“Mr. Tim”
by Tim Webb
February 2, 2010
I’ve been teaching photography in some form or fashion for several years, but I never had the opportunity to teach elementary school kids until recently. Chris Radcliffe and I have been working with the Richmond Area Arts Council and the Madison County School System on an after school program call the Hands On Program…or “HOP” for short.
I was really nervous at first because I didn’t know what to expect. I quickly found out that these kids embraced technology head-on. No offense to my adult classes, but there was a huge difference in how these kids manipulated their cameras, versus how most adults deal with their cameras. I should have known this, it shouldn’t have been a surprise! This generation, unlike mine, and our parents were born into technology. It’s all they’ve ever known. And because of that, they don’t fear it. Kids look at technology as a means of learning, while most older adults look at technology as a means of having to survive. Kids embrace it with both arms, while most adults keep it at arm’s length.
On the first day, they were lined up in front of me in their little chairs, shooting away like the paparazzi on Oscar night. I had to quickly develop a rule, not to take pictures of Mr. Tim’s double chin. Then they asked what was a double chin. Before long, they were diving head first into their menu screens, and were figuring out the camera settings before I could even get a chance to teach them.
It was only a two week course, but it was a lot of fun, for all of us. Who knows maybe some of these kids from Whitehall Elementary will grow up to become the next great photographer of the future.
Tommy
Press Row!
Ty took cut the bottom out of a cup and used it to frame a border around his classmates, by
shooting through the bottom of the cup.
Mr. Tim & Mr. Chris
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