Foundations of Photography: Digital Practice
Course Description
Summary
This course will discuss practices and ethics around digital photography, and experiment with foundational tools and techniques, aiming to create space for students to develop their own interests within the possibilities of the medium. Classes will combine practical exercises, readings on the development of digital photography and its impact on society, discussions mostly on the work of contemporary photographers, and analysis of portraiture, landscape, and still photography techniques. Materials will include photography theory, ethics, interviews with artists, and current debates on photography technology. We will address photography in manual mode, experiment with composition and light, organize, develop, and manipulate digital image files using Lightroom and Photoshop, and experiment with finalizing work for digital portfolios and for inkjet prints. Students will practice analyzing, creating, discussing, and writing about photography through in-class and weekly practical assignments, feedback rounds with their peers, self-directed final projects, and readings.
Digital SLR cameras will be available from the college for students to use throughout the term. Photoshop and Lightroom will be available on all 12 workstations in the Photo Digital Lab.
Students will be required to have a Mac-compatible external hard drive and inkjet photo paper to complete assignments.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop skills in making, editing, printing, and displaying digital photographs.
- Create a digital portfolio in combination with suitable texts and captions.
- Create new work within short time periods in response to prompts, and develop and revise a sustained independent project.
- Practice contributing to critiques and receiving feedback.
- Make observations, think critically, speak and write about digital photography history, technical possibilities, and ethical implications.
- Actively reflect on your own questions and relationship to the ideas in the course, and make connections to other areas of interest.