Seeds for an Ethiopian Photo Curriculum

At Addis Ababa University’s Graduate Journalism and Communications program, I ran a two-day workshop on technical aspects of photography as a prerequisite to a month long intensive production course. During the workshop, it became clear that many of the students had little exposure to tools like cameras and minimal visual literacy skills, at least in relation to mass media. We made a lot of progress in two days, but they clearly needed some instruction on photographic visuality and its various applications for the field of journalism.

Alice Klement, the professor of the course, invited me to guest lecture on photographic composition, documentary photography, and visual storytelling. The follow up lectures vitally supplemented the technical skills training that the students received during the prerequisite workshop.

The 33 first-year students of the Masters in Journalism and Communications were chosen for the program by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education. They will all continue on to teach at the 13 new universities currently under construction across the country. The students intend to use my presentations in their own classes after they graduate. The positive response to the workshop and lectures has been overwhelming, and I’ve received a number of effusive thank you notes over email.

You can see the presentations below. (The final presentation is in 2 parts.) I regret that there are not more examples of work from Africa by Africans. I decided it was better to stick with what I know and admit its limitations rather than deliver a weak lesson by using work I couldn’t effectively speak to. Alice Klement reassured me. “Won’t it be great to come back in a few years and find versions of your presentations retooled with Ethiopian examples and interpretations?” It totally will be.