| The Digital Photography Class students [Art majors/Freshmen] and Tom R. Chambers [Teacher] are seen at various locations ... village near Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing City and Guangzhou ... making photographs for discussion and exhibition. |
| Village near Zhaoqing University |
 A student is seen focusing on one of the villagers carrying parcels in the very traditional way of using a shoulder pole with a basket at each end for balance. |
 Students are seen checking their cameras and making photographs of the surroundings. The red bricks in the background and foreground [right] are the building blocks of China. |
 Students are seen focusing upward and checking their camera settings. |
 Students are seen within the narrow walkways of the village. One student makes a photo while her classmates look on. Red, gray and mud bricks comprise the houses. |
 Again, students are seen within the narrow walkways of the village making photographs. Gray and mud bricks comprise the houses. Red strips of paper are around the entrance way of one house [center right]. These strips are called couplets, and they have Chinese characters written on them for good luck. |
 A student is seen focusing on the Chinese character on a wooden cart. The character means, front. The sunlight striking the character and cart probably got the student's attention. |
 Students are seen making photographs. The wooden cart [previous photo] is seen in the background with baskets of wood and vegetables seen, foreground right. |
 Chambers and his students take time out to pose together. His translator made the photograph. The ubiquitous red bricks are seen in the background. |
| Zhaoqing City |
 Students are seen [those with cameras] on the streets of Zhaoqing City, which is a 10-minute bus ride from Zhaoqing University. The arrow sign indicates store advertising for merchandise that's only two Yuan [RMB] ... about 25 cents. It's being held upright by either a store employee or someone paid to do the street advertising. |
 Students are seen making photographs [documentary portraits] of a hairdresser. He's dressed casually and exudes the style of today's youth in China. The Chinese characters and numbers indicate advertising for a hairstyle that costs 108 Yuan [RMB] ... about $13. |
 Students and Chambers' wife [wearing a blue blouse] are seen walking the streets of Zhaoqing City. Two students [with backs turned] are seen making photographs. |
 A student is seen making a photograph as she stands in front of a wooden door painted a bright yellow. The camera she's holding is provided by the Fine Arts Department at Zhaoqing University. |
 Students are seen conversing with residents in an older section of Zhaoqing City so they can make photographs [documentary portraits] of the baby that the woman [probably the baby's grandmother and seen center, bottom] is holding. |
 Students are seen in an older section of Zhaoqing City making photographs [documentary portraits] of children outside their house. A good luck sign is seen on the metal door. |
| Guangzhou |
 Students are seen at the train station in Guangzhou [two hours by bus from Zhaoqing University] making photographs. Many of the travelers [two seen to the right] use large plastic bags to transport their belongings. |
 Students are seen at the train station. One makes a photo while the two to the right take a look at a photograph made previously. |
 Students are seen reacting to hotel guards [top of photo] who declined to have their photographs [documentary portraits] made. |
 Students are seen making photographs and looking at photographs made previously in a KFC restaurant near the train station. |
 Students are seen waiting for the subway to go to Beijing Lu [Street], a shopping district. Two of the students are making photographs of the advertising and window reflections. |
 Chambers and his students are seen making photographs on Beijing Lu [Street], a popular shopping district in Guangzhou. |
 Students are seen making photographs of each other ... an interesting, repetitive process with the third student [camera] to the far left making a photograph. And Chambers' photo [this one] compounds the process even more. A passerby [center, background] is curious enough to stop and watch. |
 Chambers is seen standing on Beijing Lu [Street] looking at his photographs. |
 Chambers and his students are seen as one student makes a photograph of his classmate. His translator [wearing the pink Nike shirt] is seen on his right. |
 Chambers takes time with some of his students to experiment with his and their reflections in a mirror. |
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This digital photography class is the first photo class for these Freshman students, and it comprises a great deal of field documentation in various locations. The focus is on documentary and fine art photography with classroom discussion on composition ... foreground-background interest, lightplay-shadowplay, juxtaposition, angularity, camera position, perspective ... using the students', Chambers' and Master photographers' photographs. Photoshop is used to acquire skills in resizing, cropping and enhancement via filters such as sharpen and brightness/contrast. An important aspect of the class is exposure to the environs and humanity via the field documentation. The students are asked to interact with [get permission from] strangers to make documentary portraits to begin to build greater social skills. They're asked to become more aware of their surroundings with a "mind's eye" and have greater appreciation of historical and cultural sites such as the village near Zhaoqing University. And they're asked to evaluate situations and conditions as they relate to outside influences on their country and lifestyles.
Tom R. Chambers
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