Mondays and Thursdays, , N7-C22

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1 1 Ways of Seeing: Storytelling Through Photography B Fall 2015 Copenhagen 3 Credits Major Disciplines: Visual Arts, Art History, Communication, Media Studies Faculty Member: Johanna Wolfe, johannawolfe@mac.com Program Director: Helle Rytkønen, Vestergade 7.38, hry@dis.dk Assistant Program Director: Dorte Mari Aggergaard, Vestergade 7.37, dma@dis.dk Program Assistant: Kelsey Keegan, Vestergade 7.37, kke@dis.dk Mondays and Thursdays, , N7-C22 Course Description Study abroad often serves as a key experience and a turning point in your understanding of the world. This class is an effort to make sense of your study abroad stay: rather than creating photographs as mementos, you will make pictures that are unique to your stay in Copenhagen, but still refer back to your life in general. It is not enough to point a camera at a tourist site or use it to make Facebook or Instagram images. You will be encouraged to view your new environment not through the lens of an outsider viewing a novelty, but to give us, as viewers, special access to your world. This class combines a studio critique and a survey of the history and theory of photography. You will engage with the medium of photography while at the same time learning about the historical tradition that your pictures reference. While the artistic practice is almost entirely self-directed, you will participate in weekly critiques in order to gain a deeper understanding of your own photographs, as well as those of your colleagues. Using the basic tools of photography a camera, time and light you will learn to responsibly and concisely discuss your work. Critique focuses on intentionality and embedded meaning, while studying the history of photography places your work in the context of this relatively young medium. Course Format Each week s Monday class, starting the third week of the term, will be used for critique. Each week s Thursday class will include a lecture on photographers and themes specific to the readings. You will find 2-3 themes/ideas relevant to each week s readings that will be used to generate discussion topics. Two students per week will give presentations (approx minutes) on an individual photographer related to, but not actually cited in, the given topic. Each student will present twice over the course of the semester. You will choose your preferred presentation topics after the first class, and will select your photographers from a complied list. Course Instructor Johanna Wolfe received an M.F.A. in visual arts in 2010 and a B.A. in art history in 2002, both from Columbia University. She has worked in various media-based fields, including publishing, film festivals, and television, where she produced observational documentary series for major cable networks. Upon receiving her MFA, she began teaching photography at the undergraduate level. Her photographs have been exhibited in New York and throughout the United States, and in 2012 she opened a communal analog darkroom, Radiant Labs, in Long Island City, New York.

2 2 Field Studies Wednesday, 2 September Wednesday, 28 October Course Requirements During the first session, the class will be divided into two groups for the purpose of critique. Each group will be critiqued every other week, starting the third week. Students must have at least 8-10 images (jpg or tiff) for each critique, and must be prepared to talk about all of them. Photos may not be submitted for critique more than once, unless in the case of a round two critique, which must be accompanied by a written proposal. Throughout the course of the semester, students from each group will either have critique or make photographer presentations each week. Artist presentations (in the form of a slideshow or PowerPoint) should be ed no later than the day they are presented. Students work toward the completion of a final portfolio of 8-10 photographs and an accompanying artist statement. There will be a Final Show on Monday, 7 December for which all students are expected to prepare 2-3 images for inclusion. Learning Objectives - You will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural impact of the medium of photography in an art historical context, and you will be able to locate your own work in relation to that tradition. - You will learn how to manipulate a camera with agility and create the pictures you want to make, in terms of technique, form and content. - You will engage in the language of photographic critique both of your own work and that of your fellows and be able to thoughtfully describe the meaning of a photograph. - You will generate a personal artist statement that is at once concise and legible. - You will develop a new sensitivity to looking at the world through the lens of a camera. Grade Components Critique 20% Presentations 20% Midterm 20% Participation 20% Final Portfolio 10% Artist Statement 10% Attendance at all class sessions is mandatory. Two unexcused absences will warrant a reduced letter grade. Three unexcused absences will result in failure. In order to be eligible for a passing grade in the class, all work must be submitted. The use of distracting devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.) is strictly prohibited during class. Failure to comply will adversely affect participation grades. NOTE: Students are expected to bring their own camera, preferably a DSLR, that is capable of shooting in a fully manual mode.

3 3 Weekly Schedule Session 1: Thursday, 20 August Introduction & syllabus review; divide class into Groups A & B Readings: Christy Lange, Seven Subjects You Shouldn t Photograph Robert Adams, Colleagues from Why People Photograph HW: top three choices for presentations Session 2: Monday, 24 August Technical overview & photography s context Readings: James Elkins, selection from Art Critiques: A Guide Lisa LeFeuvre, Introduction, Failure HW: artist selections for presentations Session 3: Thursday, 27 August Intention and meaning; Sample critique exercises Readings: John Berger, Chapter 1 from Ways of Seeing Session 4: Monday, 31 August First (optional: critique by proxy) Readings: Alan Trachtenberg, selection from Camera Work/Social Work John Szarkowski, Introduction to Atget FIELD STUDY: Wednesday, 2 September Visit to Niels Borch Jensen, Meeting Location TBA, Session 5: Thursday, 3 September Lecture on Early Photography and Photo-Secession Session 6: Monday, 14 September First (optional: critique by proxy) Readings: Alexander Rodchenko, The Paths of Modern Photography Berenice Abbott, It Has to Walk Alone and Photography at the Crossroads Session 7: Thursday, 17 September Lecture on New Vision / New Objectivity Session 8: Monday, 21 September Readings: Interview, Walker Evans, The Thing Itself Is Such a Secret and So Unapproachable Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Who Is Speaking Thus: Some Questions about Documentary Photography James Agee, Introduction to A Way of Seeing Session 9: Thursday, 24 September Lecture on Social Documentary and the American Tradition

4 4 Session 10: Monday, 5 October Readings: Roland Barthes, selection from Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment from The Mind s Eye Session 11: Thursday, 8 October Lecture on European Documentary Approaches Session 12: Monday, 12 October Reading: John Szarkowski, The Photographer s Eye Session 13: Thursday, 15 October Midterm in-class writing assignment Session 14: Monday, 26 October Readings: Jack Kerouac, Introduction to The Americans John Szarkowski, Introduction to Winogrand: Figments from the Real World FIELD STUDY: Wednesday, 28 October Visit to Kunstakademiet, Meeting Location TBA, Session 15: Thursday, 29 October Lecture on The New Document Session 16: Monday, 2 November Readings: In Plato s Cave from Susan Sontag, On Photography Moyra Davey, Notes on Photography & Accident from Long Life Cool White Session 17: Thursday, 5 November Lecture on Writers & Photographers; Editing and sequencing Students bring work from final portfolio Artist statement interviews Session 18: Monday, 16 November Readings: Andy Grundberg, selections from Crisis of the Real Stephen Shore, selection from The Nature of Photographs Session 19: Thursday, 19 November Lecture on New Topographics HW: students must images for approval for Final Show

5 5 Session 20: Monday, 23 November Readings: Jeff Wall, Marks of Indifference: Aspects of Photography in, or as, Conceptual Art Geoff Dyer, Philip-Lorca di Corcia s Magic Session 21: Thursday, 26 November Lecture on Conceptual Art Photography, Making vs. Taking, Appropriation & Re-photographing Session 22: Monday, 30 November Readings: Sze Tsung Leong, A Picture You Already Know, from Words Without Pictures Charlotte Cotton, selection from The Photograph as Contemporary Art * Session 23: Thursday, 3 December Groups A & B free presentations Final portfolios and artist statements due today Final Communication Showcase: Monday, 7 December Location TBA Further Readings: Roland Barthes, Rhetoric of the Image, from Image Music Text Walter Benjamin, A Short History of Photography A.D. Coleman, The Directorial Mode: Notes Toward a Definition from Light Readings Vilém Flusser, The Reception of Photographs from Towards a Philosophy of Photography Allan Sekula, On the Invention of Photographic Meaning Michael Taussig, Fieldwork Notebooks