Visit To Brooks In Santa Barbara • Tip For New Artists
Last week I was a guest speaker at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. A few former Brooks students have contacted me about assisting, and after speaking with Eli Davis at Career Services, I was invited to present some of my work to students and talk about my experiences in the photo industry. Not only did I speak about the photo business, but I was also able to get some information from them. Here is some of the info we talked about.
I learned (3) things from Brooks and AAU students (classes started two weeks ago)
1) Roughly 80% are on FaceBook and/or other social networking sites. No surprise there.
2) Less than 5% of them follow any blog. Many students do not know what is a blog, or assumed a blog they visited was in fact just a website. They are not reliant upon industry related blogs for news or info.
3) Less than 2% know what is a an RSS feed.
Why do I find this important?
The industry has changed greatly over the last 5 years. By the time you read news in a monthly magazine, it is already well over 30 days old. Information in the photo business is now moving at a weekly and daily pace. Much of this regards new software and camera gear, but important topics such as when not to submit stock to an archive agency, or when to contact your local congressman about copyright issues (long post but you get the point) have all been covered better through electronic feeds than in printed media. Daily events are shaping the industry. New photographers have no ties to previous business models, therefore it is just as important for students to look forward as it is for seasoned pros. Unanswered questions can benefit from out of the box thinking. We need to hear ideas from new artists just as they may need the guidance from others. This helps to empower the industry and educates both image makers and image users.
Students are active online socially but are not hip to RSS. So what gives? Well, it is just not part of their demographics. If you were in college and in your early 20′s would you rather stay at home to read industry news? Or kick back some drinks at your favorite spot with friends? Personally I’d rather be drinking with the boys and getting kicked out of Baltimore’s finest establishments. However, if an instructor was in my face saying…”the world is changing right now! Try to learn what is going on so you’ll be ready!” Then I’d take this as a major sign that I need to get active. NOW!
Recently I read a comment online that said what is currently taught in art school is prehistoric. Bullshit! That is a lame argument from a viewpoint of panic. Any decent instructor should be in the know of what is going on in their field and sharing that with their students. Part of education is also figuring out the answers for yourself. Being proactive. Any decent student should be willing to take the risk. But wait they already did. They decided to be an artist.
In the meantime here is some info on how to stay on top of things. I want to thank the students at Brooks for coming to the lecture and for asking questions. I will try to follow up with some info that we didn’t cover. “Things Your Momma Should’ve Taught You About Art School” will be posted another day. For now get synced up with the news and events in your industry. Get involved today! See below on how to get started.
Learn what is an RSS feed.
Find RSS feeds from sites with important info.
Ironically, today Joe Reifer listed a few feeds from his photo blogroll here. For fine art and commercial photographers this list is enough to get you started by also checking the blogrolls of each person on JR’s list.
Now add those RSS feeds to your personal feeder.
Sign up for a free account with Netvibes, and make this your home page.
What is in my blogroll?
I might add a blogroll to this blog so stay tuned. For me it is just as important to stay informed by the industry news, as it is to stay inspired by the non-industry blogs such as: 4Q, SurfySurfy, Shakas and Singlefins, Have You Seen Him, and of course Pineapple Luv.
Where to go for more?
I do not want to post tech related news on my blog. Others are doing that much better than I ever could. In the meantime I started a “Jay Watson Photography” group on Facebook where I will be glad to share more resources with other artists, photographers, and students. Feel free to join.
All comments welcome.
Tags: Blogroll, Brooks Institute, Facebook, photography, RSS
September 20th, 2008 at 6:01 am
What I would have given to be a fly on the wall there. Good show young man! Good show!
September 21st, 2008 at 9:36 am
Glad the Brooks trip yielded an interesting exchange of info. Encouraging the kids to take a break from Facebook, MySpace, and IM to read blogs like those I mentioned by Harrington, Laforet, and Tucker will be really helpful. Print media has definitely lost relevancy and timeliness. I’m really surprised that students don’t know the difference between a website and a blog. Looking at my Feedburner statistics against website metrics is pretty interesting. About 30% of my blog visitors use an RSS reader — half use Google Reader, and the rest use something else. I’m cooking up an upcoming post on using Feedburner to rip a feed specifically for Facebook — this seems even more important in light of your discovery about what students are reading online.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
JR
I am sure students are not the only group still new to feeds and readers, but I was blown away at how few who knew about this info. You have a savvy audience with repeat visitors. If 50% use Google Reader, and 30% use an RSS feed, are you saying only 20% of your visitors are finding you in searches, direct traffic, or links? That seems low. My guess it more people stumble onto any site than subscribe. I’ll be interested in checking out your Feedburner/FB post. In the meantime the Wordbook plug works really well.
Watson
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m not very surprised by the percentages, like you said the majority of students spend more time socializing in college. What does surprise me is that the percentages would be so low at Brooks because of their reputation as a “serious” photography business college.
“Any decent instructor should be in the know of what is going on in their field and sharing that with their students.” Sadly, most instructors in my experience are not like this, hence the term “those that can, do and those that can’t, teach”
“Part of education is also figuring out the answers for yourself.” Most are not in school to figure things out for themselves, they are there to have things figured out for them. There are the few that realize the instructors can’t give them the full picture so they must find the rest of the pieces to the puzzle themselves. These are the students that are passionate about what they are studying. For them studying isn’t the chore that takes them away from the party/bar, it’s the reason they are in school in the first place.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
[...] friend Jay Watson did a presentation at Brooks last week. He also teaches part-time at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he hooked me up [...]
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
JW – To clarify, about 30% of website visitors total are feed subscribers. Of these subscribers, half use Google Reader. The other interesting metric is that 85% of my total web traffic is blog visits.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Randy,
I agree with what you said about students who want to be there. My point about instructors was specific to the “decent” instructors. I think it is easy to slam the concept of art school and easy to slam art students, but it all comes down to being pro active and making the most of the experience.
Joe
30% of visitors are subscribers! Killer. You have been very consistent over the years and have a good following. Very inspiring homz. That 85% number goes to show the power of the blog is hard to deny. I assume if I can stay in the habit of posting that I’ll get faster and it will become second nature. Rock on
JW
September 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I wouldn’t slam art schools or art students in general because I know that there are a great many schools and students that are very dedicated to the craft that they teach/learn. I learned a great deal while I was in art school myself but I also saw the spectrum of teachers and students and those that are proactive and passionate are few on both sides of the desk.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
First: big ups on the talk at Brooks. that’s great!
Second: I’m very surprised by those stats. I can’t believe it. I just assumed that technology comes to the younger generations quicker than it does the older folks. I’d expect those numbers to come from established photogs. and I’d expect that kids in school would be totally dialed in to blogs and personal branding. So weird.
November 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I almost went to Brooks in 2003, until they wanted me to leave my card details on their answering machine, and then required me to find my own place to live, as well as purchasing a DSLR, at 18. Heard its a very commercial driven place. No thanks!
January 7th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Adam. Thanks for the comments. I can’t say much about whoever asked you to leave your credit card info on an answering machine (not cool), or about having to find your own place to live (not cool unless they at least help with a list of leads). However it is very normal for a photo student to purchase their own uhhhh camera, and yes Brooks is a school that teaches students how to work commercially. I would never apply to MIT if I didn’t like math or science. Well it looks like you stuck with photography and that is what counts the most.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Jay, This great stuff! Keep up the good work! Is that CS3 i c. I would like to know how many artist share my same thought of the struggle between new method thinking vs the old. eg. I illustrated for years in Illustrator, but constantly yearn to go to the raw materials, there is something to say about getting your hands dirty. I think the computer has opened pandoras box, and I say this with hesitation but, would you rather go seen an original painting or a giclée print?. Please don’t misunderstand me, when I say if you are to be true to the art, you must shield your mind from the creep of the ad man. It is an internal struggle to create for the sake of art or for the sake of $$$. We all have to live.
JP
January 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
JP. Thanks for posting your thoughts. I know what you are getting at. Maybe this could be a separate blog post because you have hit on so many thoughts. Commercial work vs art for art’s sake are often blurred lines as well. How many artists changed their style to sell more paintings to collectors? If so, wouldn’t that be commercial as well? I don’t see anything wrong with working commercially, but if the work doesn’t provide us with anything creatively, then it is time to pick up that brush again and start painting. Or shoot something different. It is like an animal that needs to be fed.
I started doing tintypes to get away from the computer and to create images that were less than perfect. Since then I have discovered one click web apps that let you convert nearly any digital snapshot into the look of a scanned tintype. Pretty cool, but is is just not the same. I am surprised to meet students that say they prefer film. Everyone still loves to get their hands dirty. That is why sites like: makezine.com and instructables.com are so popular. Cameras as well, because that is what is used to document these DIY tutorials.
Walter Benjamin.
Have you ever heard of this cat? He wrote in 1936 that reproduced art did not have an “aura.” This included photography because it came from a mechanical device. Good point, but I think it is worse for images to be stuck in just one computer. Get it out of the box and show it to the world. Somehow. Even if it is an ink jet print. Who cares if it has no aura, at least it will not be stuck in a computer. Art in person rules!
Walter Benjamin on wikipedia
Walter Benjamin excerpt “Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproduction
According to Benjamin, blogs and websites would have no aura. Including this one. Guess I’ll have to get my hands dirty more often.
September 14th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Jay,
The only number that surprised me was the blog stat. I honestly can’t believe that so few actually knew what a blog was. I have a couple of thoughts on the college-student knowledge base. I think you’re dead on with your assessment that they are, in-fact, college students. Social connections are probably a higher priority than professional ones at this point. Most aren’t trolling for blogs to help them build their career – yet. My guess is that within 6 months or less of graduating, the serious ones will know what a blog is, will know what an RSS feed is, and may even have their own blog. I would also think that if you want to separate photography students into left-brain and right-brain, you might find that those who lean more towards the technical side of photography will be more likely to involve themselves in these areas. Those who tend to be purely artists could be more technophobes and may not gravitate towards things like blogs or news feeds.
Your findings are very interesting though. But hey, my Mom still swears that texting is the dumbest thing she’s ever heard of… And don’t get her started on Twitter.
Best,
Scott O.