Sharing Your Roots in Photography

by Skip Cohen
 
I shared this image five years ago, but even though it's Throwback Thursday, I'm not sharing it to look back. It's meant to be a tribute to all of you who are teaching photography and video on the public and private school level.

How I got into photography as a career I've always thought of as more of an accident than anything intentional - I needed a job. But then I look back over the years, and there's so much I learned about the craft, thanks to two teachers, Roger Stanley above and Dave Burris. Stanley had the photography club in high school, and Burris had the yearbook, where a few of my photos were first published.

Yesterday I had a great conversation with Tom Alvarez, a photography teacher in Northport, just south of us. I'm going down there in a few weeks to talk about photography to his class of high school students. We had a fun conversation, and while his kids are pretty much learning the craft via their phones, it doesn't change the importance of the seeds he's planting about capturing memories, creativity, and expression.

Today's post is a kick to share; as I go back to the days of my uni-brow, snap-on tie and zero body fat with little muscle mass (it was called skinny back then and not an asset). However, this post is really a giant THANKS to every teacher out there. You guys are the unsung heroes who routinely inspire and help orchestrate so many kids in directions most of them never thought about. And who knows, you might have a future Ansel Adams or 

THANK you!

So, who were the teachers who inspired your early days in photography?