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Week 1 Tuesday, September 19, 2006 | 1:10AM

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Thanks to what I suspect might be the only reader of this site so far, I realized I haven’t said a thing about school since it actually started. And I understand that if I had yet to actually get here, I would be pretty much hanging on every word. So here’s the lowdown from the grad photo perspectively… well, mine at least.

Since we’re in the quarter system, a full class load consists of only 3 classes per quarter, each worth 5 hours each. They are literal hours, as every class [that I’m taking, and I suspect otherwise] meets twice a week for 2.5 hours. My first course was Graduate Contemporary Art History. There appears to be a focus on the 1970s to today, although we have been in early-20th century review mode up ‘til now. We’ve covered several major American and European avant-garde artists up to Jackson Pollack, who we’ll be spending more time on next class, I suspect. (Stone me now, but I don’t care for Pollack’s work at all… and the same goes for most Abstract Expressionists.) There aren’t more than 21 students in the class, and it feels like a good size. We’re all still in our slightly timid stage, where few of us speak up, much less voice our opinions, but I think we’ll get there soon enough.

The next class I had was Thursday morning in a computer lab on the 5th floor: Digital Craft. If I remember correctly, “Craft” courses refer to grad-level, and “Vision” courses are for undergrads. The class had little discussion of details, but I think it has a bit to do with the fact that we’re probably all coming from different directions and most likely will go in different directions in terms of what we want out of the class. I want to learn about Lab Color (and why I should care about it… or should I?) and ICC profiles, and best methods for workflow in Photoshop. I feel I’m pretty experienced in this area, but Polly always proved how uneducated I was in truly understanding it. She already has her MFA, so I don’t feel so bad. Unfortunately, the one assignment we did receive in this class is something I already did as an undergraduate, and it just seems a little too basic to repeat. But my goal here is to achieve a 4.0, so the work will be done.

My last class met later that afternoon and is the single most exciting thing about being back in school. Essentially it’s our thesis preparation class, but it’s a lot more than that. Roughly half of the course is going to be devoted to Professional Development. This is so smart, because it’s one of the major things I felt my undergrad education didn’t prepare me for. (There will be dangling participles in this blog, btw.)

But more than that, Prof. Aishman seems to be cooler than just about any professor I’ve had. And that’s saying quite a bit, because I’ve had some outstanding teachers. There isn’t much to say about the class in particular, because it’s quite open to what we need and want to get out of it, so it’s somewhat beyond the confines of definition.

I should get my own private darkroom space tomorrow, complete with a key and hopefully (fingers crossed) a [color?] 8x10 enlarger. If I get the 8x10, then there’s a chance I’ll bring my own 4x5 enlarger up from storage to do color and B&W work. There’s no telling how big I will be B&W printing, but color will have a maximum size of 20x24. It turns out the color processor has a maximum width of 20 inches, not 40. However, there is a theta processor that can do 30 (I think) inches wide from a digital file and output on RA-4 paper. It’s supposed to be superb.

And finally, I hope to find out tomorrow if I am eligible for work-study funds, and can therefore work in equipment checkout. That may not sound glamorous (as it isn’t meant to), but 1) it’s the only on-campus job in photography available to me this quarter, 2) I can’t be a TA until next quarter at the earliest, 3) it will be in the heart of the department, possibly helping undergrads in the darkroom (one of my favorite things to do, seriously). I am literally on pins and needles and it hurts. (I am punny. Har.)

Clearly it is too late since I have far too few hours to sleep until my next class (Digital) meets, so I shall bid you adieu, and beg you to actually post a comment and let me know that there is, in fact, a reason I should keep writing here.

P.S. - the Hub cafeteria thing is lame. They don’t accept credit cards. It’s student ID (you can put money on it or have a meal plan) or cash only. There’s an ATM by the security station, but no thanks. Boo.

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Comments

Mom | Tuesday, September 19, 2006 | 8:45AM

Polly Chandler | Wednesday, September 20, 2006 | 8:58AM

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