Photographer - Artist - Storyteller
When I was still a child, I emptied my closet of clothes, squeezed in a small black drawing desk, and covered the walls with artwork. This was the beginning of my first studio. It was the moment I declared to the world that I was an artist.
I am an image based artist rooted deeply in the Midwest. While born in the suburbs of Indianapolis, the Midwest architecture and landscape continues to shape my understanding of people, place, and memory. I often look at creating visual narratives to explore the intricate dynamics of interpersonal relationships, illuminating their profound interplay with the environments we inhabit. I am interested in how these images show an evolving relationship between work and life, belonging and departure, presence and absence.
My work takes the form of constructed images often including aspects of installation. Through deliberate manipulation of the lighting, environment, and natural color of the work I transform familiar spaces into performative places of memory and emotion. The process of creating the work itself becomes an act of storytelling. Each decision from the artificial lighting, costuming, furniture, or prop I am using in the composition then becomes a purposeful part of the narrative I am unveiling. The work becomes a dynamic depiction of my interpretation of rural life in the Midwest with the goal of exposing poetic emotions to form a sense of nostalgia.
As a lens based storyteller, I challenge the viewer to think deeper about the specific narrative exhibited. Through my work, I examine societal norms as a means of provoking critical reflection on the fundamental emotions of human experience.
Teaching Philosophy and Notes
I am an artist committed to cultivating the next generation of visual creators. My practice extends beyond the studio into the learning space, where I focus on creating artists rather than simply instructing students. By adapting my teaching to each individual, I foster curiosity, experimentation, and critical thinking to encourage emerging artists to discover their own voices and develop the confidence to express them.
Notes from observing the Classroom:
Organize the classroom to bring students together to promote communication.
Continue to repeat the basics.
Create handouts with spacing. Encouraging students to take notes as they follow the lesson.
Spend time making sure the students are comfortable with the classroom, resources, and technology.
Maintain awareness to different learning styles and accessibility of the students.
Ask questions to students to support classroom engagement.
Create lesson plans to create consistent structure in classroom.
Working Teaching Philosophy:
As a child I cleared out my closet and squeezed in a small black desk, creating my first studio. I hung my work on the white walls of the closet and created my first gallery. It was here that I first had the space to create and display my work, supporting my artistic ambitions. This moment in my life grounds my teaching philosophy: a commitment to removing barriers to learning so that artists can fully pursue their creative and intellectual potential. In the studio classroom, these barriers often include fear of failure, limited opportunities for artists to showcase their work, and restrictive physical or institutional structures.
I think about the studio as a site where creative curiosity and research intersect. Students arrive with diverse experiences, disciplinary backgrounds, and levels of preparation, and I treat these differences as starting points. Early diagnostic activities, such as low-stakes assignments, help me understand students’ prior knowledge. Often these early assignments include a narrative element, prompting students to start thinking about how their art and life experiences have shaped who they are. I prioritize consistent communication in the studio, where conversations generate questions and lead to co-creation. These exchanges emphasize that creating art is a process that includes critical components of research, iteration, and discovery through failure.
My teaching balances multiple roles: instructor, facilitator, and role model. While I provide technical instruction and critical insight, I also prioritize experimentation and reflective critique. I structure the classroom to support collaboration and dialogue rather than passive listening. For example, arranging desks and workstations in a U-shaped configuration allows students to easily share work, view demonstrations, and participate in group discussions. This is especially important in a darkroom or computer lab where the environment is traditionally set up in ways that create physical barriers. The goal is to strategize ways these physical walls can be removed.
Equally important is students’ ability to articulate their work within broader cultural and theoretical contexts. Through artist statements, critiques, public presentations, and exhibition opportunities, students develop the ability to communicate their ideas with clarity and intention. Even simply having hallway installations of student work and classroom artist talks provide opportunities for students to be reminded that they are artists, and the work they are making is valued.
I am committed to mentoring students as developing artists and thinkers. My goal is not only to support technical and conceptual growth, but to help students build sustainable, self-directed practices that extend beyond the classroom. Teaching in the studio is not only about transferring knowledge, but about guiding students as they discover their own artistic identities and strategies for lifelong learning and making.
Teaching Philosophy Draft With Notes:
My teaching practice revolves around removing barriers to learning so that artists in my classroom can fully engage with their creative and intellectual potential. In the studio classroom, barriers often take the form of fear of failure, uncertainty about expectations, or limited access to meaningful dialogue about the process. By intentionally designing a transparent, supportive, and collaborative learning environment, I aim to create a space where students feel empowered to experiment, reflect, and develop as artists. My pedagogy is grounded in the belief that learning is cumulative, relational, and rooted in practice.
I approach learning as a cumulative and lifelong process. Students approach the classroom with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and levels of prior knowledge, and these differences are valuable starting points for artistic growth. To better understand students’ existing knowledge, I incorporate diagnostic activities early in a course. Throughout the semester, formative check-ins allow me to monitor students’ progress and adapt instruction as projects develop. These conversations often occur through informal critiques and individual meetings, where students can ask challenging questions and reflect on their work. Finally, summative assessments provide an opportunity to evaluate how students synthesize concepts and techniques over time. Framing learning as an ongoing process (including the possibility of failure) helps reduce anxiety and encourages students to take creative risks.
I structure the classroom to support collaboration and dialogue rather than passive listening. For example, arranging desks and workstations in a U-shaped configuration allows students to easily share work, view demonstrations, and participate in group discussions. Especially as a photographer, in a darkroom or computer lab, the environment is traditionally set up creating physical barriers. The goal is to strategize ways these physical walls can be removed, to bring the students together in the creative process creating a collaborative art collective.
Ultimately, my teaching centers on self-expression and artistic development. I strive to balance multiple roles in the classroom: expert, facilitator, and role model. While I provide technical instruction and critical insight, I also prioritize dialogue, experimentation, and reflective critique. Creating a conversational classroom environment while encouraging students to analyze their own work and engage thoughtfully with the work of others. Opportunities for students to showcase their work, not only through critiques, presentations, and exhibitions, can also further reinforce the value of their voices and perspectives.
As a whole, my overarching goal as an educator is to build and support emerging artists rather than simply lecture to students. By removing barriers to learning, fostering transparency, and cultivating an environment of collaboration and inquiry, I aim to help students develop confidence in their creative processes. Teaching in the studio is not only about transferring knowledge, but about guiding students as they discover their own artistic identities and strategies for lifelong learning.
You’ve got good things in here, but you need to focus on a few of these points and develop them more, rather than speaking superficially about lots of things. The things you discuss are left at a general level. This document needs to be more about what makes YOU special/unique as an educator. What is it that you, and only you, can bring to the classroom? What makes you as a human standout, and how does that affect how you teach and view teaching? (This may be a good way to start focusing in on what is most important to you.)
For the last assignment, students used the 3D printer to create a design. The goal was to create back lit LED night lites. Overall, this assignment and class gave students access to using technology in a way that can produce art.
Student: Jacob Ness
Sample Cover Letter:
Dear Dr. McDaniel,
I am writing to express my strong interest in the Assistant Professor of Photography position at the University of Central Florida. I am an Indianapolis artist with a BFA in Studio Art (Photography) and an MFA in Visual Art (Photography), and I am committed to both rigorous artistic practice and transformative teaching.
My work spans across digital and analog photography, with an emphasis on material exploration and presentation. I have exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the country, including venues such as the Indy Art Center, National Council of Aging, and the Whitewater Valley Juried Art Show. These experiences have strengthened my ability to contribute meaningfully to an academic and creative community while maintaining an active, evolving studio practice.
Equally central to my career is my dedication to teaching and mentorship. Through my experience as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, guest lecturer, and speaker, I have developed a student-centered approach that prioritizes critical inquiry, experimentation, and individual voice. I strive to cultivate not only technical proficiency but also intellectual curiosity, encouraging students to engage deeply with both process and concept.
I bring a broad and adaptable skill set, including digital photography, archival pigment printing, and diverse installation methods from traditional framing to large-scale wall projections and sculptural integration. I also maintain a strong foundation in analog practices, including darkroom processes, cyanotype, and Van Dyke printing, allowing me to support a wide range of student interests and approaches.
I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the University of Central Florida’s photography program and to support the development of emerging artists within its community. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to the possibility of discussing how my experience and teaching philosophy align with your program’s goals.
Sincerely,
Chayton Davidson
Student Work Examples:
Digital Sketchbook Assignment: Assignment used to learn students interests, and to get them engaged with future projects.
Student: Dustin King
Practice Etching Assignment: Assignment used to get students comfortable with the Laser Etching Machine.
Student: Ashley Colorado
Digital Design: This was a digital design made to learn how to manipulate an image into something that could be etched.
Student: Katie Perez
For this assignment, students were asked to use the Laser Machine to engrave a drawing, image, or design into a piece of wood or card stock. They then used that card stock to create Linocut Prints. Image to the Left is the digital design. Image to the Right is the final print.
Student: Dustin King
Other Examples of Assignment
Artists Named on Image.
For Studio Art and Technology, our students worked on creating a pinhole camera. They used the Laser Cutter to fabricate intricate measurements, cutting out card stock, to assemble a pinhole camera. They then got to decorate their pinhole camera. Using the their constructed pinhole camera, they made darkroom photos. Within this assignment they learned: what a Pinhole Camera is, how to expose an image, how to develop images in a darkroom. Here is our classrooms pin-up displaying the students work.
Sample Writing Reflection: This writing was a reflection from a student’s visit to the Newfields Art Museum.
Student: Katie Perez
