Schedule
Thu, 1:40 PM - 4:40 PM (9/7/2026 - 12/16/2026) Location: SLC HEIM 210
Thu, 1:40 PM - 4:40 PM (9/7/2026 - 12/16/2026) Location: SLC HEIM 106
Description
Definition of photography: The art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy, and especially light, on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor). First known use: 1839. Etymology: The word “photography” was created from the Greek roots f?t?? (photos), genitive of f?? (phos), “light” and ??af? (graphé), “representation by means of lines” or “drawing, together” meaning “drawing with light.” This course is designed for students who wish to pursue their own projects through a close analysis and exploration of analog photographic and digital processes, formally and conceptually. The course is designed to help students think “photographically” and to make art through a conceptually photographic model or framework. While we are in the midst of/already passed a technological shift in photography—from “wet” processes that use negatives and tangible film to virtual and electronic processes, we will primarily be reading texts about and looking at artists who work with “old school” photography. The use of all technically possible and theoretically appropriate media is encouraged. We will have technical demonstrations, group and individual critiques, PowerPoint, video, and film presentations of, as well as reading discussions about, historical and contemporary photography and art that deal with issues surrounding “documentary” and “art” photography; representation; narrative; the personal as political; the technical and conceptual history of photography; indexicality and the heterotopic; and memory and fiction. Students are encouraged to utilize whatever media is conceptually appropriate for their ideas. Students can use iPhones, film and digital cameras, scanners, Xerox machines, Adobe Photoshop, found photographs, archives, text, and anything that is conceptually photographic.