What is the future of photography education?
The World Photography Organisation and Sony publish white paper
19 February: On the same day that the ten finalists of the Student Focus competition are announced, the World Photography Organisation, in association with Sony, publish a thought-provoking white paper on the future of photography education.
Born out of discussion with 19 of Europe's leading photography professors alongside Virginia Morrison, Executive Director of Society for Photography Education, and photographer Tom Ang, the aim of the white paper is to create a global dialogue on photographic teaching.
Both WPO and Sony are committed to supporting emerging photographic talent and the white paper was created to benefit institutions, educators and students.
The full report can be seen here (pdf) but, in summary, the white paper includes:
Core competencies
- All participants in the discussion highlighted the lack of consistency across the teaching and practice of photography in school.
- To move towards a more consistent teaching, a list of core competencies was compiled and included in the paper. The competencies range from the history of photography to analytical and communications skills; finishing and presentation skills to the context of photography.
Digital era
- There is a pressing need for photography education to embrace the digital era. The photography industry is changing massively, from manipulation techniques through to the use of multi-media, and educational courses must reflect this.
- The challenge for educators is to have adequate resources to make as many materials and options available to their students as possible.
- Students must be empowered and aware of the industry they want to make a career in. In addition to technical knowledge about photography, students must be aware of social media, how to promote themselves as a brand and how to protect themselves and the copyright of their images in the current climate.
Making and teaching art
- Experiential learning is absolutely vital for all students of photography. As is an understanding and though exploration of ethics –including image manipulation, privacy, copyright and cultural issues.
- Students must also have a visual literacy and have access to resources beyond what is available on the internet, for example galleries, exhibitions, library research, etc.
The white paper will be distributed to the 230 universities and institutions engaging with the Sony World Photography Awards Student Focus programme.
The 19 tutors who contributed to the white paper are:
Robert Barrio i Badia, Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain; Michel Bergot, École Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière, Noisy-le-Grand, France; Emiliano Blasco Doñamayor, Universidad CEU San Pablo, Madrid, Spain; Tomas Blonski, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków, Poland; Claudia Fischer, IADE, Lisbon, Portugal; Lionel Genre, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles, France; Anna Kholina, St Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Russia; Jarosław Klupś, University of Arts, Poznań, Poland; Nikola Lautliev, Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Marie Le Mounier, ENSAV La Cambre, Brussels, Belgium; Giorgio Majno, University of the Republic of San Marino, Italy; Adrian Mott, London College of Communication, UK; Vitalii Pavlov, St Petersburg State University of Film and TV, Russia; José Pascual Peset Ferrer, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain; André Pinkowski, University of Westminster, London, UK; Olja Triaška Stefanovič, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia; Emma Westerlund, Novia University of Applied Sciences, Nykarleby, Finland; Jörg Winde, University of Applied Arts and Sciences, Dortmund, Germany and Jonathan Worth, University of Coventry, UK
About World Photography Organisation
WPO supports professional, amateur and student photography, lending a global platform for the photographic industry to communicate, converge and showcase current trends in Photojournalism, Fine Art and Commercial photography. Delivering various initiatives and programmes across this global community, these programmes involve the photographer in commercial, cultural and educational activities within the many industry sectors, whilst also creating cultural activities for the public to participate in. Currently included within the WPO portfolio are: the Sony World Photography Awards; the World Photography Student Focus Competition; the World Photo international festivals and events, and the World Photography Focus Programme.
