Resource: Being prepared psychologically…
Graham Wilson Graham Wilson

Resource: Being prepared psychologically…

The psychological demands placed on lecturers and teachers have intensified, with feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and even mild panic now recognised as more than just the “natural stress” once brushed aside. From a psychotherapy perspective, these reactions are not signs of weakness but indicators of a system under sustained pressure, often compounded by blurred boundaries, rising expectations, and reduced recovery time.

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Resource: Sustainability in Photography 2025/6
Resources Graham Wilson Resources Graham Wilson

Resource: Sustainability in Photography 2025/6

As photography educators prepare for the 2025–26 academic year, sustainability is becoming a core teaching and operational priority - driven by climate awareness, student expectations, and sector-wide commitments to reduce emissions. This applies equally to traditional photographic practice and to the growing use of AI-powered image editing.

If you are expected to make a sustainability statement for your courses, I hope that this might help. Feedback ALWAYS appreciated.

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Discussion: Reimagining the language of photography
Graham Wilson Graham Wilson

Discussion: Reimagining the language of photography

Photography’s vocabulary is steeped in the imagery of military conflict and the hunt. This is not accidental. When the medium emerged in the nineteenth century, the people who adopted it often moved in the same social worlds as soldiers, explorers, and sportsmen. Many were men of means who hunted game and collected trophies, and they brought that language with them into their new pastime. Cameras themselves were often large, tripod-mounted devices that to the untrained eye resembled surveying or gunnery equipment. In colonial and military contexts, this resemblance was more than superficial: cameras were used for reconnaissance, mapping, and documenting occupied territories. From its early decades, photography was described in terms of aiming, targeting, loading, and shooting – metaphors that framed the act as one of pursuit, precision, and control.

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Position: The Proposed Ban on  Smartphones (DRAFT)
Graham Wilson Graham Wilson

Position: The Proposed Ban on Smartphones (DRAFT)

Photography education relies on smartphones not just as cameras, but as editing suites, visual journals, communication tools, and cultural gateways. In some institutions, especially in further education or community settings, they may be the only photographic device students can access. Their removal, if applied without context or exception, threatens to narrow the curriculum, marginalise disadvantaged students, and reduce photography to a technical exercise devoid of cultural, ethical, and contemporary relevance.

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Resource: Photographic Anniversaries - 2025/6
Graham Wilson Graham Wilson

Resource: Photographic Anniversaries - 2025/6

I often begin a class, whatever the subject, with an introduction that looks at the history of the discipline in relation to the significant anniversaries for that year. So, I shall be starting this year's photography classes with significant events from 1825/6, 1875/6, 1925/6, 1975/6, and 2000/1.

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