FACULTY OF FINE ARTS: DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL ARTS 2011
1. VISA 2061 Photography Studio 1 3.0
2. Course director: Katherine Knight
Monday 2:30-5:30, Room 312 followed by labs
Office Hours: Monday 1-2, Room 253
Contact Info: (no voice mail, please use email)
Tutorial leaders
Course / Schedule / Room / Tutorial Leader / EmailLecture / M 2:30-5:30 / CFA 312 / Katherine Knight /
TUT 01 / M 5:30-6:30 / CFA 130 / Peter Kingston /
TUT 02 / M 5:30-6:30 / CFA 104 / Brian Piitz /
TUT 03 / M 5:30-6:30 / CFA 330 / Thomas Blanchard /
3. Calendar description
Offers an introductory studio in photographic theory and practice fundamentals. Tools, techniques and ideas related to seeing and camera art are explored with emphasis on the photographer as informed image-maker. Projects integrating technical, conceptual and creative challenge are assigned in a lecture class and further developed through tutorials and independent work. Open only to visual arts majors, this course is a prerequisite for 3000-level photography courses. Course credit exclusions: FA/VISA 2006 3.00; AK/VISA 2360 3.00 (as of Summer 2003).
Expanded course description:
Developing a critical and curious approach to photography is the focus of this course. Creative and technical challenges prepare students for upper level photography work. This course is designed a s a keystone course and must be taken in conjunction with at least one other 2000 level photography course to progress to the 3000 level.
Projects are completed using DSLR or SLR and consumer level processed and printed prints. Course does not include darkroom practice. Success in the course requires a commitment to both technical and creative aspects of making photographs.
Technical outcomes:
Understand photographic fundamentals including:
· Camera basics
· Working with light
· Workflow basics
· Principles of digital cameras and imaging
Creative outcomes
· Confidence in creating photographs
· Willingness to problem solve and take creative risk
· Knowledge of working methodologies
Historical and theoretical outcomes
· Awareness of photography's history
· Knowledge of contemporary photographic practice
· Willingness to engage critically with ones own practice
4. Course structure
Instruction occurs in a group lecture followed by tutorials. Material introduced in lectures is further developed in tutorial. Attendance is mandatory.
5. Recommended reading:
London, (Upton, Stone, Upton), Photography 9th edition, Prentice Hall 2005. ISBN-10:0131752014 ISBN-13:9780131752016 (an earlier edition may be used) Note: use this textbook throughout your photo studies at York. Textbook website:
http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_london_photo_9/
Rebekah Modrak and Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice, Routledge
ISBN: 978-0-415-77920-3
http://www.reframingphotography.com/
6. Important dates
http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/importantdates/index.htm
The LAST DATE TO DROP this course without academic penalty is March 4. 2011
7. Evaluation and grading
Portfolio 1 30%
Portfolio 2 30%
Portfolio 3 30%
Participation: 10%
TOTAL: 100%
York University Grading Scale
Grading: The grading scheme for the course conforms to the 9-point grading system used in undergraduate programs at York (e.g., A+ = 9, A = 8, B+ - 7, C+ = 5, etc.). Assignments will bear either a letter grade designation or a corresponding number grade (e.g. A+ = 90 to 100, A = 80 to 90, B+ = 75 to 79, etc.)
Final course grades may be adjusted to conform to Program or Faculty grades distribution profiles.
(For a full description of York grading system see the York University Undergraduate Calendar - http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/services/policies/index.htm
A+ 90-100 Rare and exceptional work
A 80-89 Excellent (ability to formulate & communicate ideas with clarity and originality)
B+ 75-79 Very good work
B 70-74 Good work (thorough understanding and firm grasp of materials and skills)
C+ 65-69 Competent work (sufficient skills to permit the student to continue)
C 60-64 Some understanding and control (not permitted to continue)
D+ 55-59 Passable grade
D 50-54 Poor work (demonstrates little comprehension)
E 31-49 Inadequate
F 0-30 Inadequate
Please note that all grades are converted to a final letter grade.
8. Bibliography
Bibliography:
Shore, Stephen, 2007, The Nature of Photographs, Phaidon Press
Wells, Ed Liz (ed.) (2002) The Photography Reader, Routledge
Traub, CH.; Heller, S; Bell, A (ed) (2006) The Education of a Photographer, New York: Allworth Press
9. Schedule (Subject to change)
1 / Jan 10 / Intro. Photo history. Why photograph? Creative thinking.Portfolio assignment “Everyday I wear”
2 / Jan 17 / Photographic seeing. Roland Barthes: Camera/operator/subject/audience. John Berger
3 / Jan 24 / Photograph as document and witness
Portfolio assignment “Hairy head”
4 / Jan 31 / Topologies. Photographs and systems, structures, classifications.
5 / Feb 7 / Portfolio 1 Due
Image and landscape
Portfolio assignment “optics”
6 / Feb 14 / Photography and conceptual art
Portfolio assignment “Experiments, inventions and sequences in time.”
7 / Feb 21 / NOCLASS READING WEEK
8 / Feb 28 / Performance/using the self
9 / Mar 7 /
Portfolio 2 Due
Tableau and still life.10 / Mar 14 / Taking charge/directorial stance/ narratives
Portfolio assignment “touch”
11 / Mar 21 / Light Portfolio assignments “now…see…”
12 / Mar 28 / Portfolio assignment “Goodbye”
13 / April 4 / Portfolio 3 Due
10. Supply list
1. A SLR or DSLR camera, (analog or digital.)
2. If you are using analog camera you will require 7 rolls of 400 ISO film.
3. Journal for notes
ASSIGNMENTS
Portfolio Assignments
Submit your photographs in an envelope. Identify each photograph and the envelop with your name, Instructor name and Section. If you wish the final Portfolio be returned to you, submit in a stamped and addressed envelope and it will be mailed.
Portfolio 1 DUE February 7
1. “Everyday I wear….”. Choose a piece of clothing. Make a real size facsimile of that same piece of clothing out of paper (brown/white or newspaper.) Photograph the real item of clothing and photograph the facsimile.
Photographs come from the real and also from new realities created through your creativity. Photographs don’t have to make sense. What is most surprising in photography is that even subjects we know not to be real gain a factual presence when translated into photographs. We trust that the camera begins from a point of actuality, capturing a subject that is before the lens and existed in time-even if momentarily. But you are in control of what is before the lens. Lets play with reality. Choose an item of clothing. Make a full size replica using paper (brown, white or newspaper), tape, and scissors. Bring the real and recreated piece to class. We will workshop ideas during class. Make a final photograph that challenges the photographs ability to tease the boundaries of fact and fiction.
2-8x 10” photograph
2. “Hairy head….” Photograph a head of hair
Photographs are freeze frames that allow us to examine fleeting moments, observe otherwise hidden details and remember states of mind and events that otherwise disappear. The photographic frame establishes a sense of scale that is not necessarily accurate. The photographic frame excludes information, creating a picture that we must understand according to the clues within its boundaries. Use a vertical or portrait format to create a portrait of hair. Do not include a recognizable face. You may use real or fake hair.
2-8x10” photographs
Portfolio 2 DUE March 7
3. “Optics”
The camera is an apparatus equipped with a lens. Light enters the lens to be become registered into pictorial information. The camera lens is the tool that negotiates relationships between your apparatus and the world. The camera lens is the crucial piece of glass that defines how light enters the camera. A wide-angle lens translates a wide perspective. A normal lens matches normal vision. A telephoto lens is equivalent to looking through binoculars. Using a wide, normal and long lens setting- interpret what the camera sees by photographing through one or more glass containers filled with water. If you don’t have zoom capacity on your lens, create 3 photographs that use cropping to create a wide, normal and longs lens effect.
3 5 x7” photographs
4. “Experiments, inventions and sequences in time.”
Photographs talk about time. A photograph can document an event occurring over time through multiple frames or by simply depicting change. Document an experiment where something changes. Create either a before and after pair of photographs or capture the experience of change or the experiment itself.
3 5x7” photographs or 2 8x10 photographs
Portfolio 3 DUE April 4
5. “Touch…”
Why do we respond emotionally to photographs? How does a photograph convey information that is non-linear, non-verbal? What cues are built into photographs that direct our interpretation and allow us to “read” a photograph? The photograph is a picture plane of organized signs that we interpret and add meaning to.
Touch signifies connection between people, objects and experience. To touch is to connect. Create a photograph depicting a hand or hands in the act of connecting. Experiment with your angle of view. Try an aerial perspective. What cues are you providing to direct meaning? What subject matter is being touched? Begin with a word association exercise around the quality of touch you are exploring.
2 8x 10photographs
6. “Now…see…”
To photograph is to write with light. Photographers depend on light! To photograph in dark environments you must add artificial light or increase exposure time. To photograph in a darkness means you make something visible that is otherwise not seen by the eye. By making the hidden visible, the camera grants us access to a private, secret or inaccessible situation. Photograph something under a bed, chair or other piece of furniture using flash or another kind of artificial light.
1 8x 10photograph
7. “Goodbye”
Respond to the idea of goodbye in a single photograph.
1 5x7” photograph
IMPORTANT COURSE INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
All students are expected to familiarize themselves with the following information, available on the Senate Committee on Curriculum & Academic Standards webpage:
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/
· York’s Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures: York students are required to maintain high standards of academic integrity and are subject to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty
· Ethics Review Process for research involving human participants
· Student Conduct Standards
· Religious Observance Accommodation
Students may take a limited number of courses for degree credit on an ungraded (pass/fail) basis. For full information on this option see Alternative Grading Option in the Faculty of Fine Art section of the Undergraduate Calendar
Assignment Submission: Proper academic performance depends on students doing their work not only well, but on time. Accordingly, assignments for this course must be received on the due date specified for the assignment. Assignments are to be handed in to your LAB instructor on the due date.
Access/Disability: York provides services for students with disabilities (including physical, medical, learning and psychiatric disabilities) needing accommodation related to teaching and evaluation methods/materials. It is the student's responsibility to register with disability services as early as possible to ensure that appropriate academic accommodation can be provided with advance notice. You are encouraged to schedule a time early in the term to meet with each professor to discuss your accommodation needs. Failure to make these arrangements may jeopardize your opportunity to receive academic accommodations.
Additional information is available at www.yorku.ca/disabilityservices or from disability service providers:
• Office for Persons with Disabilities: N108 Ross, 416-736-5140, www.yorku.ca/opd
• Learning and Psychiatric Disabilities Programs - Counseling & Development Centre: 130 BSB, 416-736-5297, www.yorku.ca/cdc
• Glendon students - Glendon Counselling & Career Centre: Glendon Hall 111, 416-487- 6709, www.glendon.yorku.ca/counselling
Ethics Review Process
York students are subject to the York University Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. In particular, students proposing to undertake research involving human participants (e.g., interviewing the director of a company or government agency, having students complete a questionnaire, etc.) are required to submit an Application for Ethical Approval of Research Involving Human Participants at least one month before you plan to begin the research. If you are in doubt as to whether this requirement applies to you, contact your Course Director immediately
Religious Observance Accommodation
York University is committed to respecting the religious beliefs and practices of all members of the community, and making accommodations for observances of special significance to adherents. Should any of the dates specified in this syllabus for an in-class test or examination pose such a conflict for you, contact the Course Director within the first three weeks of class. Similarly, should an assignment to be completed in a lab, practicum placement, workshop, etc., scheduled later in the term pose such a conflict, contact the Course director immediately. Please note that to arrange an alternative date or time for an examination scheduled in the formal examination periods (December and April/May), students must complete an Examination Accommodation Form, which can be obtained from Student Client Services, Student Services Centre or online at http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/exam_accommodation.pdf
Student Conduct
Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to such a relationship. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom, and the responsibility of the student to cooperate in that endeavour. Further, the instructor is the best person to decide, in the first instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. A statement of the policy and procedures involving disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic situations is available on the York website http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/harass.htm
Please note that this information is subject to periodic update. For the most current information, please go to the CCAS webpage (see Reports, Initiatives, Documents): http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies
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