Rangefinder Magazine
February 2005

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Photo Education: Back to School by Lorraine DarConte
New England School & Hallmark Institute

Many of the photographers I’ve interviewed over the years have been self-taught. Most of them learned the basics of photography by reading books, through trial and error, and from practice, practice, practice. All of them managed to carve a niche for themselves by being persistent and creative. Today, fledgling photographers need more than basic information and a little chutzpa if they’re going to compete in this dynamic field. Since the arrival of digital, photography is a more complicated endeavor, requiring knowledge not only of the basics, but also of computers, software programs, etc. Luckily, there are a handful of schools today—including the New England School of Photography and the Hallmark Institute of Photography—that are teaching the basics and then some.

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All Photography All the Time at New England School of Photography
“I’ve watched the evolution of this business for a long time,” says Arthur Levi Rainville, who has been photographing for 40 years and teaching for 20. “The reality is, photography today uses different technology, though the same old rules apply in that it’s not what’s in your hands that makes the picture. It matters how you feel and the way you think and what you see—those things are what make a picture.”

Rainville teaches portraiture at Boston’s New England School of Photography four days a week, where he’s also the academic director. The school, which offers a two-year program, is designed for students to learn not only the craft of photography, but also the skills they need to make a living in photography. The two-year program allows them the time to polish the skills they learn throughout the year.

“There are no academic classes,” says Rainville. “It’s all photography all the time.” The students come from all over the globe, providing the school—and other students—with a diverse view of art, photography and the world. “Students learn the basics the first year and choose a major (black and white and color, editorial/corporate, photojournalism or portrait/wedding photography) and a minor (digital imaging, documentary, fashion, architectural or advanced zone system) the second year. We stress professionalism on all fronts,” adds Rainville, “business and photographic, which is imperative in today’s marketplace.”

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Rainville works with portraiture students. “Students still need to know the basics,” he says. “The basics of portrait photography—or any genre of photography—will never change. The way you light and pose a subject can either make people look good or not. It’s just how you apply them that’s different. I also don’t think you can appreciate the digital world if you haven’t done the traditional work.”

There are some major trends happening in how the school teaches portrait and wedding photography. Rainville notes, “For the last 10 years or so, brides have wanted very journalistic wedding photos—honest, unposed, and captured in real time. Now these same people are having kids and don’t want the same old family portraits their parents had. They want a genuine, authentic feel to their family photos too. So photographers doing only traditional, old-school style are not considered cutting edge. That doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for traditional, but there’s a whole new audience that’s appreciative of a whole new way of photography.

“The new style is literally not posed, not lit, not anything. But it doesn’t mean you don’t pay attention to good direction of light, etc. You are observing and capturing what you’re seeing. Schools now have to teach the new way. Students still need to know the basics of posing, but they have to realize they may not always use those basics. Sometimes they’ll just have to watch it happen.

“In the second year, students learn to apply the basics in either film or digital,” says Rainville, who also notes the school now employs an array of computer teachers along with the photo staff. “It used to be you could buy yourself a Hasselblad and for the next 30 years never buy another camera. But in this digital world, everything you own today is obsolete in six months, though you can probably get two years out of it. One of the things we teach students is to get on a regime. For instance, this year buy cameras and whatever it takes to capture the image, and next year start buying computers, software, scanners, etc. Then every other year, replace that equipment. And then they have to factor those new, high expenses into the cost of what they charge [for their services].”

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Thanks to the new technologies, today’s students can tweak and fine-tune their images to a whole new level, both technically and creatively. “It doesn’t mean they’re better photographers [than past students],” says Rainville. “But they have the potential to be better because the digital media allows them to do things that couldn’t be done before.”

One former student taking advantage of the new portrait style is Mary Noone, who completed the New England School of Photography this past May. “I chose to go there because I already had a master’s degree in education, and I didn’t need another degree. I wanted a hands-on, jump-right-in program,” she says. Noone decided to study photography after picking up her camera to photograph her newborn daughter. That’s when she realized her life goal. “I was looking for a career where I could open my own business and be self-sufficient. I followed the portrait and editorial parts of the curriculum because I wanted to combine the two styles. I really wanted to do on location—not studio—portraiture,” Noone states.

“The school gave me the freedom to do what I wanted and to explore different aspects of photography,” she says. But if she could change one thing about the program, Noone says she’d beef up the business courses.

Regardless, Noone opened her own business—Shutter in the City—after graduation. Her specialty is spending a day photographing children with their families, capturing relaxed, unposed moments. She’s promoting her business using Tupperware as her marketing model. “Rather than throwing a Tupperware party,” says Noone, “I have a photography party, invite families and show them what I can do. People want to decorate their homes and use their children as art,” she says. “And I want to show them how to do that.”

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Art, Business and Science at the Hallmark Institute
Don Ayotte, director of education at Hallmark Institute of Photography, is a Brooks Institute graduate who ran a general studio for 20 years. He began teaching full time in 1991, first with a three-year stint at the Rhode Island School of Photography, then on to the Hallmark Institute, where he’s been ever since.

“I oversee the faculty,” says Ayotte, “but I also do a great deal of teaching—the art, business and science of photography. I’m probably best known for laying down a solid foundation for students so they have something to build on.”

The Hallmark Institute was founded by George J. Rosa, who had seen a lot of photo businesses fail. He did some research and discovered that many good photographers had no business sense whatsoever. Hence, the school’s business emphasis is very strong. “Not that we put artistic or technical in the backseat,” states Ayotte, “but we feel business is what is going to keep photographers alive.”

Indeed, a glance through the school’s 2004/05 catalog shows several pages of business courses—everything from Business Communications to Pubic Relations to Contracts and Proposals to Business Law and Record Keeping. There’s also heavy emphasis on marketing (courses in Advertising, Marketing Analysis and Packaging are listed), and students must learn to create their own self-promotion pieces, and design and build their own web sites. “We try to stress upon students that it’s one thing to take a great photograph, but it’s another thing to sell a great photograph.

“We talk about studio operations, accounting, business law and the importance of establishing yourself early on with an accountant and a lawyer. The program is 10 months long, and includes a lot of hand-holding,” says Ayotte. “We give them an assignment, a lecture, then a field trip (with faculty members) to accomplish the assignment. We still feel that traditional black-and-white photography is an important element to building a student’s foundation, even though today we’re doing a lot more digital. Each year, we incorporate more digital photography, and earlier. But we still teach the nuts and bolts of good solid exposure technique—how important it is to get the right information on the film—because that will also be applied to transparency film and a digital file.

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“We feel the perception of the professional photographer is very important. It’s important they go through the whole darkroom stage of photography because so many students today have never witnessed that. They don’t know what that magic is to see a print come up in solution. We’re trying to let the student know they are still craftspeople; they are not just photographers. We’re the only school in the world that makes every student purchase a medium-format camera (a Mamiya AFD so they can use the school’s Leaf Valeo 17 digital back for capture) with a normal focal length lens and a longer lens, such as a 150mm. We feel it’s instrumental that students still learn how to load a roll of film into a medium-format camera, learn to use a handheld light meter, so they can control the scene, and learn how to take the time to photograph (and not see immediate results, as with digital).

“Computer work is part of the curriculum as well,” continues Ayotte. “We assume most students have worked with computers in some way, shape or form. But not all of them have been taught how to use a computer correctly or how to maintain one.”

Hallmark initiated its computer program in 1996 with 45 students and six computers. “Today we have more than 175 G4 and G5 computers, plus all tethered computers in the commercial studio (iMacs).” says Ayotte, “I remember the simple days of loading a camera with film, going into the darkroom, and developing it. I think it’s tougher for students now. Photographers can take so many roads to creativity today. When I started, there were a few roads you went down. Today, the number of roads is monumental.”

Students who complete the program know when they leave they’re not going to make big bucks right out of the gate. “They have realistic views of what their introductory photography jobs will be,” concludes Ayotte. “We try to teach them how to make a realistic living in photography. We never stifle their dreams; we show them how to pursue their dreams while making a living.”

For additional information about Hallmark Institute: www.hallmark.edu/; Hallmark Institute of Photography, At the Airport, P.O. Box 308, Turners Falls, MA 01376; or (413) 868-2478.

For more information about New England School: www.nesop.com/; New England School of Photography, 537 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; or call (617) 437-1868 or (800) 67-NESOP.   Arthur Rainville of the New England School and Vern McClish of Hallmark Institute will present a WPPI 2005 program specifically designed for students, titled “The Great Career Chase.” Join a panel of photography school graduates from across the country as they discuss the trials, tribulations and exaltations of making the leap from photo school to working pro. Wedding/portrait, commercial, fine art—all topics will be represented on this diverse panel. Moderators Rainville and McClish will guide the discussion and a question and answer period to follow.

Lorraine A. DarConte is a freelance writer and photographer living in Tucson, AZ. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including, Rangefinder, Budget Traveler, Newsday, and Coast to Coast.

1. Hallmark Institute student photographer Chris Garrison used a digital SLR and Photoshop manipulation to create this fine art piece.

2. Hallmark Institute’s Bryan Cetto used a Mamiya 645 AFD with a zoom lens and a Valeo 6 digital back to create this arresting image.

3. Arron Andrews, student photographer at Hallmark Institute, used a Toyo 4x5 view camera to photograph the glasses in the studio.

4. Amy Fike, a Hallmark Institute student, used a Mamiya 645 AFD with a zoom lens and a Valeo 6 digital back to capture this portrait image of “Daniel.”

5. Chris Lopez, of Hallmark Institute, used a Toyo 4x5 View Camera to create this arty interior.

6. Amy Hawkes specializes in pregnancy portraits that are natural and poignant. Focusing early on her target market, she honed her style throughout her second year as a portrait student at the New England School of Photography in Boston.

7. Hallmark student Cathy Lavey took this photo.

8. Hallmark Institute student April Sweeney used a Mamiya 645 AFD with a zoom lens and a Valeo 6 digital back to capture this portrait.

9. Megan Davies joins her photojournalistic skills with a bit of artistic flair in capturing the real essence of people’s feelings on the wedding day. Photographing weddings and events throughout her second year at New England School of Photography, she is carving out a specialty niche in the New England marketplace.

10. ‘Firsts’ was one of the magical grab shots that make the ‘Day in the Life- type of albums so special to my clients, in this case because it was the first time Ben ever experienced cold ocean water. I offer digital albums in color but my personal passion is fiber black-and-white images in a more unpretentious, artistic style album.” Mary Elizabeth Noone developed her documentary style of portraiture during her second year of studies at the New England School of Photography in Boston. Image made with Nikon F and Fuji Neopan 1600.