The talk is over it was lots of fun, a great way to spend the morning. There were 16 students, add in the teacher and there were 17 total. !5 of the 16 students were girls! Last time we did these talks both classes were dominated by girls, I think for every guy last time round there were 5 or 6 girls. Whats the deal with that? More girls into the arts? All the students looked to be 19 or 20 years old.
Anyway back to the talk. Larry spoke first, he was very eloquent. I kept thinking Larry quit being so good, I am going to come across as a bonehead! He is very good at public speaking, so professional, so polished, so entertaining. Everything seems so natural for him, so unforced.
Then suddenly it was my turn. My approach was to speak from the heart. I basically told them who I was, and that I loved photography and why I loved it! I then spoke a bit of some of the projects I have worked on in the past, and then dived headlong into the latest "Families of the Dump"series. I explained the history of the dump workers (not as fluently as I should have) then told 3 stories, the meeting Doo-aye story, the bride and groom story, and the hair pin story. I finished it off with a quick explanation of the traditional darkroom processes (my teaching segment). There were a few questions and that was it.
I think overall it went well, I spoke from the heart, with some passion, tried to add a bit of humour and everyone was pretty much involved and interested. The students were laughing and listening and seemed to be into things. My photos are being shown in a smaller room so things were a bit more intimate, everyone sitting closer and on the floor etc (I mostly sat on the floor through all of this). I might have spoken a bit to long but I tried to keep it shorter than last time.
Overall it went very well, and was tons of fun to do. After the talk the teacher came over and thanked me with an enthusiastic handshake. She told me I was a great bonus (originally only Larry was supposed to speak). The teacher even said I inspired her to go back into the darkroom, a place she has not been for 2 years. Getting back into the darkroom?! That has to be a good thingy. She also said she loved my stories. I think telling stories are my strength, guess I am good at telling them. Many people in the past have commented on the story telling. I will try to tell the stories with as much passion, heart and humour as I can muster when I do the video film stories. I plan on making them in the coming weeks. If I do 4 or 5 little films and then put them on YouTube -Vimeo, I hope people online will like them as well.
As a bonus Larry and I each got $50 worth of Starbucks gift cards. You can't beat talking about what you love, and in the process making $50 for it! Today was a beautiful WIN, WIN experience.
Tomorrow, it's the LIVE radio interview, hope that goes as well!!!!! I got to be at Larry's at 730am, the interview is at 820am. How can anyone sound anywhere near half way coherent at that hour? I will still be half asleep! I was telling dad I was a little bit worried about going on LIVE radio. Dad told me "No problem just go out and, DO IT!" I guess I need to follow that advise, do not over analyze things, just do it, speak honestly, from the heart and DO IT!
