After David Schaeffer succeeded Aimee Peters as the resident photography teacher, many facets of the class ー including goals for the future ー have drastically changed.
For several years, Peters taught the Photography I and II courses after transitioning the school from darkroom photography to digital photography. When she arrived at PV with a background in art, she was assigned to teach photography. After learning the fundamentals of darkroom photography, she threw herself into transforming the class.
One of the major changes Peters helped implement was the switch from darkroom photography -which involves specialized techniques to develop film- to the more modern digital photography. Digital photography includes most current-day cameras and phones, and Peters made the switch partly because of this relevance to the modern world.
“Photography is a skill that can benefit you throughout your life, both personally and professionally,” she added. Peters explained that photography is both an art form and a life skill. She noted that most students will encounter digital photography at some point, whether as advertisements for a company or posts on an Instagram account, and that having photo-taking skills in their toolbox will help them in these situations.
The spatial limitations during the expansion of the high school also forced the transition to digital photography. “When we built the new art rooms, we had a specific amount of floor space that was available to us ー there was not room for both a darkroom AND a computer lab,” explained Peters. With the computers becoming increasingly necessary in many fields, the school opted to let go of the darkroom.
Schaeffer plans to continue this transition to digital photography. One of his biggest goals is to acquire a class set of cameras rather than using phone cameras to take pictures. “[With cameras], they could learn more skills and knowledge about settings with aperture, ISO and shutter speed,” said Schaeffer. Some of these features are not present in phone cameras, which limits the quality of the pictures.
In the long run, Schaeffer hopes to expand the art department by creating a studio that would serve as a multi-purpose art room. “This would be a room with a green screen, lighting, props, backdrops and a more realistic connection to what a photographer would use,” Schaeffer envisioned. He also imagined this space to serve as a bridge between photography and other fields, allowing for complex projects such as 3D scanning and rendering.
With Schaeffer at the helm, the photography department has a bright future. Peters added, “I think that his imagination, creativity, and experience … will push the program forward even further and create even more student interest around the art of photography!”
