Art 103 introduces students to the use of photography and its related ‘wet’ and digital tools as an expressive medium. The course incorporates fundamental theoretical, technical and aesthetic principles of working with photographic, digital and interactive media. Material will be taught via lectures, demonstrations and studio practice. Assessable components will include studio projects, written assignments and oral presentations. Students will be asked to attend screenings, exhibitions and lectures.
This course meets the requirements for entry into upper-level classes in photography and digital art. There are no prerequisites. Art 103 also meets the College General Distribution requirement for Art. It introduces students to the study and creation of visual art. In compliance with the University’s distribution requirements and policies, students taking this course will learn:
1. The specialized vocabulary and techniques of particular media and be able to use this knowledge to describe, analyze and create works of visual, performance or installation art;
2. How to discern, discuss, or create form, content or creative process in works of visual, performance or installation art;
3. To place works of art within an appropriate historical, cultural, thematic or stylistic context; and to create works with an awareness of the traditions, styles, and historical development of the relevant discipline.
Class assignments bring each student to examine, for instance, the relationship between the individual and community, between a sense of place and a sense of space, and how both pairings may be considered as being synchronous and in a metaphoric linkage with each other. Students will establish these conceptual frameworks through readings, discussions and other visual material. This in turn will provide a conceptual and metaphoric basis for their photographic and electronic media projects. Students will be given between three and eight weeks to work on each section of the project. A project section will culminate with the normal studio critique as well as a collective review of the overall concerns and identifying possibilities for future work.
Required Texts
Stephen Shore, The Nature of Photographs: a primer, Phaidon Books
Henry Horenstein, Black & White Photography: a basic manual, 3rd ed., Little, Brown and Company
Equipment and Supplies
All required trexts, equipment and supplies will be provided as a part of the course pack.
Schedule – see the menu tab for more details
Class meetings occur two times a week in Carnegie 311 unless otherwise announced. Field trips may require excused absences from other faculty. While the instructor will validate the requests, it is each student’s responsibility to acquire these excuses.