How This Course Works

The Essentials

• This is a face-to-face class that will meet on Tuesday/Thursday mornings.

• We will spend some time in the computer lab and some time outside learning and practicing camera skills. Please bring your camera to every class!

• You will find resources and submit assignments online. 

• Weekly modules with assignments are available on Blackboard. I usually open each week's module the previous Friday or Saturday. 

• Check Blackboard and Slack often! Links for Slack sign-up will be in your individual Blackboard course.

How to Be Successful in this Course

• Be prepared to work hard and long. Photography is complicated and takes practice. Your assignments must be done in the field and then edited and captioned. This takes a lot of time and good planning.

• Be present and participate! We will do lots of discussion and practice in class to build the skills you need. 

• Ask for help! Please don't hesitate to come to me with any confusion, questions, or concerns. Communication is really big for me - I need you to talk to me if you're having trouble.

• Support your peers! Creating and critiquing photography can be somewhat subjective, so be supportive of and helpful to others. We can all learn from each other.

The Nature of Photojournalism

There are two things that lots of students complain to me about in this class.

The first thing is that the assignments take a lot of time. This is true. The majority of your assignments need to be completed "in the field" and need to document something newsworthy. This means that you will need to sometimes research where to find good events or good locations, you will have to travel there, and you will have to do so at specific times during the week. Sometimes your first idea doesn't work out and you need time to find an alternatives. 

The second thing is that it is uncomfortable to photograph strangers. This can also be true. I will always be talking about strategies for approaching (or surprising) strangers, but the reality is that sometimes it can be uncomfortable and you will need to either learn to get over the discomfort or learn to complete the assignment even though you're uncomfortable.

I'll be teaching you photojournalism in this class. That means that some aspects of photography that are acceptable in artistic or conceptual photographic work are not allowed here. You must meet strangers, you must find (not pose) good scenes, and you must keep editing to a minimum.

If you think that you will have trouble with committing the appropriate amount of time or with completing assignments that require you to photograph strangers, please reconsider taking the course. "I didn't have time" or "I felt awkward" are not excuses for missed work or poorly executed work. 

See below for a picture of me feeling very awkward and sweaty as a boy stares at me and asks, "Uh.... Why is she so red?"

How to Get Your Questions Answered

Our Pact

How to get into our course

Log into the My UTEP portal and click on the "Blackboard" icon to log in.