from an email to a freind:

Went to an Aperture gallery tonight for a lecture series they have weekly. I don't remember the photographer's name tonight, I am terrible with that, but it consisted primarily of 8x10 work. He has a book out now where the cover has a girl in the middle of the photograph and a suburban street gently out of focus. The images are very well done. But what had sort of truck my nerve was the crowd there. Some were photo students encouraged or interested in attending for sake of it.. Shit, that is why I was there. But others had the chic (sp?) attitude of photography as art and anything goes crowd. I can't help to avoid the fact that education in photography is becoming very commercial oriented. Along 10th avenue I saw whole bunch of galleries filled with some crowds looking at photography and other media.
Somehow I get feeling the idea of art(photography) students is some
sort of admittance into that world. I've seen that attitude back at
>Rutgers art school I attended for darkroom time. There is that euphoria of living an artist's life before the interest on the student loans brings in the reality that the free time is over. What I am aiming for I suppose is to say that the photo education really occurs in the field. Schools, outside the basics of technique, can give you guidance how to keep on selling your work. Where is the passion of these people for the craft.. Now I know how important it is to keep on shooting in your own world then get subjected to the pinion of commerce. Perhaps I am harsh tonight but I love photography to appreciate the process.