Johnson, Eric  

I can't even begin to describe how infuriating this man was. But let me start with this: I always assumed that once I entered college, I would have the freedom to talk with my professors freely and express my true opinions without being scolded for having a "bad attitude." This is not the case with Johnson. If you disagree with him, then obviously you don't know what you're talking about because he's "experienced" and knows better than you, and if you try to calmly defend your position, he'll snap at you for being rude. I realize to someone who doesn't know the specifics, I probably sound arrogant, but trust me... the main point here is that if you don't kiss up to him, he won't like you. Fortunately, his personal opinion of your character may not influence how he grades you, but it will sure as hell make going to class miserable. His "critiques" are insufferable. Basically if you bring in pictures of cute animals, or if you have your subject off to the side, he'll chuckle and give you a pat on the back and say it's clear to see you're improving. And if he doesn't think your picture is effective, he'll say "ehh, not so much" and he'll move on. He won't even tell you WHY your picture isn't effective! Isn't that the point of a critique? To tell you what you're doing wrong and HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE?? Furthermore, he has this exasperating pretentious air of grandeur as if he's this photography guru and his opinion is the only one that counts, and if you go through his class, then you'll be well on your way to becoming a great photographer. And he HAS TO BE RIGHT. ALL THE TIME. For example, he's an aging guy, and he's not exactly the most technologically savvy person I've met (he has this terribly laborious way of dragging pictures into Preview, which is about the slowest way you could open a picture, and he always gets confused because he has too many screens open at once), but if anybody tries to help him and speed up the process, he snaps at them as if they're undermining his authority or something, and then he just keeps on doing what he's doing. He's maddeningly stubborn and slow, and this, along with the fact that he spends about forever and a half on each picture (but doesn't even say anything useful), are a few reasons why we never even had a lecture section. Technically one of the two days out of the week was supposed to be for a lecture, and the other was for critiques, but he was so damn slow, we literally had one lecture and then we got behind so every single class after that was a critique. Need I say more? This professor is THE WORST TEACHER I'VE HAD YET AT CAL POLY. If you have the option, TAKE SOMEBODY ELSE.

Eric is a great connoisseur of photographic knowledge, and like many professors who have taught here for decades, he has very set opinions. His tests are written somewhat obscurely, and he will continue to ask more of your work until the very day of the deadline. Overall, much can be learned from his years of experience, as long as you remain on his better side.

well, his crituques are the hugest bore ever... he says hes going to be "quick," but he blabbers on about god knows what.. and ping-pongs irrelevent ideas with the brown-nosers in the class. Word of advice... never disagree with him.. EVER! Your just asking to be on his badside and doomed to an even more dismal quarter... and a bad grade. In his eyes, he is always right.. and everything else is...well, wrong and ignorant. Pretty sad that a professor, AND chairman of his department, is so closed minded to the point he feels offended by other opinions. Just come to lab with a fake smile, nod and slip in the occassional "ok" and "definitely" when he gives advice... and uhh, good luck. I recommend another professor.

I will stand up Eric. I thought he was awesome. The only people in his class who got bad grades were the ones who were in lab spitting out pictures five minutes before critique. Eric has tons of experience and can lead a great critique and get things going. I feel that all those people who never showed up to lab or lecture... wrote on this wall. His exams may be a little messy, but they barely count in your overall grade. He may have an opinion, but who doesn't after so much experience. I got an A in his class simply because I followed directions and participated in the critiques. Don't be a knot-it-all slacker and you'll love coming to this class. Great course. Great class. Great teach!!!

Eric is such a funny sweet precious man! His instructions are usually very unclear, but ask questions because he genuinely want to help you succeed. He was very helpful when I asked him about my individual work. He really gets to know each of his students strengths and weaknesses and talks to you like a father or friend. The only thing that really frustrated me alot was the unclear instructions.

If I had one hour to live, I would spend it in Eric\'s class...because it feels like an eternity.

As a person, Eric is very nice and isn\'t easily angered/frustrated. He\'ll always answer your questions when printing in the dark room no matter how many there are. In the lab, he was pretty helpful. He\'s not a teacher I would recommend though. He\'ll most likely not remember your name, even by the end of the quarter. No matter how much you study for his final, I doubt you\'ll be prepared. It was one of those tests where you wonder when in the world you learned that material. If you take his class, stay on top of the projects. They\'ll come at you fast, especially the final project which ended up being 12 prints. That\'s my main advice while taking the class; don\'t fall behind and use lab time effectively.

worst. teacher. ever. he rambles on about nothing, he\'s impatient, and he\'s arrogant as hell.

This class is very writting intensive. You have a 10-page paper due at the end of the class that is 50% of your grade! This paper is not any ole research paper either...you have to to do extrenuous thinking. This class highly stresses the actual photographers, so study and know them well! One more thing...if you like looking at slides all day, this is your cup o' tea.

Eric wants you to blabber on about non-sense when talking about Art. People who bs well do well in his course. I don't think he made it as a photographer and is a bit bitter. Like Norman was. His spelling and writing skills are atrocious.

probably the worst teacher I've had at poly. takes this guy about 3 or 4 minutes to spit out a rambling sentence about absolutely nothing. I would only recommend this class ... oh wait, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

His lectures are pretty boring and people fell asleep or just didn't show up at all. His midterm and final consists of memorizing 80-100 pictures (photographer, title, date and something important about it) and writing about a select few. The textbook is really hard to memorize and he expects us to know specific quotes and minute details about specific photographers that he doesn't even mention in his lectures and are only in the book. And something is weird with this guy. In the beginning, he seemed pretty cool and caring of the students, but at the end, he became a jackass dick toward us. I don't know why, maybe something was going on. For example, he chastised a student for asking a question, telling them he's ignorant and should be more open-minded. I was thinking "whoa, wtf calm down..." I HEARD he was cool outside of class but honestly, if you're a jackass in class, I have no interest in you outside of class.

LOTS of memorizing. If you don't like or aren't a good visual learner, think twice before taking his class. As the person below me said, it involves lots of images to memorize, including the images name, approx date it was taken (within 2-3 years) and the artist and some important fact about it, such as it was the first ____ type of picture to be taken etc. His lectures are extremely boring. To be honest I never even touched the book, I read the first few chapters the first week, but after that I just memorized images. The objective parts of his tests are very hard, lots of tiny details that I prob would know if I read the whole textbook, but, I had better things to do. He does curve the tests, and there is an 8-10 page research paper, which I did three days before it was due and got a B+. I compared two photographers and really compared and contrasted their works and got a good grade on the paper. Don't pick a topic that is too broad or too hard otherwise you are just setting yourself up for trouble. He is really picky about your paper topics too. He can be kinda a dick, hes not very approachable. You can push through and struggle though this class, its just pretty boring and blah. Take another class if you can, but its not the end of the world if you get him, just be prepared.

This class requires a lot of memorization since you cover about 80 images for each test. There is a midterm and a final, which he curves. The midterm and final consists of multiple choice questions and a written section where you compare and contrast sets of photographs and have to be able to give the date, title, and the photographer\'s name. There is also a paper you have to do about a photographer(s) of your choice. There are weekly reading assignments (1 or 2 chapters of the book), which are easy but cover a lot of information. The class material is interesting but the professor doesn\'t do an effective job of presenting the material. He says he won\'t have time to go into something but still does anyway and then complains he didn\'t have enough time for other material.

Overall, his lectures are utterly boring. I'd advice a credit/no credit attempt at the course. To achieve credit, you'll need to put in the effort you'd normally put for a difficult class to get a B. His study guides are ridiculously long and his ability to understand student's busy schedules is not there. Ask questions in the class early, you'll become his favorite student. Don't use a laptop unless you're in the very back row. DON'T BOTHER BUYING OR READING THE BOOK!!! Take notes on photographers he consideres important (the ones in the study guides online). Show up to a majority of the classes if possible. Don't take him if you have a better option.

To do well you need to know how to memorize well and take excellent notes in lecture. He gives you around 70 images to know for the tests which is helpful. Lectures are boring sometimes but crucial to attend. No need to buy the book, I barely read even though he claims it's important.

His tests have spelling errors all over them. He acts like he knows everything about photography but he really doesn't insprire any students to get out and take pictures. He can be nice and understanding if you're on his good side and you are patient with him. But if you really want to learn more about photography, take the other teachers.

Eric is still a hit or miss after ART 222. If he knows what you're capable of from taking other classes with him, he will push you to go above and beyond. Eric challenged me several times and encouraged me to take risks. If you do just that, he will like what you have to present during Crit. This class was intended to help you develop your style as an artist. Probably the my favorite Art course yet.

Business majors: A degree for the intellectually impaired, HA HA.