This is a little snap I took of a stall in one of the food markets in Beijing. I assume they fry those scorpions kebobs for you if you make a purchase. More China photos this month. Soon.
I haven’t written a personal update in a while. I thought things would slow down once I was done with school and I’d have some time to reflect and do research, especially before I find a job, but it hasn’t happened yet. So many little things are on a giant to-do list that I feel like I maybe actually have to think about more than when I was in school. Probably because there’s no structure to the type of thing that pops up, and meanwhile I am still primarily obsessed with scanning, editing and looking at photos rather than the Meta-Photography. I’m attending the PhotoAlliance portfolio review in a week or so and I really need to make final prints and just sit down to think through what I want to say about them.
I am glad that the western photos are getting around a bit, even if it’s only on campus. The MFA and Art History students started a little arts publication and some of my stuff is in there. I’ll get my copy soon. I was also asked to show for a short while at some arts events on campus and I’m gratified that I get to show to the larger student body, not just the arties.
The Wallenberg exhibit was especially fruitful. In addition to Thom from PhotoAlliance seeing the photos, someone from a sustainability blog saw them and wants to post them online. Even though it doesn’t exactly lead to any career payoff, this is the stuff I end up getting excited about the most – when people on the action side notice. Like when someone who works on environmental consulting in Sacramento contacts me through Flickr just to make contact. That’s somehow more exciting to me than prepping for a portfolio review, which on some level feels like I’m playing a game where I’m just competing for spots in a hierarchy. So much of what getting shown in the art world for me now involves submissions and competition, whereas working on actionable items feels like contributing to something important.
What I’ve realized over the past year is that what I really want to do is work with policymakers or scientists or other people who are active on these issues. I have no idea how I could possibly make a living that way, since the non-profits always want donations and policy organizations don’t usually have much of an arts budget, if any. Nonetheless, that is what makes my little heart beat! That and working with education in some way. Oddly enough, that’s my favorite part of photography or anything – the learning curve when you’re not entirely sure of yourself.
I don’t consider myself particularly great with kids, but I’ve tutored elementary school kids before and there’s something great about teaching them stuff. It’s really true that if you can’t conceptualize and explain a concept to a 9-year-old, you don’t really know it. Try explaining gravity! “We’re on a giant ball hurtling through space and through some sort of interaction with or denting of the fabric of space-time, we stick to the ground.” You realize, wait, what do I actually know about this stuff?! So I’m curious about teaching photography to kids, if only to learn a little about what at the end of the day I’m truly enthusiastic about and how to pass on knowledge of technical concepts and visual literacy in an accessible and enjoyable way.
