Old School

UCR Student Work from the Collection

California Museum of Photography

April 15 - August 7, 2010

The University of California, Riverside does not have a long history as a photography school. Its art department started teaching photography as an emphasis in only the 1970s. What it lacks in tenure it has made up for in quality and in providing a unique environment for students to learn and flourish. The program encouraged students to seek their own path regardless of the medium they chose and to learn how to define their unique vision. Unlike many programs, it did not turn out cookie-cutter clones of its teachers, but taught students to think for themselves and to seek solutions to whatever artistic problem they faced. The images in this exhibition represent a sampling of the student work collected at UCR/California Museum of Photography from the 1970s and early 1980s, when students worked with instructors including Joe Deal, Kenda North, Herb Quick, and Steve Cahill.