SPR E A D DE SI GN M I R JA M L EPPERS
CREATIE Bert Teunissen
ALL EYES ON ME
Te aching and studying at the
To me that is what my business to this
Being a self taught photographer, it has always
Crossmedia Design depar tment
institution is all about: to teach and to learn.
been obvious to me that the learning process
of the AKI
never stops. Not even now, when I’ve reached the age of 57 or now, when I’ve become a teacher or even now, when I’ve reached international recognition through my work. Still, every day of the week I’m in the learning process and without experiencing that feeling I feel kind of lost.
FEARLESS STORYTELLING
TEACH AND LEARN
GIVE AND TAKE
COMMITMENT
BELIEVE
CONNECT
So before I committed myself to teaching
I have never regretted doing this; as a matter
The way I have been able to shape this is to
(photography/image) at the AKI, I asked myself
of fact this decision has helped me to find a
constantly try to connect the assignments
and the people who approached me for
way out of my own misery. Not because of
I give to the students to commissions and
the job, whether it would be an appropriate
the financial allowance (teaching is still highly
questions from reality.
thing for me to teach youngsters the trade of
underpaid) but because this way I needed
photography while I myself was hardly able to
to deal with the fact that the learning process
make a living out of that profession.
is still there and ongoing, every day
Once they convinced me that such was not
I was seeing my students.
the case and that I would be teaching about
I see it as a constant reality check.
photography to crossmedia design students,
What it means for me is that whatever I want my
I agreed to come to Enschede.
students to learn or to believe in, I first have to believe in myself.
Living in Daylight Exposition 2017 Working together with Danish architect and founder of the Velux Daylight & Architecture Magazine, Torben Thyregod .
REALITY
IMPRESS AND ESTABLISH
RECOGNIZE AND ENCOUNTER
For instance the time we worked together
Another way we try to establish a true
I strongly believe that these encounters are
with the ADCN to produce tons of ‘Polaroids’
connection between the students and reality is
of vital importance for youngsters for their
(Impossible Project®) for the 2016 Annual.
by inviting professionals from the field to come
understanding of the world they are being
That is a fine example of dealing with a real
and lecture and if possible to do workshops.
prepared for. For myself it is of vital importance to keep
assignment, with conceptual development and We do this both at the academy but also in our
connection with the world around me; being
extended excursion program.
a photographer alone is already a lonely and
Or the time we worked together with Danish
During the New York excursion for example,
sometimes autistic existence.
architect and founder of the Velux Daylight &
which is fully booked an hour after opening
Architecture Magazine, Torben Thyregod to
the entry, I always organize at least three
think about and develop ideas about
studio visits in which I connect people from the
‘Living in Daylight’.
working field directly to our students. These
Both assignments resulted in
are the moments where the penny drops.
publications and exhibitions.
Those are the moments when the students
Not just theoretical ideas that could
become grown-ups or at least start to grow up.
photographic skills.
havetaken place in real life, but real assignments for which the students
Memorable (and legendary) examples are the
received full responsibility and credits.
meetings with Tim Rollins at KOS, Lesley A. Martin at Aperture, NY based drawing artist Jason Polan, online gallery owner Jen Bekman, photographers Gerald Slota, Chantal Heijnen, Tony Vaccaro and Justin Brice Guariglia, photojournalist and founder and owner of Bronx Documentary Centre Michael Kamber and creative director Ray Mendez at Concept Farm. All these have been meetings that left indelible impressions with our students just like lectures and workshops by Maddie Raedts creative director at IMA - Influencer Marketing Agency and film collector and director Wim van der Aar.
NEW GENERATION
PRACTICE THE PREACH
RELEVANCE
Storytelling is the business we’re in and we’re
Or to quote Kevin Spacey: “If you have done
Storytelling is what we teach and we try to
trying to teach our students to find their own
well enough in the business that you wanted to
teach them to do that without fear.
way in doing that. We don’t believe any longer
do well in and if you have been successful, it is
in the different disciplines in which we grew up
your obligation to spend a good portion of your
This means that we make the students deal
and have worked in.
time sending the elevator back down.”
with their personal blockades so they prepare themselves for the real world and to become
The future is going to be (already is) totally
free spirits who can deal with real problems.
different and we need to find a way to use our
Our teaching tableau consists of
skills, experiences and knowledge to educate
photographers, art directors, architects,
the new generation.
producers, script writers, directors,
This way we hope to stay prepared for relevant
philosophers, graphic designers, illustrators,
questions of the future.
We try to do that by sharing and we strongly
typographers etc. and whatever we cannot
believe in the vision of young students and the
deliver ourselves directly will be found in the
will they have to find their own direction and in
active field.
the power to reach that goal. It’s like a father who helps his kid to ride a
None of us has a full time commission.
bicycle; we keep hold of them until we feel they can ride on their own and then they
Each one of us has his own practice so we can
choose their own direction.
feed straight from the field. It is a constant cross over way of dealing with reality and that is what makes it so interesting to work in.