Well, I’m waist deep in teaching once again. This semester I’m only teaching 3 courses (the last few I’ve had 5 or 6) so I’m really hoping to spend some time on some other projects. But all in all, it’s good to be back in the classroom, both physical and digital. I’ve also just completed transitioning a physical course over to an online platform. The class is History of Photography, which I’ve taught in person before, but this process of converting it to purely digital gave me the chance to re-evaluate all the content and exercises. I’m especially happy that through reworking it, I’ve been able to add a little bit of actual photography in. It would seem a little sad to spend a whole semester talking about photography without any of them actually snapping a shutter. Since a large portion of the class is spent in the early history, I’m focusing on very early processes of Anthotype, Chlorophyll Prints, and Cyanotype. Those three process are perfect introductions to the principles of light sensitive photography, which most of my students have never experienced (should I feel old?).
I do plan on investing a little more time in teaching my Skillshare classes this semester. They’ve gotten off to a slow, but steady pace, and I’m encourage enough to add to my selection of classes. Right now I’m planning my next 4 classes which will be on cyanotype and anthotype.
And last, a side project which you may not be aware of. For the past many years I’ve dabbled in board game design. I’ve prototyped a few of my designs and played them with family, but I’ve never put in the required time to finish them off. You may remember that a couple years ago I made a card game called Park Trails. Anyway, over the past few years I’ve continued to dabble and even fill a notebook with ideas and designs, but now I’m starting to take next steps: prototyping, play testing, designing and printing. I’m not sure exactly where this will lead, but I love the process and I’m looking forward to the journey. If you want to follow along, you can find me on Instagram @circlecanoe
Ben Panter's Art Blog 