Course Title: ART140 Photo I
Term: Spring
Course Description
A beginning course designed to equip the student with technical skills needed for image capturing, development and the printing of analog photography.
Course Learning Objectives:
1. Introduce the students to the appropriate terminology of basic photographic language by examining a broad range of aesthetic styles via past student and professional work, as well as online resources.
2. Offer hands-on technical demonstrations that will give student’s safe, working knowledge of 35 mm film development and archival printing of resultant images.
3. Provide frequent on-site field trips to foster creative thinking and visual stimulus.
4. Engage the class in critical dialogue by conducting open lines of communication during critiques that analyze historical + contemporary sources in visual problem solving.
5. Provide the students with preliminary industry-standard matting/presentation and digital documentation skills as applied to fine art photographic prints.
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Course Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will be proficient in delivering photo-related vocabulary and will be able to offer references that provide them and their peers with process and conceptual influence.
2. Students will be able to safely execute the development of all their film, as well as the printing of their images in an archival appropriate manner.
3. Students will be able to capture conceptually creative compositions while stylistically exploring a range of locations within the community.
4. Students will be able to critically examine their own work, as well as their peers in a positively uplifting manner during critiques and presentations.
5. Students will be able to cut and construct mats that most effectively present their works by utilizing archival presentation materials.
Final Digital Portfolio
ART 140 students are required to maintain a Digital Portfolio documenting all photography projects created in the course. Documentation/scanning techniques will be covered in the class. The work and digital portfolio will be reviewed and graded for accuracy and quality. High resolution images should be utilized for personal websites, social media, as well as the shared ART 140 Google Drive folder.
Digital Presentation/Paper
All Art 140 students are required to present one Digital Presentation via either Powerpoint or Google Slides. At the beginning of the semester, students are randomly chosen into two groups to present either the week before midterm or the week prior to final critique. One three page paper, which includes a formal title page and works cited, along with a 5-10 minute digital presentation is required. Students are timed for the duration, which should include a grouping of at least ten high-res images by a contemporary photographer whose work is no older than the year 2010. Items are to be saved via Google Docs and all hardcopies must be honor-pledged by hand. Students can also choose to imbed videos no longer than one minute in duration for their peers to view any studio-related processes, on site/on situ photo shoots, as well as interactions with photographers and their subjects/subject matter.
Skill Building Exercises
Exposure Log/Notebook: In order for students to progress in a timely, cost effective and skill-building manner, each exposure taken must be logged until midterm. This required practice is a self-teaching exercise to compare/contrast the four main components of image capturing with each subsequent project: F-Stop, exposure time via shutter speeds, light source/quality, and mechanical margin of error (ISO speed, frame advancement, etc…). Students must also bracket each frame, with either +/- F-Stops or +/- Shutter speeds to insure at least one correct exposure.
Photo Binders: Students are required to collate an archival three-ringed binder in order to keep a chronological history of their film negatives, contact sheets, and working/trial prints. This practice leads to a more sequential understanding, allowing for early success in conjunction with the use of the exposure log/notebook.
Portfolio: Students are to first protect all working prints/projects inside of clear print sleeves then placed inside of an archival Safe-T binder. Each final print must be accurately labeled with printing information, including: F-stop, exposure times, use of any filters, and detailed information on post-exposure techniques such as dodging/burning/toning.
Final Presentation: Students enrolled in ART 140 are required to mat one photographic print from each of their main projects 1-5 as well as the entirety of their final project #6 for final critique/presentation. A thorough demonstration provides students with instructions on how to construct an industry standard classic, hinged window mat. The resultant grade will be based on proper construction and craftsmanship that entails clean, sharp beveled cuts, and accurately measured borders without smudges, construction lines, or fingerprints. Archival/acid free materials are required, utilizing white mat board and white or black foam core for backing. Various opportunities throughout the academic year also provide students with optional how-to framing demonstrations. For archival purposes, students are encouraged to purchase acid-free Lineco drop-front museum boxes prior for proper storage.
Professional Practices: Students are provided instructional methodology on the application to national juried show opportunities, as well as the procedures to apply to publications. Digital, device, and scanning based image capturing is covered along with Photoshop post production techniques in documentation. Students are required to upload all printed projects to Google Drive as well as any call-for-entry applications.
Course Projects
Project #1: Depth of Field - Shallow and Deep (Field of clarity)
This project focuses on the point of clarity by way of utilizing the focusing ring on the camera’s lens in order to document crisp images of their chosen subject(s) amongst the three planes of projection (foreground, midfield, and background). Emphasis on F-stops in order to simulate either shallow depth-of-field (near subject is sharp focused) as well as deep depth-of-field (farther away subject focused). In essence, this is the first assignment in which students learn to control the amount of light any given exposure takes to produce a latent image. Students are required to shoot 2-3 rolls per each portion of this project or until properly exposed images are obtained to make photographic prints.
Additional requirements/skills: Student’s imagery is open-themed, though required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Either interior or exterior locations can be utilized. Students first produce contact sheets in order to visualize which images meet the requirements of the project. Students are then required to make prints for each portion of the project: 3 trial/working prints along with 1 final print. Photographic prints are to be properly exposed with a full range of tonalities, free of any detritus (lent, dust, fingerprints) or chemical contamination and dried/flat upon turning in for the due date and critique of the assignment.
Project 2: Motion and Movement - To capture and stop
This project focuses on the ability to document motion whilst it is happening as well as the means to freeze movement in real time. By utilizing the shutter speeds on the camera body, the student must document both blurred and crisp images of their chosen subject(s). This is the second assignment in which students learn to control the amount of light any given exposure takes to produce a latent image. Students are required to shoot 2-3 rolls per each portion of this project, or until properly exposed images are obtained in order to make photographic prints. The panning technique is also lectured upon and offered as an extra credit, which incorporates both portions of this assignment; blurred and frozen movement while the photographer is also in motion.
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Additional requirements/skills: Student’s imagery is open-themed, though required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Either interior or exterior locations can be utilized. Students first produce contact sheets in order to visualize which images meet the requirements of the project. Students are then required to make prints for each portion of the project: 3 trial/working prints along with 1 final print. Photographic prints are to be properly exposed with a full range of tonalities, free of any detritus (lent, dust, fingerprints) or chemical contamination and dried/flat upon turning in for the due date and critique of the assignment.
Project 3: Edge and Composition - To frame and configure
This project entails finding creative framing opportunities as well as examining the configuration of any/all geometric and structural choices of composure. By implementing aspects of controlled light from the prior two projects, students are tasked with making decisions based on the proximity to their subject matter, the plane of projection in their field of clarity, and the composition’s relationship of density v/s sparsity relying heavily upon mathematics. Students are required to shoot 2-3 rolls per each portion of this project, or until properly exposed images are obtained in order to make photographic prints.
Additional requirements/skills: Beginning with this assignment, students must work within an exterior setting for both portions of this project. Imagery is still open-themed, though required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Students first produce contact sheets in order to visualize which images meet the requirements of the project. Students are then required to make prints for each portion of the project: 3 trial/working prints along with 1 final print. Photographic prints are to be properly exposed with a full range of tonalities, free of any detritus (lent, dust, fingerprints) or chemical contamination and dried/flat upon turning in for the due date and critique of the assignment.
Project 4: Architectural and Cultural/Historical - To record the past and all things monumental
This project is one of the more documentary-based assignments, testing the student’s ability to induce a sense of time. Open themes for both portions of this project allows the student’s to capture events and/or locations of precedence, entropic subject matter, anitquarian objects and ephemera as well as living subjects of significant age. With a more streamlined approach to linear and shaped based elements, the architectural portion of this project challenges the mind’s eye to focus on the time of day in order to enhance the otherwise clean angularity of man made constructions. Students are required to shoot 2-3 rolls per each portion of this project, or until properly exposed images are obtained in order to make photographic prints.
Additional requirements/skills: Students must shoot inside and outside settings for both portions of this project; when printed, one photographic print should respond to the interior and one to the exterior. Imagery is still open-themed, though required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Students first produce contact sheets in order to visualize which images meet the requirements of the project. Students are then required to make prints for each portion of the project: 3 trial/working prints along with 1 final print. Photographic prints are to be properly exposed with a full range of tonalities, free of any detritus (lent, dust, fingerprints) or chemical contamination and dried/flat upon turning in for the due date and critique of the assignment.
Project 5: Portraiture - Documentation of self (head shot) and Environmental (full figure in habitat)
This project entails the capturing of subjects in both the classical bust/torso constructure as well as the situational combination of subject and their usual surroundings. With the bust/torso facet of this assignment, students are required to configure lighting and exemplify mood/personality without any added distraction. In contrast, the environmental portrait should be just as much about “place” as it does the actual subject, placing emphasis on inherent lighting (artificial or natural) and the model’s relationship to their contextual vicinity.
Additional requirements/skills: Students have the choice of shooting inside or outside for either portions of this project, though when printed, one photographic print should respond to the interior and one to the exterior. Imagery is required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Students first produce contact sheets in order to visualize which images meet the requirements of the project. Students are then required to make prints for each portion of the project: 3 trial/working prints along with 1 final print. Photographic prints are to be properly exposed with a full range of tonalities, free of any detritus (lent, dust, fingerprints) or chemical contamination and dried/flat upon turning in for the due date and critique of the assignment.
Project 6: Final - Series or Suite Triptych (cohesive subject, object, or conceptual theme)
This project focuses on series-based photographic works which will become the core objective moving into subsequent photography courses within our department. Individuals are challenged to look beyond one-off scenarios in order to build cohesion into their conceptual framework in which a tight-knit collection of relatable images not only stands alone but works as a visual unit. Subject matter is open yet must foster engaging content that can be discussed beyond personal preference. It is recommended that this project act as a springboard for a future ongoing series that investigates a deeper meaning beyond basic/formal photo aesthetics.
Additional requirements/skills: Students can continue to work in the traditional 8”x10” format by printing three photographic images in a triptych arrangement, or they can choose the size that best suits their imagery; smaller scaled works must accommodate a larger number within the series (5) and larger scaled works in the 11”x14” realm can work as a diptych. Students have the choice of shooting straight 35 mm, experiment with medium formats such as 120 mm/2 ¼ or by utilzing instant film (Polaroid, Fuji), possible toning options, as well as double exposures, solarization, and any pre approved post-processing film negative or print manipulation. Imagery is required to be intellectual in scope by incorporating their liberal arts/Gen Ed studies. Upon final presentation, students must properly matt each works within the series.
