Darin Mickey, chair of the Creative Practices program, is a New York–based photographer and musician. He is the author of Death Takes a Holiday, J&L Books 2016, Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget, J&L Books 2007, and co-author of Glacial Erratics, Roman Nvmerals 2024. His photographic work has appeared in numerous publications, including Aperture, the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, VICE, the Washington Post Magazine, I.D., FOAM, and Doubletake among others.
He has exhibited work in both solo and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Cleveland, Rome, Copenhagen, Sydney, and Tokyo, and is included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art Watson Library Collection, Museum of Modern Art Library Collection, the Museum of The City of New York, Museo d’Arte Contemporenea di Roma, and others.
Mickey has been a faculty member at ICP since 2001 and chair of the program since 2016. As we go into another academic year of One Year Certificate programs (Creative Practices and Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism) at ICP, he answers the most common questions he has gotten over the years:
ICP: What draws you to teaching at ICP?
Darin Mickey: It is definitely the students. Any given year the youngest student might be twenty years of age and the eldest could be over sixty years of age. We have students from all over the globe and from throughout the U.S., with a wide range of personal, educational, and professional backgrounds. That kind of diversity in the classroom provides a great source for original ideas, creative collaboration, and deeply engaged discussions.
ICP: How do you help students find their voice in photography?
DM: As educators we provide a certain degree of structure in the classroom combined with our individual years of personal and professional experience but, it is ultimately the student who needs to find their own voice. Originality is rarely born from rigidity. You need to give students the space to take chances, get things wrong, give feedback, make corrections, and find the ways of working that best supports what they are trying to express with their work.
ICP: What does “Creative Practices” mean in today’s photography landscape?
DM: To me, it represents a plurality of creative processes. There is more than one way of doing something, more than one way of seeing something, more than one way of understanding something, and more than one way of saying something.
ICP: How does the student work evolve throughout their time at ICP?
DM: Everyone's work develops and grows in differing ways and at different paces. There is a collective sort of "moment of breakthrough" that usually happens around two-thirds of the way through the year where their individual work collectively takes shape and they really start to "know themselves", what they are doing, and why they are doing it. That is always wonderful to see when it happens.
ICP: How do you encourage students to take creative risks?
DM: I would say that a big part is letting students know that it is okay if you don't know if something will work or not, to try it first and see if it does. To trust the process, the materials, and to experiment. Do it and see what the results are before doubting what the results might be, not doing anything and ending up with nothing.
ICP: What sets ICP apart from other schools or programs?
DM: It's ultimately the students and then of course, the faculty. With the One-Year Programs at ICP being fully focused on lens-based practices, we can support a wide range of elective offerings during the year. This allows students to have a more individualized path of study in many instances. It is also the resources of the institution: the ICP Museum, our Library, and the wide variety of public programs and discussions offered.
It is a valuable place for anyone of any skill level and accomplishment who is curious and loves photography and visual expression.
ICP: How do critiques work in CP, and what makes them valuable?
DM: There is not necessarily a fixed structure for critiques in all classes, so it varies somewhat from instructor to instructor. It is expected that students fully participate and contribute during critiques and discussions. If the instructor is the only one talking that is not good, there needs to be communal discussion, space for everyone to feel that they can ask questions and give feedback. Listening is also key, not only to others but also to yourself. Critiques are extremely valuable for working out ideas, receiving constructive feedback on work in progress, and listening and learning from the perspectives of others.
ICP: What do you value most in photography?
DM:Everything I don't already know and all the things that I still need to figure out.
ICP: How does your personal work influence your teaching?
DM: For me, it's my teaching that influences my personal work. If I'm encouraging students to take chances, challenge themselves, and learn through mistakes then I'm constantly being reminded to do the same thing myself with my own work.
ICP: What do you hope students take away from your classes?
DM: I hope they come away with a broader understanding and respect for the thoughts and ideas of others through working with their peers and supporting each other's individual and unique creative voices.
ICP: How is photography evolving today? And how is ICP helping shape that future?
DM: I think the tastemakers of today and the fortune-tellers of tomorrow might be able to answer that one better than I can! In all seriousness though, ICP can help shape the future of photography by supporting, educating, and exhibiting the visual voices of the present.
ICP: What do you hope ICP students carry into the world beyond graduation?
DM: A better sense of themselves as thinkers, seers, and doers, both as individuals and collectively as artists in the world.
ICP: What should drive someone to pursue their education at ICP?
DM: The same things that drive someone to pursue an education anywhere; to better understand themselves, others, the world around them and beyond them. ICP is particularly well-suited if one of the ways you are interested in making those discoveries is through the lens of a camera.