36. The beautiful College of San Mateo

Last January I took an Intro to Digital Photography class at The College of San Mateo. I thought it might be too basic for me but as I had hoped it turned out to be an incredible experience. Enrolling allowed me to set aside a few hours each week to focus on my photography and gave me the opportunity to get some amazing advice and inspiration from the teacher (and artist) Nico van Dongen. I also started helping out other students during class as well as leading them on photo walks. This semester I returned to Nico’s classroom… this time as a teaching assistant. My Thursday nights are now one of the highlights of my week. Watching students who have never used a camera (other than their phones) start to produce amazing work in just three to four weeks is an incredible experience.

In addition to a great (well-equipped) place to take photography classes, the campus is a stunning 1963 example of modernist architecture. At the start of class each week a bunch of us go out for a photo walk. As the semester goes on we get different light each week.

If you are in the Bay Area and looking for darkroom or digital photography classes you can’t go wrong here—and as their website says “CSM is Now Free!”

Here is some of what I shot over the past eight months.