An MFA in Lighting Design

I sat down to my dinner this evening and began thumbing through the August, 2006, issue of Esquire magazine. I stopped thumbing when I reached the cover story-- an article on Republican Presidential-hopeful, John McCain.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much past the first sentence, which read, "They have stood up and turned their backs on John McCain, about thirty graduating students and faculty of Manhattan's New School university, the sort of progressive institution that awards a master of fine arts in lighting design."

Whoa! Wait-a-minute! Do I detect just a tinge of condescension, possibly mockery, in that opening sentence? That is, the part where the story's author, Chris Jones, writes, "...the sort of progressive institution that awards a master of fine arts in lighting design."

Maybe I'm wrong about the author's intent, but I perceive the sentence that way since Mr. Jones chose to single out "lighting design" as an example of the many degrees offered by the New School. Degrees that include everything from photography to music to drama to urban studies to architecture to graphic design and many, many more.

If I'm right about his intent, I'm guessing Chris Jones might be guessing that, to Mr. and Mrs. Middle-America, a so-called "progressive" school that calls itself the "New School" and offers a post-graduate degree in something like "lighting design" might seem like a school that doesn't offer real education. You know, the sort of real education that real hard-working young men and women should be pursuing so they can get real jobs that make real money and do a lot of real good for America. And maybe that's why, according to Mr. Jones, a group of students and faculty turned their backs on Mr. McCain?

This kind of reminds me of a hobbyist photographer who, apparently, has a real job and who recently advised me, on a photographer's forum no less, that I should get a real job. I don't know what kind of real job this individual has but its apparent by his participation on a photo-glamour forum and his attendance at numerous glamour workshops that he enjoys shooting pretty naked women as a hobby. Okay. That's cool. Who wouldn't? But although I found this person's words jaw-droppingly out-of-place on a glamour photographer's forum, I still couldn't help but wonder why someone would condescendingly advise me, a person who shoots pretty naked women for a living, to get a real job and to say that on a photo-forum that is practically dedicated to shooting pictures of pretty naked women!

Anyone besides me getting a whiff of the rancid odor of hypocrisy?

Then, I read Chris Jones' story about John McCain and now I'm starting to understand things. I'm seeing some parallels between that photo-hobbyist's statement that a professional photographer should get a real job and the opening line in Mr. Jones' article about John McCain. It's got something to do with America's expressed and publicly-touted values and ethics versus the dirty little pastimes that some, perhaps many, so-called real Americans might engage in as hobbies while thumbing their noses at those who do the very same thing for a living.

Some of you might label it envy but I think it goes deeper.

As far as Mr. Jones' opening sentence in his John McCain article, a sentence that seems (to me) to be thumbing its nose at the New School, here's where I'm coming from: America desperately needs the arts. In terms of America having a true, refined, and meaningful culture, most of the rest of the world laughs at us. Civilizations are most-often remembered by their cultural contributions to humanity. And many of those cultural contributions have an awful lot to do with the fine arts and applied arts.

Lighting design is something that is incredibly important to all of us. So you know, I did a little research and the MFA in lighting design offered by the New School deals with architectural lighting, not photography or filmmaking, and not that I'm saying that sort of lighting design doesn't have academic merit. Light and lighting is almost as important to modern human beings as the air we breathe and the food we eat. Personally, I think, as a nation, we'd be way better off with a few more students studying subjects like lighting design and a few less pursuing MBAs or law degrees. But maybe that's just me.

The pretty girl at the top of this post, whom I attempted to photograph with some lighting design surrounding her, is Gigi. Here's another shot of Gigi below. She certainly knows how to express some attitude, don't she? Oh, and if I'm out to lunch in my perceptions about Esquire magazine's writer, Chris Jones, and his possible bias, I apologize. But I don't think I'm wrong about much of the rest of what I said.