Eastern Partnership Photography
SAY CHEESE:
How and where you can learn
to make photos
Experience
Гуранда Хабеишвили (Грузия). Попрошайка (Beggar)
Mariam MARTIASHVILI
Modern technologies make the studying process more accessible, convenient
and attractive. There is nothing new
about founding a photo school for beginners and amateurs. Yet there is a necessity
to create a single regional multilanguage
platform – an online photo school which
would connect teachers and students
from various parts of the Eastern Partnership member states. Such school would
provide equal learning opportunities
for everyone, regardless of their place of
residence, and make the learning process
interesting, fascinating, convenient and
efficient.
This opportunity has become real due
to SAY CHEESE! project which is sponsored
by the European Union within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Culture
Programme.
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The science of photography, like any
other academic discipline, is a long and
arduous process. Photography is an art of
conveying your impressions, individuality
and inspiration, which requires proficiency,
skills and practice. As a rule, photography
courses are more readily available in
capital cities and big cities, while small
towns and rural areas lack photo schools
and courses. Consequently, as numerous
polls and studies show, beginners and
amateur photographers who live in rural
areas have no chance to become proficient.
www.photo-school.eu is the first online photo school in the region whose
unique characteristics include the international scope, the peculiar methodology
and many interesting proposals for students and teachers.
In the first group of students, each of
the six states of the Eastern Partnership
(Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine) was represented by amateur photographers who got the chance to
take a free online pilot course by winning
Photoman contest.
The 4-month pilot photo course for
amateurs started on October 15, 2014, and
finished in late March 2015. The course
consists of 14 online lessons in the form
of video lectures, webinars focusing on
the most interesting topics, and homework. Later, to consolidate the skills and
knowledge, each of the Eastern Partnership countries arranged a 2-day practical
session.
Marina Borisova, SAY CHEESE! Communications and Visibility Manager,
Interakcia Foundation: The online photo
school is a project primarily for photographers from small towns and rural areas,
because capital cities have more education opportunities. I hope that the school
will help form new professional networks
of photographers within the Eastern Partnership. The cooperation of amateurs and
professionals will result in new exhibitions
and help implement challenging initiatives. The school itself may serve as an
example of successful joint effort, because
it is managed by six associations of photographers from the Eastern Partnership
member states.
So, what exactly does photo-school.eu
offer its students? The studying process is
conducted in the languages of the Eastern
Partnership states. Studying in the native
language makes the process comfortable
for students. Any other language may
be added on the photo school’s website,
which will enable the project to attract a
multilanguage audience in future.
The diverse visual form of lessons
makes the topic more understandable. As
a result, the learning process is more interesting, easy and attractive.