Somehow, despite the separate and combined successes of K-12 photo-education, visual literacy, and media literacy, the ability to attend closely and thoughtfully to photographic images, and to analyze and evaluate them critically, has yet to become a widespread skill among the populace at large. This does not bode well for the future. […]
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What gets scanted is “photography literacy,” the ability to understand, analyze, and have a critical relationship to still photographs of any kind, perhaps most importantly those one did not make oneself — the grounding necessary to “read” those images, valued as the visual equivalent of reading comprehension in relation to written texts not of one’s own devising. […] From my outsider’s perspective, the visual literacy movement has possibly missed an important boat by failing to recognize the relevance, significance, and longevity of the K-12 photo-education movement, and by not encouraging or even undertaking the creation of an annotated history thereof. […] The Polaroid Corporation gave away tons (literally) of free film to teachers, particularly those teaching kids in K-12 programs in schools and in after-school/alternative programs. The company also lent and often donated cameras (especially SX-70s) to such programs. They offered workshops for K-12 teachers in how to use photography (and especially instant photography) in teaching different subject areas within their curricula. They published a substantial workbook filled with ideas and assignments. . . . […] |
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