Thank You is comprised of four distinct projects that explore the relationship between my artistic practice and my role as an art educator. The first project, Demo Roll, is a collection of photographs that I’ve shot over the years to demonstrate film processing for my students. These images often take the form of spontaneous snapshots that document personal aspects of my life, and yet they would not exist if it weren’t for my need to teach students how to process film. The next project, Darkroom Trash is an archive of silver gelatin photographs that I have pulled from a trashcan after teaching an intro to darkroom photography class. These prints have been tossed away at an unfinished stage, partially developed and still wet from chemicals. As a result, the salvaged photographs have dramatic shifts in color, and are often stuck together in the form of a collage. In a similar vein, Coating Stations is a collection of matboards that were used by students in the Alternatives Processes class to coat paper with light sensitive material, such as Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, and other historic photographic emulsions. The pattern of drips and streaks on the matboard below come together to form abstract expressionist works that continue to evolve over time as the chemicals embedded in the fabric of the board is exposed to light. And finally, Gifts from Students is a series of still lifes documenting some of the gifts I received from my students. Together, these objects highlight the unique relationship that can sometimes form over the course of a semester, or years, between a student and a mentor. Many of the gifts I’ve gotten over the years are not pictured here, either because they were tough to photograph, or because I no longer have them for whatever reason. But they are not forgotten. For those gifts, and the ones pictured here, I thank you!