Category Archives: Academics

Heisler Teaches Photo Students Valuable Lesson

“I don’t know how to explain how fun it is,” said photographer Gregory Heisler of his career choice.  “It’s super duper fun.”

Photo Courtesy of Greg Heisler, Portrait by Maja Jutanda

Clad in a bow tie and round glasses, Heisler, currently the artist-in-residence at the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, MA, addressed the Advanced Photography students as the penultimate lecturer in the 2011-2012 Photographers’ Lecture Series on Tuesday, April 24.

Heisler’s range of work includes advertisements for clients such as American Express and Nike, and privately commissioned portraits of subjects including Bruce Springsteen and New York City Mayor Edward Koch.

A veteran photographer, Heisler gave an animated anatomy of a photo shoot, using as an example a recent shoot with Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade he had done for Sports Illustrated.

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Portrait Lessons with Susan Falzone

Susan Falzone led a procession of Williston Northampton photography students into the lower floor of the Reed Campus Center. She picked the dimmest corner she could find to set up the equipment: a softbox flash and a white and gold reflector.

“Lift it up, down, use the fill, don’t use the fill,” Falzone said, adjusting the reflector and the light. “Just experiment a little bit.”

Falzone, a documentary and portrait photographer based in New York City, was on campus for Williston Northampton’s ongoing Photographers’ Lecture Series and for some one-on-one time with students.

See the full gallery.

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“It’s Just Propaganda” and Other Media Lessons for A 7th Grade Class

“Do you really want to think that someone with a contagious disease drank from your bottle?” read the advertisement. The ad, which used pictures of bacteria, urged readers to throw out their plastic bottles instead of recycling them. “Out with the old, in with the new!” it read.20110523 Greto 098

Very tiny print at the bottom identified a fictional plastics lobbying council as the ad creators.

Absurd? A bit. But also strangely persuasive. And that is exactly the point of the seventh grade exercise—create a piece of propaganda that is at once ridiculous and compelling.

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Mock Congressional Hearings: An 8th Grade Lesson in Civics

IMG 5748Caroline Borden ‘16 was in the hot seat. Her team had finished making their case for why judicial review was an important part of the United State’s constitutional system. Now it was time for a panel to quiz the three girls.

“I’m curious what you would say would be checks on judicial review,” said science teacher Matt Spearing, one of the panel’s judges.

Borden thought for a moment.

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