A rant on the subject of a photography class...

This rant actually goes back a couple of years, so if some of you have already heard it, forgive me.  But recently this rant came roaring back into my head. (via Weird Al's 'Skipper Dan' (don't ask my mind works in mysterious ways))*


Anywhoo, lets take a trip back to the days when I was taking a digital photography class.  Now, maybe it was my own ignorance, but I thought it would be more about taking photos than editing them in Photoshop.  The class should have been called Intro to Photoshop.  But that's not even my biggest complaint about this class.


No, its with the instructor and the students.  And, to be fair, they were ok for most of the class.  But I want to focus on a few stories, that all lead up to my confrontation with the instructor.


1. We are discussing the origins of photography and where it really started to be popularized.  I brought up the US Civil War and the work of Matthew Brady and his associates.  The teacher then asks the class (I don't know WHY she did) when the Civil War took place.  This girl, who looked to be out of high school all of 20 minutes said "1880s?"  After slamming my head against the computer monitor in front of me, I had to give her points for getting within 20 years.


2.  We had to do presentations on a subject about photography.  This one guy is discussing Annie Leibovitz.  I will NEVER forget what happened next.  The student in question states (and this is pretty verbatim): "I heard somewhere that Annie Leibovitz died.  I could not find anything confirming this, so I'm guessing she's dead."


And that's not the worse part.


Oh, no the teacher then responds with: "You know, I think you are right."


Ladies and gentlemen, people almost died that day.  I was furious with this ignorant student who did such piss poor research and claimed that a world famous photographer was dead.  A 30 second search on Wikipedia IN CLASS told me that she was alive, and lives in CT.  I was equally furious with the teacher for just agreeing with this and NOT looking it up on the computer IN FRONT OF HER FACE.


To cap it all off, one day during class break the teacher asks to speak with me.  She says that I seem... upset recently. (Ya think?)

I fire off my opening salvo: "The general level of ignorance in this class is pissing me off."
Her response: "...well, I don't know..."
I turn broadside and let loose another salvo: " For the record, Annie Leibovitz..alive."
Her response: Blank Look (i must have taken out the generators)
I cross the T and fire another shot: "Oh, and the Civil War... 1860s."
Her response: "..well this is a basic college class..."
I swing around and let loose my final shots: "That's basic fucking high school."


So, just remember, do your research, have some basic knowledge and nobody gets hurt.


One final thought.  I know that not everybody will have knowledge on the Civil War.  And I'm not even asking them too.  However, we were seated in front of computers, so it would be pretty easy to get the correct info, instead of making yourself look like an ignorant ass.


Rant finished.


*I knew you would ask, so...There is a line in Weird Al's Skipper Dan which goes :..and Annie Leibovitz would shoot me for Rolling Stone..."  This then set off the rage.