shooting.
ASMP: Do any of your students aspire to be professional photographers? What advice would you give them for achieving a successful photography career?
RD: In my one year of teaching, I have had a number of students who have the talent to make it as a professional photographer and a couple who have expressed an interest. The problem for these students is that there is a lot more to photography than making pictures and printing them. Most of them have a difficult time with criticism and rejection. It does not take much for these kids to become frustrated and quit. When obstacles are presented to many of these students, they prefer to quit rather than to overcome them. Facing criticism is very difficult for them.
© Rich Dunoff
For those who do express an interest, I try to be honest about photographic careers and explain the realities of working.
ASMP: What advice would you give to other photographers who are considering adding a teaching position to their career goals?
RD: Shoot lots of egomaniacal corporate, political, and celebrity personalities. Learn to deal with difficult personalities because, when teaching, you will have a classroom full of them.
© Rich Dunoff