# Episode 384: Boston artist and lifelong art school teacher on photography and teaching in art schools for 46 years

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-art-podcast-420741/episode-384-boston-artist-and-lifelong-art-school-teacher-on-photography-and-teaching-in-art-schools-for-46-years
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-art-podcast-420741/episode-384-boston-artist-and-lifelong-art-school-teacher-on-photography-and-teaching-in-art-schools-for-46-years.md
Podcast: [The Conversation Art Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conversation-art-podcast-420741)
Published: 2026-02-21T20:55:14+00:00
Episode link: https://theconversationartpodcast.libsyn.com/epis-384-boston-artist-and-lifelong-art-school-teacher-on-photography-and-teaching-in-art-schools-for-46-years
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/theconversationartpodcast/Episode_384-_Jim_Dow_Boston-based_photographer_and_45-year_art_school__teacher.mp3?dest-id=386248
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Duration seconds: 3113

## Resource

Boston-based photographer Jim Dow talks about: The Boston art community (which is often connected to the art school and universities) and why he's lived there the great majority of his life (he lives in the house he grew up in); he's a dedicated Mass-hole- there's an edge to people there and you have break that edge; how he navigates random passersby when he's photographing for long sessions with his wooden large-view camera (his exposures range from a second to 20 minutes), with people always around him (here's a short video of a food stand guy singing tango where Jim was doing a shoot); his experiences with the difference between analog and digital photography, each of its pros and cons, and why he uses digital for documenting exhibitions which he's used for his teaching; suggestions for how to best edit documentation of your own work, which starts with photographing on your phone, to get a good sense of color that you can use as a template for your photo editing; how he used the NEA's selection process, of not using artist statements as part of the process for the initial rounds, as a tool to teach his students (including as a guest lecturer at Harvard) about how decisions are made; the Harvard student he had who wrote a study evaluating the value of photography based on economic models; two fully adults students he's had over the years, and how their stories impacted both Jim and his other, younger students; and how the odds of becoming monetarily successful artists are worse than becoming a professional baseball player, at least by one (possibly obsolete?) metric. This podcast relies on listener support; please consider becoming a Patreon supporter of the podcast, for as little as $1/month, here: https://www.patreon.com/theconversationpod In the 2 nd half of the c…

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