"Unique Vision" Announces Fall Photography Classes

Pay-As-You-Go Workshop Encourages Development of Unique Imagery

Photographers are invited to participate in the Watching Arts Center's Unique Vision photography classes which encourage the development of unique imagery.

The classes, led by Summit photographer Ross Wagner, will shepherd photographers towards their own personal imagery. Creativity rather than conformity is stressed. Standard rules of photography are abandoned.

“If one is trained to follow the rules of photography,” Wagner states, “one is less likely to take chances and less likely to reach towards one's unique expression.”

Classes include a discussion period on a chosen theme, followed by a thorough critique of participants' work by Wagner and the rest of the class. The theme for the September 19 meeting is "Realism: A Trap for Photographers?" Photographers will be asked to consider if in altering the reality of what they photograph, they are exploring their personal vision, or possibly crossing the line into artifice

Photographers are encouraged to bring in pictures, including any prints they consider to be rejects,  (standard 4 x 6 one-hour prints are fine, either black-and-white or color). The prints may be affixed to project display boards, available from Staples, for convenience of presentation. Attendees are further encouraged to bring examples from books or magazines to illustrate their feelings on the subject. Wagner will also present work of established photographers for comment by the group. 

Critics and noted photographers alike have lauded these classes which have themselves received rave reviews.

"Wagner's taste for the avant-garde, or less-than-formal style of photography, result in images with a feeling of freedom, and a sense of unified voice." said Star Ledger critic Mitchell Seidel  while reviewing work shown by Unique Vision participants.

"Ross Wagner's pointed questions about art create an atmosphere that encourages us to re-think what a good photograph is and, in that atmosphere, provides us with an opportunity to connect or reconnect with that vision," stated Sam D'Amico, a  respected and widely-published photographer who is a regular at the workshops.

Fall classes are scheduled for Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 19, Oct. 24, and Nov. 21, downstairs at the arts center. Each class is only $5. Since these non-sequential classes are self-contained within themselves, photographers are invited to attend on whichever dates they can.  No reservations needed. There is always room for one more.

Ross Wagner can be reached by phone at (908)-522-1120, or by email at  rosswagner@usa.net.