Photography: Courses

This advanced seminar will focus on the dis/connect between images and sight. By approaching images as something other than simply a ?likeness seen or produced? we will examine the phenomenon of looking, i.e., sight and perception, to more clearly understand the character and object of photographic images historically, and especially in the context of the current speed at which we can see and absorb such things. In closely examining the apparatus of image production--starting with the inception of photographic methods, through the early 20th century until to today--we will track how photography has the power to alter perception and also represent what is not there. We will address how photography informs our expectation and judgment about appearances and experiences. Utilizing the apparatus theories of Jonathan Crary, WJT Mitchell and Joel Snyder, among other noted and seminal scholars, we will explore the parameters in which images are made and produced and what precisely are we looking at.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This course introduces students to ideas and attitudes that are inherent and possible with the large-format camera. The course covers traditional uses of large-format equipment including portraiture, landscapes, still life, and architecture, while developing a more personal viewpoint. The coursework covers sheet film, the zone system, printing skills, related equipment, and individual projects using the large-format image. Available for use are 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras. Students are required to have their own light meters.

This course introduces students to ideas and attitudes that are inherent and possible with the large-format camera. The course covers traditional uses of large-format equipment including portraiture, landscapes, still life, and architecture, while developing a more personal viewpoint. The coursework covers sheet film, the zone system, printing skills, related equipment, and individual projects using the large-format image. Available for use are 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras. Students are required to have their own light meters.

This course is designed for students who have a basic knowledge of photography and its materials and an interest in the use of the photo image as part of a broad vocabulary of image-making processes. Students explore cyanotype, van dyke brown, gum bichromate printing, collage, reproduction, and transfer techniques, and are given a basic working knowledge of the graphic arts films and print films. Also covered: Polaroid materials, copy machines, computer graphics, and applied color. Ideas related to text, installation, and performance may also be explored. Each student is encouraged to experiment in both silver and non-silver processes and to conduct research independently.

This course refines and expands digital imaging skills learned in previous classes. Emphasis is placed on streamlining digital workflow and fine-tuning input skills in preparation for advanced photographic manipulation and exhibition-quality print output. Workflow techniques include advanced image correction, color management, and sophisticated masking methods. Photo manipulation approaches focus on using Photoshop as a creative tool by exploring the conceptual applications of retouching, image compositing, and other post-production methods. Readings and discussions address contemporary theoretical issues surrounding digital imaging and the malleable relationships between the viewer, the image, and `reality.?

This course refines and expands digital imaging skills learned in previous classes. Emphasis is placed on streamlining digital workflow and fine-tuning input skills in preparation for advanced photographic manipulation and exhibition-quality print output. Workflow techniques include advanced image correction, color management, and sophisticated masking methods. Photo manipulation approaches focus on using Photoshop as a creative tool by exploring the conceptual applications of retouching, image compositing, and other post-production methods. Readings and discussions address contemporary theoretical issues surrounding digital imaging and the malleable relationships between the viewer, the image, and `reality.?

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces black-and-white printing techniques including darkroom and inkjet printing, contrast control through development, the zone system, scale of images, graphic arts film, studio lighting, different darkroom techniques, alternative cameras, and different papers and films.

This course introduces black-and-white printing techniques including darkroom and inkjet printing, contrast control through development, the zone system, scale of images, graphic arts film, studio lighting, different darkroom techniques, alternative cameras, and different papers and films.

Students are introduced to using light as a means for creative control. By studying the light around us, we are able to better serve our work through specific choices with regard to existing or ambient light and light augmented by other sources of illumination. Students learn the rudiments of metering, mixing light sources, including the use of on-camera or hand-held electronic flash within existing lighting conditions. This is a practical course that enables students to better control and use light and lighting in their work.

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? This course offers strategies for the evaluation and communication of students? individual practice as artists, designers and/or scholars. Through essential readings, a studio project, and writing, students will generate narratives about how and why they make art. To do so, they will investigate methods (visual, critical, written, and creative) for the reconsideration of their work and of its aims and priorities. Individual mentoring with the faculty member is a central and dedicated component of the class as a means of fostering the self-identification of goals and priorities. Students will also examine historical and contemporary precedents that relate to their own work in order to consider the ways in which their individual explorations can be brought into dialogue with other perspectives. Students participate in broad ranging discussions about the present status and future prospects of art and design through workshops, dialogues, and collaborations both in the class and in SAIC-wide conversations with other Sophomore Studio Seminars. An important function of this course is to build upon these insights in forming a practical plan that helps students effectively map the curriculum and resources of SAIC onto their own needs. For more information see http://blogs.saic.edu/sophseminar/

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? This course offers strategies for the evaluation and communication of students? individual practice as artists, designers and/or scholars. Through essential readings, a studio project, and writing, students will generate narratives about how and why they make art. To do so, they will investigate methods (visual, critical, written, and creative) for the reconsideration of their work and of its aims and priorities. Individual mentoring with the faculty member is a central and dedicated component of the class as a means of fostering the self-identification of goals and priorities. Students will also examine historical and contemporary precedents that relate to their own work in order to consider the ways in which their individual explorations can be brought into dialogue with other perspectives. Students participate in broad ranging discussions about the present status and future prospects of art and design through workshops, dialogues, and collaborations both in the class and in SAIC-wide conversations with other Sophomore Studio Seminars. An important function of this course is to build upon these insights in forming a practical plan that helps students effectively map the curriculum and resources of SAIC onto their own needs. For more information see http://blogs.saic.edu/sophseminar/

Topics: Broken Photography This class will poke at the physicality of photographs. We will push through flat representations of space to investigate photographic imagery that inhabits dimensional forms, considering material combinations that incite surface tensions, and constructions that test the evidentiary characteristics of photography. Together we will explore how photographs have the capacity to perform as objects. You will make your work in any form and our class research will examine artists and working methods that interact with the materiality of photographs from appropriation, montage and collage, to strategies that push photographs into three-dimensional space. Gordon Matta-Clark fried photographs in cooking oil, Annette Messager tore apart and strung them up, Anselm Kiefer poured molten lead on top, Cady Noland propped them up as freestanding cutouts, John Baldessari connected the dots, Douglas Gordon burnt holes through, Felix Gonzalez-Torres stacked them up, Rachel Harrison fused them into installations and sculptural forms, and Martha Rosler spliced the war into pictures of home.

Topics: Confronting the Abject The idea of power found in the perverse is a subverted and an imperative critical understanding to possess in consciously interacting with contemporary art, cinema and performance art. This class will investigate the power situated within the abject, through the sexual body as desire, the attraction in the combination of death and eroticism, what is to 'look' at the 'othered' body and the imperative implication of the 'gaze' in creating visual media. These topics will be investigated in relation to contemporary art and how it functions within the abject and resists it simultaneously.

This course will examine the manipulation of images through the on-going history of the Punk subculture. Today, the notion of ?punk? has many different connotations, yet the creative alteration of images has remained a vital means of expression for its various movements. The Queen of England dons a nose-ring and ransom letters over her eyes in a Sex Pistols flyer while Mark Flood turns a seemingly innocent image of Michael Jackson into a disturbing alien in yet another flyer. Punk performances challenge notions of the body, gender, and social normativity. Similar images are distributed through the streets and the Internet in an absolute rejection of what might be deemed mainstream. Addressing the ?culture of fragments? this course will explore the agenda of produced images and the subjectivity surrounding them. We will examine how images can become polarized by varying cultures and manipulated to function for personal intent. From Dick Hebdige's Subculture through John Kelsey's remarks in Rich Texts, we will investigate the mythology surrounding the ?unresolved histories? of modern images. This course will be an in-depth examination of the framing, placement, production and recycling of images for personal and/or political reasons. We will delve into the powerful dynamics of cultural construction and consumption. We will examine the intention of the producer of the image as well as the context that gives an image meaning. Students will be required to complete a variety of assignments including re-contextualizing images for a personal intent and manipulating the images of other students to alter meaning by means of production or presentation. We will be addressing the work of many artists including but not limited to Dan Graham, Raymond Pettibon, Hannah Liden, Kathleen Hanna, Rob Pruitt, Cady Noland, Jonathan Horowitz, Banks Violette, Slater Bradley, Laura Parnes, Sue de Beer and Kelley Walker.

Topics: Photography as a Public Art This course is for the photography student concerned with both visual culture and high art. An investigation of recent public art projects and interventions leads to proposals for and execution of actual photography based projects that occur in the public sphere. We will consider photography's role and use in the general public and find ways to employ similar means of production to artistic ends. Each student will create a final project that to be exhibited in the open- city, suburban or rural space. Students will be required to crate detailed reports, statements, and proposals for their projects as well as create multiple studies that form a basis for the final work.

Contemporary attempts to resurrect modernism are destined to exist in continuous complicity with everything that created modernity, like for example capitalism, industrialization, secularization and a political and ideological system based on numerical values. With its formal purity the flowers of evil make modernistic minimalism an irresistible indulgence to let histories' horror become the sweetest pain of culture. Form seems to evacuate from the burning house in the maelstrom without a scratch. This course will look at the brightest and darkest moments in modernity, looking for existential substance versus style in trying to grasp repercussions of trauma, longing, vertigo, propaganda, angst and dystopia, created during this time. If it's true that there has never been a document of culture, which is not simultaneously one of barbarism, all that's left to us is to turn the argument on its head and hope that there is no barbarism, which does not create an opening for culture.

Topics: Voice Lessons: Learning and Applying 'Practice' What are the artistic strategies, themes and sub-themes, production modes, and visual vocabulary that embody your artistic practice? How does your voice become singular in a crowded field of artists? Can your work transcend the fog of the derivative? Can you have a more aerial understanding of your work, seeing the past, present and future more capably? This class is designed for self-motivated students who are willing to put a large number of hours outside of class into the challenges of the curriculum. Each student will produce a 100+ page book during the course of the term that answers a large number of visual and textual assignments. These weekly assignments will provide a rapid framework within which to create new work whose form will, at times, not be about producing a final piece but consist of artistic gestures, visual and textual, amassed on the way. Assignments will point to students' interests, instincts, wit, politics, visual vocabulary, obsessions - the touchstones of their 'artistic voice.' The class will also set a rhythm of constant production that will embolden independent artistic practice and experimentation. By the end of the term, students will understand the difference between a project statement and artist statement, and be equipped to write, edit, and publish their artist statement within their book project.

This class introduces students to studio and portable strobes as light sources, and the working studio. It is a workshop-oriented class in which students collaborate on all aspects of producing their photographs. Much of photographic practice is a solitary activity. In this class, students develop their own ideas with the assistance of members of the class as a crew. Building on the tools learned in Lighting Fundamentals, this course aims to give the participants practical experience within the confines of studio production, both pre- and post-production.

Every idea has a medium most suited to its execution, but often not the one in which the artist is working. This class considers new ways of translating ideas into other media to develop a sense of possibilities beyond the straight photograph. Conceptual art has given us an understanding of the triggers that might provoke an investigation of layers of meaning within the simplest of ideas. Assignment encourage students to think beyond the usual way they work and include the use of collaboration, installation, audio, video, live feed, the internet, performance, and performative uses of photography.

Every idea has a medium most suited to its execution, but often not the one in which the artist is working. This class considers new ways of translating ideas into other media to develop a sense of possibilities beyond the straight photograph. Conceptual art has given us an understanding of the triggers that might provoke an investigation of layers of meaning within the simplest of ideas. Assignment encourage students to think beyond the usual way they work and include the use of collaboration, installation, audio, video, live feed, the internet, performance, and performative uses of photography.

Sequences and series are the ubiquitous ways we most often see photographic images. This class concentrates on producing and looking at how series of images are structured and the significance those structures hold. Assignments help develop students' use and understanding of sequential and serial imagery by engaging narrative and non-narrative strategies in simple sequences, books, zines, web-based projects, installations, videos, and projected presentations.

Every idea has a medium most suited to its execution, but often not the one in which the artist is working. This class considers new ways of translating ideas into other media to develop a sense of possibilities beyond the straight photograph. Conceptual art has given us an understanding of the triggers that might provoke an investigation of layers of meaning within the simplest of ideas. Assignments encourage students to think beyond the usual way they work and include the use of collaboration, installation, audio, video, live feed, the internet, performance, and performative uses of photography.

Students propose projects that are reviewed in individual and group critiques. Members of the class must be prepared to work independently, have well formulated ideas, and be prepared to meet for group discussions. This class is also meant to accommodate students who are preparing for their BFA exhibitions by directing attention to professional practices such as refining artist statements and resumes, understanding self promotion, understanding the principles of editing a body of work, and of hanging or installing a show. A student whose emphasis is photography or who is using photographically or lens-related ideas in his or her BFA exhibition is expected to take this class and the Senior Seminar. This class is a requirement in applying for an Endsley Fellowship that funds the BFA exhibition of 3-5 students per year. This class can be taken multiple times. Students must bring their portfolios the first day of class.

This is a 6 credit theory and practice course taught by two instructors, and is the capstone class for students who are preparing for their BFA exhibition and graduation. A portfolio of work must be submitted for permission to register for this class. Application guidelines are sent to eligible students at pre-registration or can be found on the portal. Similar to the Advanced Photography/Individual Projects, this is a highly demanding and rigorous exit course aimed at the production of a strong portfolio, a successful BFA show, and the sustainability of an art practice after graduation.

Artists usually don't think in a linear manner -- there are no specific steps to making art and certainly no rules. Business, on the other hand, is relatively specific -- there are ways to do things and there definitely are rules to follow that are both legal and financial. It's probably easier to teach an artist how to make a business plan than teach someone with an MBA how to make. However, there are many times in business when that intuitive/creative/non-linear capacity is exactly what is required to make the right business decision. A union of the two approaches is optimal. This is high-functioning right brain and left brain integration. When an artist gains business skills, the possibilities multiply, both for entrepreneurial ideas and for the understanding of how the business of the art world itself operates. This is a pragmatic, real-world, hands-on course taught by an artist and a lawyer, giving students the basic skills for thinking about life after art school in all of its varied potentials. Artists who have either been successful in a business or who have creatively used their business smarts to actualize a conceptual idea will share with the class how they did it. This is a course that will benefit students' careers and their understanding of how business smarts are an essential tool for functioning in the 21st century art world.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This course introduces students to ideas and attitudes that are inherent and possible with the large-format camera. The course covers traditional uses of large-format equipment including portraiture, landscapes, still life, and architecture, while developing a more personal viewpoint. The coursework covers sheet film, the zone system, printing skills, related equipment, and individual projects using the large-format image. Available for use are 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras. Students are required to have their own light meters.

This course introduces black-and-white printing techniques including darkroom and inkjet printing, contrast control through development, the zone system, scale of images, graphic arts film, studio lighting, different darkroom techniques, alternative cameras, and different papers and films.

Students are introduced to using light as a means for creative control. By studying the light around us, we are able to better serve our work through specific choices with regard to existing or ambient light and light augmented by other sources of illumination. Students learn the rudiments of metering, mixing light sources, including the use of on-camera or hand-held electronic flash within existing lighting conditions. This is a practical course that enables students to better control and use light and lighting in their work.

This course refines and expands digital imaging skills learned in previous classes. Emphasis is placed on streamlining digital workflow and fine-tuning input skills in preparation for advanced photographic manipulation and exhibition-quality print output. Workflow techniques include advanced image correction, color management, and sophisticated masking methods. Photo manipulation approaches focus on using Photoshop as a creative tool by exploring the conceptual applications of retouching, image compositing, and other post-production methods. Readings and discussions address contemporary theoretical issues surrounding digital imaging and the malleable relationships between the viewer, the image, and `reality.?

This class covers a wide range of technical concerns which change according to semester and faculty. In the past we have offered workshops in Platinum Printing; Ambrotypes; Digital Negatives and Alternative Processes.

Students propose projects that are reviewed in individual and group critiques. Members of the class must be prepared to work independently, have well formulated ideas, and be prepared to meet for group discussions. This class is also meant to accommodate students who are preparing for their BFA exhibitions by directing attention to professional practices such as refining artist statements and resumes, understanding self promotion, understanding the principles of editing a body of work, and of hanging or installing a show. A student whose emphasis is photography or who is using photographically or lens-related ideas in his or her BFA exhibition is expected to take this class and the Senior Seminar. This class is a requirement in applying for an Endsley Fellowship that funds the BFA exhibition of 3-5 students per year. This class can be taken multiple times. Students must bring their portfolios the first day of class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This basic class, required for entry into all other photo classes, introduces contemporary technologies for producing photographic images. Approaching the medium in its current complex and pluralistic state, students explore a variety of photographic concepts and techniques. The fundamentals of using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) including manual exposure and lighting are stressed. But the ?camera? itself is redefined in this class by considering everything from cell phones, the scanner as a camera, disposable cameras, or video cameras as equally legitimate tools for creating photographic images. Eclectic forms of ?output? are encouraged in order to discover methods of presentation most suited to a particular idea. This course also introduces seeing, thinking, and creating with a critical mind and eye to provide understanding of the construction and manipulation of photographic form and meaning. Assignments, lectures, readings and excursions progressively build on each other to provide students with a comprehensive overview of both the history of the medium and its contemporary practice. A fully manual digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and a laptop computer are required for this class. This is an entirely digital class.

This course introduces students to ideas and attitudes that are inherent and possible with the large-format camera. The course covers traditional uses of large-format equipment including portraiture, landscapes, still life, and architecture, while developing a more personal viewpoint. The coursework covers sheet film, the zone system, printing skills, related equipment, and individual projects using the large-format image. Available for use are 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras. Students are required to have their own light meters.

This course introduces students to ideas and attitudes that are inherent and possible with the large-format camera. The course covers traditional uses of large-format equipment including portraiture, landscapes, still life, and architecture, while developing a more personal viewpoint. The coursework covers sheet film, the zone system, printing skills, related equipment, and individual projects using the large-format image. Available for use are 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras. Students are required to have their own light meters.

This course is designed for students who have a basic knowledge of photography and its materials and an interest in the use of the photo image as part of a broad vocabulary of image-making processes. Students explore cyanotype, van dyke brown, gum bichromate printing, collage, reproduction, and transfer techniques, and are given a basic working knowledge of the graphic arts films and print films. Also covered: Polaroid materials, copy machines, computer graphics, and applied color. Ideas related to text, installation, and performance may also be explored. Each student is encouraged to experiment in both silver and non-silver processes and to conduct research independently.

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces complex ideas and processes associated with the various applications of color in photography. Emphasis is on conceptual, theoretical and perceptual aspects of color related to both vision and photographic image making. The class is designed to explore color through image capture, alternative cameras, contrast control, qualities of light, color correction, scale of images, printing and presentations techniques while developing and expanding digital skills introduced in PHOTO 1001.

This course introduces black-and-white printing techniques including darkroom and inkjet printing, contrast control through development, the zone system, scale of images, graphic arts film, studio lighting, different darkroom techniques, alternative cameras, and different papers and films.

This course introduces black-and-white printing techniques including darkroom and inkjet printing, contrast control through development, the zone system, scale of images, graphic arts film, studio lighting, different darkroom techniques, alternative cameras, and different papers and films.

Students are introduced to using light as a means for creative control. By studying the light around us, we are able to better serve our work through specific choices with regard to existing or ambient light and light augmented by other sources of illumination. Students learn the rudiments of metering, mixing light sources, including the use of on-camera or hand-held electronic flash within existing lighting conditions. This is a practical course that enables students to better control and use light and lighting in their work.

Students are introduced to using light as a means for creative control. By studying the light around us, we are able to better serve our work through specific choices with regard to existing or ambient light and light augmented by other sources of illumination. Students learn the rudiments of metering, mixing light sources, including the use of on-camera or hand-held electronic flash within existing lighting conditions. This is a practical course that enables students to better control and use light and lighting in their work.

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? This course offers strategies for the evaluation and communication of students? individual practice as artists, designers and/or scholars. Through essential readings, a studio project, and writing, students will generate narratives about how and why they make art. To do so, they will investigate methods (visual, critical, written, and creative) for the reconsideration of their work and of its aims and priorities. Individual mentoring with the faculty member is a central and dedicated component of the class as a means of fostering the self-identification of goals and priorities. Students will also examine historical and contemporary precedents that relate to their own work in order to consider the ways in which their individual explorations can be brought into dialogue with other perspectives. Students participate in broad ranging discussions about the present status and future prospects of art and design through workshops, dialogues, and collaborations both in the class and in SAIC-wide conversations with other Sophomore Studio Seminars. An important function of this course is to build upon these insights in forming a practical plan that helps students effectively map the curriculum and resources of SAIC onto their own needs. For more information see http://blogs.saic.edu/sophseminar/

In the 21st century the role of the gallery, curator, and artist are becoming increasingly more fluid. The model of being a talented artist plucked up by a blue chip gallery is an antiquated one for a young practitioner. Gaining entree into the conversations and communities of the contemporary art world comes much more often from working to further those conversations through thoughtful independent, alternative, and collaborative curatorial practices. This is not a theory course but a practice studio. Students will organize exhibitions, events, happenings, performances, screenings, meals, salons, and more in their apartments, dorms, online, in the streets, on their phones, and in pre-existing alternative spaces in Chicago. Students will launch shows incorporating the work of their classmates, cohort, peers, professors, and artists outside of their networks. Students will be critiqued and evaluated on the conceptual conceits of their initiatives, as well as how successfully they are enacted. Artists will be asked to investigate ways that they can engineer and shape their own cultural landscapes.

This course is a historical tour de force through the transient triad of humans, animals and technology. It follows the marks of our co-existence from the caves of Lascaux to Wall-E and his cockroach companion. The ceaseless depiction of animals will serve as the key to understand human hubris, self-perception and speculation about the future. Our archaic, supposedly natural, and at the same time alienated and complex relationship to other species, informs our morphological and genetically entwined co-existence on this finite sphere. In the visual history is our search for the expressions of the emotions in man and animals as much as celestial taxonomies, taxodermies, Kentucky Fried Chicken and the search for mysterious cryptids. As the only naked animal, we love, eat, breed, abuse, idolize, slaughter, need, exterminate, fear, create, pamper, spoil, clone, cuddle, desire and depend upon the creatures around us. This course will follow some of the trails of the animal that therefore we are.

Borrowing its title from a collection of essays by Georges Bataille, this course investigates photographic images of excess, the excess of photographic images, and the limits of tolerability. Bataille suggests that the human eye cannot apprehend--nor can the eye of the rational intellect comprehend--that which is in excess of visual, conceptual, moral, and social systems of organization. We will inquire into the relationship between photography and excess, with readings in photography theory, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and history. Among the topics to be discussed will be: representation, image-saturation, and the loss of the real ('sun'); sex, pornography, and obscenity ('coitus'); torture, atrocity, and death ('cadavers'); and blindness, memory, marginality, and abjection ('obscurity'). Discussions will also treat such matters as evidence and indexicality; truth and belief; the ethics and politics of representation; seriality and ritual; interpretation, emotion, and the limits of reason; decadence; loss; taboo and transgression; expenditure and waste; and identity and ecstasy.

This course addresses the language/systems of the mind in memory (re)construction and dreams, as well as in the unreality of hallucinations or visions. We will explore scientific, spiritual and artistic inquiries of self image-making while thinking about how the process of recalling/reconstructing those images encourages a flexible understanding of time. The goal is for students to use the specific language and imagery of their memories/imaginations in their art making. Students will keep a text/image/video journal to document the dreams/memories that occur/recur during the semester, and will participate in group and/or solo works relating to class material. All final works will include a critical writing component.

This class is not a discussion on what can fit on the head of a pin, nor what ?small? is or when something stops being it. The semester will be spent looking at works ? postcards, `zines, chap books, short films, one page novels that tend toward the intimate, personal, portable, economical, and space aware. This is an intermediate to advanced level class and presumes a working knowledge of analog and digital cameras and printing.

This course will investigate emerging photo technology and shifts in the functions and discourse of photographic culture driven by these developments. We will experiment with this technology to create new image capture methods in order to extend lines of inquiry into the subject, the photographer?s relationship to subject, and into the communicative systems and functions of the imagery. Camera equipped aerial drones and weather balloons, rugged action sports cameras, trail cams, IP equipped remote video cameras, smart phone cameras, infrared cameras, miniature cameras, and digital SLRs will be used to collect primary images, video, audio and timelapse sequences. Many of these cameras can communicate with smart phones. Various means of triggering cameras, such as motion, heat, sound, air pressure, light, and face recognition will be explored. In addition, random unprotected IP video cameras, webcams, ChatRoulette, Zupyo and other sites will be mined to collect secondary image material.

This course proposes to draw out the relationship between translation and photography through the notion of inflexion. An inflexion is a bend, more particularly a bend in or towards itself. The reflexivity, or self-referentiality, of both translation and photography, each of which attempts to reiterate itself through transformation into another fixed form, requires an adjustment of its initial coordinates. In the process of moving from one state (language or light) to another (translation or photograph), there is a crucial, often overlooked, moment of disintegration. It is this moment which this course is interested in attending to, through the works of various thinkers and artists, including Herve Guibert, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Danielle Collobert, Marguerite Duras, Jacques Derrida and Henri van Lier.

Ed Ruscha and Joan Didion liked to drive. Diane Arbus liked freak shows. Nan Goldin liked to party. Janine Antoni learned to tightrope walk. How can our idiosyncratic interests find expression in art? This laboratory-modeled class is designed to explore investigative processes, reflecting upon curiosity and the nature of artistic research itself. Following a line of deep inquiry over the course of the semester, self-motivated students will conduct personal research while contributing to a collaborative environment that questions, 'What is research?' We will explore the ways research functions variously in contemporary art, as well as in non-art contexts, while creating models for mapping and discovery within individual practices. Through a cooperative collection of resources, and the creation of personal archives, we will trace connections between seemingly disparate interests. We will additionally explore generative critique strategies, workshopping possible directions and outlets for individual investigation. Taking a critical view of familiar models from the library and the laboratory to the science fair and Show and Tell, we will track the development of creative thought.

This course refines and expands digital imaging skills learned in previous classes. Emphasis is placed on streamlining digital workflow and fine-tuning input skills in preparation for advanced photographic manipulation and exhibition-quality print output. Workflow techniques include advanced image correction, color management, and sophisticated masking methods. Photo manipulation approaches focus on using Photoshop as a creative tool by exploring the conceptual applications of retouching, image compositing, and other post-production methods. Readings and discussions address contemporary theoretical issues surrounding digital imaging and the malleable relationships between the viewer, the image, and `reality.?

This course refines and expands digital imaging skills learned in previous classes. Emphasis is placed on streamlining digital workflow and fine-tuning input skills in preparation for advanced photographic manipulation and exhibition-quality print output. Workflow techniques include advanced image correction, color management, and sophisticated masking methods. Photo manipulation approaches focus on using Photoshop as a creative tool by exploring the conceptual applications of retouching, image compositing, and other post-production methods. Readings and discussions address contemporary theoretical issues surrounding digital imaging and the malleable relationships between the viewer, the image, and `reality.?

Every idea has a medium most suited to its execution, but often not the one in which the artist is working. This class considers new ways of translating ideas into other media to develop a sense of possibilities beyond the straight photograph. Conceptual art has given us an understanding of the triggers that might provoke an investigation of layers of meaning within the simplest of ideas. Assignment encourage students to think beyond the usual way they work and include the use of collaboration, installation, audio, video, live feed, the internet, performance, and performative uses of photography.

This class is designed for students with already developed photographic skills who transfer to SAIC from other schools, but is open to all students at the intermediate level and above. The class introduces transfer students to our facilities and allows them to acclimate to the conceptual nature of the program. Readings and lectures on contemporary artists and their practices provide a working vocabulary for understanding contemporary issues in the arts. Students are also familiarized with the vast Chicago arts community, and the class utilizes the wide variety of artists? lectures that take place at the school and throughout the city. Critique and discussion rather than technical information is the focus of the class, and students are expected to be working independently on the development of a body of work.

This class is designed for students with already developed photographic skills who transfer to SAIC from other schools, but is open to all students at the intermediate level and above. The class introduces transfer students to our facilities and allows them to acclimate to the conceptual nature of the program. Readings and lectures on contemporary artists and their practices provide a working vocabulary for understanding contemporary issues in the arts. Students are also familiarized with the vast Chicago arts community, and the class utilizes the wide variety of artists? lectures that take place at the school and throughout the city. Critique and discussion rather than technical information is the focus of the class, and students are expected to be working independently on the development of a body of work.

Sequences and series are the ubiquitous ways we most often see photographic images. This class concentrates on producing and looking at how series of images are structured and the significance those structures hold. Assignments help develop students' use and understanding of sequential and serial imagery by engaging narrative and non-narrative strategies in simple sequences, books, zines, web-based projects, installations, videos, and projected presentations.

This 3 hour reading and discussion class is designed to familiarize students with historical and contemporary philosophy, critical analysis, and contemporary thought relevant to photography and the visual culture. The course's aim is to prepare students for a higher level of discourse in anticipation of either graduate school or life as an artist in the greater realm of the ?art world.? Discussions of contemporary work in this atmosphere are aimed at making clear the connection between theory, research and an artist's practice. Students are expected to do critical readings (generally one essay per week), complete short, informal writing assignments, participate in class discussion, and to engage in theoretical research as part of their own practice.

What is a document? How do we evaluate its credibility? Why did Western concepts of objectivity, evidence and truth come about? Why did our culture need to invent them? We will examine photography's special relationship to the document. How much do we still believe in images? How do they continue to affect us even when we think we don't believe? In addition to photography, we will look at a range of documentation in other categories of experience, such as anthropology, law, and science, to consider other conventions for establishing or exhibiting information and knowledge.

What possibilities do re-enactments offer in revisiting events of the past? How is history transformed or reclaimed in the process of re-enactments? This course actively researches artistic strategies of re-enactment in contemporary media art and performance, investigating the increased interest in this practice and its variable forms. Students produce work based on their interests and in response to assigned readings (Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud, Italo Calvino, Inke Arns, Henry Bergson) and works viewed in class. (Jean Rouch, Jeremy Deller,Rod Dickinson, Ant Farm and T.R. Uthco, Pierre Hughe, Zbignew Libera, Omer Fast, Felix Gmelin, Daniela Comani, Artur Zmijewski, Marina Abramovich, etc). Knowledge of video or photography is required. Supplemental technical workshops will be provided if needed.

Students propose projects that are reviewed in individual and group critiques. Members of the class must be prepared to work independently, have well formulated ideas, and be prepared to meet for group discussions. This class is also meant to accommodate students who are preparing for their BFA exhibitions by directing attention to professional practices such as refining artist statements and resumes, understanding self promotion, understanding the principles of editing a body of work, and of hanging or installing a show. A student whose emphasis is photography or who is using photographically or lens-related ideas in his or her BFA exhibition is expected to take this class and the Senior Seminar. This class is a requirement in applying for an Endsley Fellowship that funds the BFA exhibition of 3-5 students per year. This class can be taken multiple times. Students must bring their portfolios the first day of class.

This is a 6 credit theory and practice course taught by two instructors, and is the capstone class for students who are preparing for their BFA exhibition and graduation. A portfolio of work must be submitted for permission to register for this class. Application guidelines are sent to eligible students at pre-registration or can be found on the portal. Similar to the Advanced Photography/Individual Projects, this is a highly demanding and rigorous exit course aimed at the production of a strong portfolio, a successful BFA show, and the sustainability of an art practice after graduation.

Artists usually don't think in a linear manner -- there are no specific steps to making art and certainly no rules. Business, on the other hand, is relatively specific -- there are ways to do things and there definitely are rules to follow that are both legal and financial. It's probably easier to teach an artist how to make a business plan than teach someone with an MBA how to make. However, there are many times in business when that intuitive/creative/non-linear capacity is exactly what is required to make the right business decision. A union of the two approaches is optimal. This is high-functioning right brain and left brain integration. When an artist gains business skills, the possibilities multiply, both for entrepreneurial ideas and for the understanding of how the business of the art world itself operates. This is a pragmatic, real-world, hands-on course taught by an artist and a lawyer, giving students the basic skills for thinking about life after art school in all of its varied potentials. Artists who have either been successful in a business or who have creatively used their business smarts to actualize a conceptual idea will share with the class how they did it. This is a course that will benefit students' careers and their understanding of how business smarts are an essential tool for functioning in the 21st century art world.