I offer tutoring in three subject areas: (1) Photography, (2) Photoshop, and (3) traditional West African drumming, specifically djembé and dunun drums.
Photography: I have been a professional photographer for many years, starting with traditional film and darkroom techniques, and continuing through today's digital technologies. My pictures have been published and used in many ways in many countries, and I am represented in a number of online portals. I have also taught a number of classes in photography and darkroom work as well as audiovisual production.
My first photos were published in regional newspapers when I was still in college. Since then I have had photos published or used in the US, the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Australia, for clients/publications including Qantas Airways, Standards Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corp., American Forests magazine, Microsoft Communique, New South Wales Tourism, Shutterbug magazine, ABI Research, Abbott Diagnostics, Amdahl Pacific Services; Fujitsu, ICMS Australasia. and many more. Early in my career I served as assistant photographer in Studio Pieter van den Busken and as Supervisor, Photo and Audiovisual departments at the Melkweg Multi-media Centre; in The Netherlands.
Later I designed, organized, supervised and taught a diploma course in aspects of multimedia and audiovisual production at the SAE Technology College in Sydney, Australia.
I use primarily Nikon and Macintosh equipment.
Photoshop: one of the great intellectual achievements of the 20th century, Photoshop is an indispensable tool for most photographers today. Photoshop users range in expertise from raw beginners to true post-processing wizards; my tutoring skills can help users up to intermediate levels. I have used Photoshop professionally since the early 1990s and currently own Photoshop CS5 for Macintosh.
African drumming: I have studied the drumming tradition of West Africa (particularly Guinée, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast etc.) for many years, and have performed in bands in both Australia and the U.S. I can teach up to intermediate-level students. I can provide djembés during lessons for those who don't have them.
I started studying West African percussion in 1984 with Phillippe Lincy in Sydney, Australia. Later, I studied there with brothers Epizo Bangoura and Mohamed Bangoura, well-known master musicians and former members of famous national drum/dance ensembles based in Guinée. In Sydney I was a member of several percussion-based bands — Primal Pulse, Ambrosia, and Indigena — and performed regularly with Annetta Luce’s “Bricolage” dance company (as well as drumming for her dance classes.) In the US, I study with master drummer John Ward and am a member of his band “Sewa Folee” (Joyful Playing). We perform most regularly with the students in the C.W. Post College dance program; currently I also play alongside John for the African dance classes there.
West African drumming has taken the world by storm in the past two decades, and enthusiastic drum circles exist everywhere. Contrary to what people unfamiliar it may think, West African drumming is as precise and specific as a classical string quartet. There are hundreds of rhythms, each with several very specific parts and phrases, and knowing some of them helps aspiring drummers reach a higher level of technical and musical expertise.
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