Behind The Scenes: How I Design Each Learning Through A Lens Class
If you’ve ever wondered how a Learning Through A Lens class comes together — what goes into designing lessons that blend photography, creative writing, and personal discovery — here’s a peek behind the curtain.
Every class I design starts with a simple but essential question:
What do I want students to discover about themselves — not just about photography?
That guiding question shapes everything that follows. Here’s how the process unfolds:
Step 1: Start With the Inner Work
Before we talk about cameras or composition, I think about the internal journey I want students to take.
Do I want them to explore a personal memory?
Should they think about how they see their family, community, or themselves?
Is this lesson about curiosity and play, or about expressing something difficult or emotional?
Photography is the tool, but the real focus is on self-discovery — learning how to see yourself through the lens of your own creativity.
Step 2: Build a Creative Bridge
Once I know the inner theme, I create a bridge between that theme and a photography exercise.
For example, if the focus is exploring identity, the assignment might be:
“Create a self-portrait without showing your face.”
If the theme is seeing the unseen, students might do the 50 Steps Assignment — photographing the unexpected beauty right under their feet.
Step 3: Layer in Writing (Because Images Need Words Too)
Every photography assignment comes with a writing prompt.
Why? Because pairing words and images helps students dig deeper into what they’re actually trying to say — and whyit matters to them.
They might write a letter to their photograph, or journal about what they were thinking and feeling while making their images. These reflections turn their work into something personal and meaningful — not just a collection of pictures.
Step 4: Create Space for Sharing (and Vulnerability)
At the end of every class, students are invited to share their work and their process.
We talk about the choices they made — what drew them to their subject, how they felt while photographing, what surprised them when they looked at their images afterward.
This step is where creative confidence grows — because students start to see that their perspective has value, and their classmates begin to see the world through each other’s eyes.
Step 5: Reflection for Myself
After each class, I sit down and reflect on what worked, what surprised me, and what the students taught me. Teaching is never a one-way street — the students shape the class just as much as I do. Their discoveries often spark new ideas for future lessons, keeping the program alive and evolving.
It’s Not a Photography Class — It’s a Creative Journey
At its heart, every Learning Through A Lens class is a conversation between seeing and feeling, between photography and self-reflection. It’s about giving students the tools and the permission to explore the world — and themselves — with curiosity, courage, and creativity.