VISUAL LITERACY:
Developing the Mind, Heart, and Eye

Thom’s program will briefly review the fundamental philosophy of creativity and visual literacy and proceed to practical methods for advancing our image making potential.  The main topics of his program are:
-A discussion of what “Visual Literacy” is and how we can develop our own individual sense of visual literacy.
-A presentation of his work and the work of others to illustrate the real world, practical process of creative image making.
-A review of “The Rules” and where to find “New Rules” as guides for our image making.  How use rules proactively to develop images instead of passively allowing the rules to inhibit our images.
-“Discovery” versus “Creativity” Sometimes being creative is hard, anxiety producing work. A small shift in our thinking can let us leapfrog the anxiety of creativity, to the success of discovery.
-A quick review of art history and the opportunity to find inspiration from 20,000 years of visual history.
-Sources for ideas and inspiration – some obvious places and some not so obvious.

Part two:
“After the Camera - Before the Print”

For many of us Photoshop has become more than a post-production tool to repair and enhance our photographs. For some of us Photoshop has become an all-new visual medium unto itself –a blank canvas from which we create an all-digital artifact.  As Photoshop artists, we draw not only on the traditions of photography, but from the traditions of painting, drawing, graphic design and sculpture.  This program will consider some of the issues (both technical and mental) that we confront as we evolve from being photographers to becoming digital artists.
To paraphrase Ansel Adams. “Photographic images are our instruments -  Photoshop is the performance”

Thom Rouse began his career as a portrait-wedding photographer in 1993. Based near Chicago, he now divides his time between fine art, and commissioned fine art images, with his clients as the central subjects of his pieces. His conceptual fine art images utilize real world photographs blended and manipulated to create an alternative to real world perception.
Thom holds the PPA Master of Photography degree, the Award of Excellence, the Master of Electronic Imaging degree and the Master Craftsman degree. He holds three Diamond, two Platinum and one Gold Photographer of the Year Awards from the PPA and is three time recipient of the Illinois Photographer of the Year. Other awards include numerous Kodak Gallery and Fuji Masterpiece Awards, 32 images in the PPA and ASP Traveling Loan Collections, and the ASP Gold Medallion in 2006. Thom's work has been exhibited throughout the United States as well as exhibitions in Canada, China, Japan, Korea and Italy.