ARS 281 INTRODUCTORY PHOTOGRAPHY
Stony Brook University
Department of Art
College of Arts and Science
Course Instructor: Andreas Rentsch
Email: andreas.rentsch@stonybrook.edu
Fall Semester: January 26 - May 20, 2015
Class time: Monday/Wednesday 9:00AM – 11:50AM
Class Room: Staller Center, Hybrid Sinc Site, Room #4255
Office hours: Mon/Wed 4:00PM – 5:00 PM, Room #4201
“A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel.”
- Peter Adams
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well
as the pen.”
- László Moholy-Nagy
___________________________________________________________________________
COURSE DESCRIPTION (from Course Catalog)
An introduction to the creative techniques and visual grammar of contemporary photographic
image production. This course presents core camera operations, lens-based techniques, and
software applications used in digital image processing and output. This course has an
associated fee. Please see www.stonybrook.edu/coursefees for more information. Estimated
cost of supplies is $450, in addition to the course fee.
3 credits
INTRODUCTION
This class is dedicated to the study and practice of digital photography. Through specific
project based work, you will have the opportunity to gain awareness and utilize a range of
photographic techniques, learn exposure methods, familiarize yourself with the study of light,
perform all necessary steps from the capture of an image to the final output. Assignments will
enhance skills in camera operation and imaging, focus on technical and formal means, as well
as build a visual vocabulary. Lectures relating to our course topic and projects will further
familiarize students with relevant photo and art historical facts pertaining to the task at hand.
These lectures will foster discourse, problem solving and critical thinking of photography within
a broader cultural and historical context. Photography is a visual language, and like any
language, it is made up of a vocabulary and syntax. The goal is to understand the medium as a
vehicle of communication that articulates studentʼs ideas visually through their own, unique and
individual prism. Photographs create meaning and can have a transformative aspect. The vast
exposure to new media is a huge challenge in an ever-expanding world of imagery. The digital
revolution has profoundly and permanently changed our worldview and our sense of
possibilities. It has brought an array of new tools that demand a rethinking of our traditional
ways of reflecting and creating photographs, and its subsequent distribution and display.
Adjusting our visual vocabulary is crucial in a constantly evolving, hyper-communicative, global
society.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course content aims to:
- introduce the digital camera and achieve proficiency in its application to produce
lens-based imaging
- develop technical and formal abilities in digital imaging
- become familiar and proficient with digital software applications such as Photoshop,
Bridge and Lightroom
- investigate the properties of light through photography
- introduce students to the practice of digital photographic printing
- present images, artworks, artists, and relevant historical and contemporary
photographic practices
- develop a visual vocabulary and literacy in the production of images
- encourage critical thinking and image analysis
- foster a student-centered learning environment and deliver content through diverse
teaching and learning methods (technical demonstrations, web-based content sharing,
problem solving projects, lectures, seminars, presentations, critiques, tutorials, field
visits)
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
On satisfactory completion of this course the student will be able to:
- reproduce technical skills relevant to digital photography (such as: utilize the camera,
shutter speed, aperture, exposure, the lens, light, camera movements)
- apply the main applications used for digital imaging (such as Photoshop, Bridge,
Lightroom)
- analyze light and use it in creative ways
- apply composition and formal skills
- represent ideas in visual forms and finished projects
- analyze and evaluate the relationship of image and meaning
- produce, discuss, select and display work for critiques
- demonstrate awareness of important photographers that have shaped the history of
the medium
COURSE TOPICS
- DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras
- digital capture of photographs (manual camera operations, shutter speed, aperture,
depth of field, exposure methods, light sensitivity and metering, white balance, RAW,
High Dynamic Range (HDR), flash photography)
- digital workflow: technical seminars (Photoshop, Bridge, Lightroom, editing, core
image processing)
- composition and other formal aspects of photography
- communicating with images, symbolism, narrative and style
- color theory
- editing and sequencing of work
- digital printing
ASSIGNMENTS (see description on Blackboard)
Project 1: Technical Assignment (Depth of Field, Shutter Speed, Correct Exposure)
Project 2: Composition
Project 3: The Altered Landscape
Project 4: The Constructed Image
Project 5: The Inspired Series
Project 6: The Photo Essay
Project 7: Research Blog (weekly)
TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS
Instructional strategies include technical demonstrations, blog writing, lectures, seminars,
presentations, tutorials.
A very important learning tool is the group critique. It offers students the chance to articulate on
their intent and project, and to hone their verbal skills in assessing an artwork. Participation by
the entire class is necessary and critical. Constructive criticism and feedback throughout the
semester on works in progress will enable students to move forward and build stronger works.
You will meet regularly with the instructor to foster a better understanding of your approaches
and for problem solving.
Lab time: There will be digital lab time for you to work on producing your projects. Plan ahead
as your assignments will require additional time outside of class for photographing and for
working with your images.
REQUIRED TOOLS
In order to participate in this course you will need to have and use:
- A digital camera (DSLR) with the capability of full manual operation and the ability to shoot in
Camera Raw.
- A portable memory storage device such as a USB flash drive or external, portable hard drive
CLASS SCHEDULE January 26 and 28, February 2: - No classes, snow days
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 4 Wed: - Introduction and review of syllabus, including assignments
- Set up blog
- A short history of photography and its technology
- Assigned readings:
Fred Ritchin, After Photography
Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others
- Projection and discussion of TED Talk by JR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAy1zBtTbw
- Technical seminar (terminology and functions of the Digital Single Lens Reflex
Camera, the lens, manual camera operation, ISO, light metering and exposure,
shutter speed, aperture f-stop, depth of field, RAW Image Capture, memory
cards)
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 9 Mon: - Technical seminar: Digital Single Reflex Camera (continuation from February 4)
- Lecture and introduction of the Technical Assignment (Depth of Field, Shutter
Speed, Correct Exposure)
- Complete the Hybrid Studio Contract Form to receive card access to the Hybrid
Studio Sync Site, room #4255
http://it.stonybrook.edu/services/sinc-sites/hybrid-lab
- February 6: Last day to add classes and/or process a swap. Tuition liability may
apply if student reduces credit load.(Tuition schedule at website:
www.stonybrook.edu/bursar). End of late registration. Petition required after this
date. All changes must be processed by the close of business day.
- Health and Safety Training: Complete the Stony Brook University Health and
Safety in the Arts EOS 022 training course, conducted online through
Blackboard. After successful completion, take a screen shot, or save a PDF of
your results page and email it to the professor or the Graduate Assistant.
Submitting a copy of your results page (with a passing grade) will grant you
access to work in the art department studios, working areas, and labs.
http://www.stonybrook.edu/ehs/training/courses.shtml?eos022
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 11 Wed: - Technical seminar: the digital darkroom, introduction to Photoshop (import of
images, digital file management and storage, basic editing functions and tools for
final output, preparing prints for printing and digital output)
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 16 Mon: - Lecture: Composition and Formal Conventions (rule of third, recognizing light,
lines, shapes, forms, repetitions, visual analogies, symmetry, texture, depth of
field, perspectives, angles, symbolism, framing, negative space, centering)
- Photo shoot at the Wang Center
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 18 Wed: - Technical seminar: the digital darkroom, introduction to Photoshop
(continuation from Feb. 11), introduction to Adobe Bridge (an editing and
cataloging software)
- Work on Project 1 (Technical Assignment) and Project 2 (Composition)
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 23 Mon: - Lecture: The Altered Landscape (Mario Giacomelli, Michael Kenna, Edward Burtynsky,
Lewis Baltz, Robert Adams, Lee Friedlander, Mitch Epstein, Richard Misrach, Joel Meyorowitz,
John Pfahl, Toshio Shibata, Joel Sternfeld, Rebecca Webb-Norris)
- Work on Project 1 (Technical Assignment) and Project 2 (Composition)
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 25 Wed: - Lecture: Photography and the Truth Claim (Hyppolyte Bayard, Edouard Baldus,
Gustave LeGray, Oscar Rejlander, Henry Peach Robinson, Roger Fenton, Alexander Gardner,
Eugène Appert, James Nasmyth, William H. Martin, Julia Margaret Cameron, Robert Demachy,
Alfred Stieglitz, Clarence H. White, Fred Holland Day, Edward Steichen, Anne Brigman, Alvin
Langdon Coburn, Aaron Siskind, Minor White, Lotte Jacobi, Frederick Sommer, David Levinthal,
Barbara Ess, Utah Barth, Bill Jacobson, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia, Don McCullin, Gregory Crewdson,
Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall, Nancy Bruson, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, James Casebere, Lori
Nix, NASA)
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Feb 27 Fri:
- Critique Composition assignment
- Technical assignment due
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 2 Mon: - Lecture: The Edited/Constructed Image: How Dadaism and Surrealism
Influenced Contemporary Photography (Marcel Duchamp, Hugo Ball, John Heartfield,
George Grosz, Man Ray, Claude Cahun, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Làszlo Moholy-Nagy,
Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, Herbert Brayer, Franz Roh, Maurice Tabard, Hans Bellmer,
Raoul Ubac, André Kértész, Adam Fuss, Martha Madigan, Michael Flomen, Shimpei Takeda,
Laurie Simmons, Barbara Kruger, John Baldessari, Cindy Sherman, Jerry Uelsmann, Duane
Michals, Arnold Newman, David Hockney, Sohel Nishino, Loretta Lux, Tom Chambers, Simen
Johan, Anthony Goicolea, Miro Slovik, Ablelardo Morell, Christopher Bucklow, Alexandre Orion)
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 4 Wed: - Snow day
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 9 Mon: - Lecture: The Inspired Series (African tribal art, Picasso, René Margritte, Duane
Michals, John Heartfield, Barbara Kruger, Man Ray, Adam Fuss, Raul Ubac, Lucas Samaras,
Claude Cahun, Loretta Lux)
- Discuss with instructor which artist you are choosing for The Inspiration
assignment
- Post-production tutorial and work Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 11 Wed: - Lecture The Photo Essay (August Sander, Walker Evans, Eugene Smith, Bruce Davidson,
Joseph Koudelka, Robert Frank, Antonin Kratchvil, Eugene Richards, Duane Michals, Taryn
Simon, Wolfgang Tillmans, Carrie Mae Weems, Nan Goldin, Alec Soth, Joel Sternfeld, David
Graham)
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 16 Mon: - Spring Break, No Classes
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 18 Wed: - Spring Break, No Classes
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 23 Mon: - Critique The Altered Landscape
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 25 Wed: - Demonstration: on-camera flash
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Mar 30 Mon: - Lecture: Color Theory (Sir Isaak Newton, Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph Albers,
Ernst Haas, Saul Leiter, William Eggleston, Joel Meyorowitz, Alex Webb, Hiroshi Sugimoto,
James Welling, Bill Armstrong, Neil Winokur, Jan Groover)
- post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 1 Wed:
- Lecture Communicating with Images (Cave paintings, Christian Vogt, René Margritte,
Joe Rosenthal, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Duane Michals, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Barbara Kruger, Nick
Ut, Arnulf Rainer, Anne Arden McDonald, Dieter Appelt, Marlon Stig, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ana
Mendieta, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, from David CrowʼsVisible Signs)
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 3 Fri:
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
- Review Fred Ritchinʼs After Photography
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 6 Mon: - Critique The Constructed Image
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 8 Wed: - Lecture: Symbolism and Narratives (color, forms, lighting, expressions, critical
technical applications Micheal Kenna, Joe Rosenthal, Sebastian Salgado, Eugène Atget, Marc
Riboud, Helen Rousakis, Arnold Newman, Duane Michals, Ernst Haas, Eugene Smith, Elliot
Erwitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson)
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 13 Mon: - Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
- Photoshop demonstration: layers, adjustment layers, masking
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 15 Wed: - Lecture: Editing and Sequencing (Wall of Berlin, Robert Frank, Alec Soth)
- Post-production
tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
- Meet with instructor to assess the progress of the Photo Essay
assignment
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 20 Mon: - Meet with instructor to assess the progress of the Photo Essay
assignment
- Post-production
tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 22 Wed: - Critique The Inspired Series
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 27 Mon: - Critique The Inspired Series
___________________________________________________________________________
Apr 29 Wed: - Meet with instructor to assess the progress of the Photo Essay
assignment
- Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
___________________________________________________________________________
May 4 Mon: - Post-production tutorial and work in Hybrid Sinc Site
- Review Susan Sontagʼs Regarding the Pain of Others
- Lecture and tutorial: how to exhibit and present photographs (matting, framing,
and creating a portfolio)
___________________________________________________________________________
May 6 Wed: - Critique The Photo Essay
___________________________________________________________________________
Final Critique: Date and Time to be announced
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is mandatory. After 3 unexcused absences, the final grade will be reduced by one
letter grade. After each additional unexcused absence, the final grade is reduced another letter
grade. After 7 absences, the student receives an F for the class. Three late arrivals to class
are equivalent to 1 absence. Absences are excused with a note from your doctor as proof of an
illness. Students are required to attend class for its full duration. If you leave class without
permission, you will be marked absent for that day.
BEHAVORIAL POLICIES
Cell phones and IPods must be turned off during the class. It is expected that you be courteous
to your fellow students. Be respectful of school equipment and materials. Absolutely no food
and drinks in the digital lab.
GRADING
Grades will be based on the quality of the work and will be evaluated by technical mastery of
the medium, ability to photographically express an idea, and class participation. Grades are
assigned to the work after each critique. Your grade will be based roughly on the following
criteria: 20% attendance and participation in class discussions, 40% fulfilling all the
requirements of the assignments including technical mastery, 40% visual quality of the work.
Students are responsible for all assignments even if they are absent. Late assignments and/or
failure to complete the work in a timely manner after an excused absence will affect your
grade.
GRADING DESIGNATIONS
According to the Stony Brook University Grading System designations will be:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
superior work
good work
satisfactory work
minimum passing grade
failing work
FEE NOTICE
As noted in the Undergraduate Bulletin, there is a LAB FEE for this course; Studio Art Fees are
charged to the student's account at registration, and removed only if the student drops the
course before the end of the first week of classes. Anyone who drops the course after the first
week of classes will be CHARGED THE FEE.
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS) STATEMENT
If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your
course work, please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications
Center) Building, room128, (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what
accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is
confidential.
Students who require assistance during emergency evacuation are encouraged to discuss their
needs with their professors and Disability Support Services. For procedures and information
go to the following website: http://www.stonybrook.edu/ehs/fire/disabilities
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY STATEMENT
Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable
for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong.
Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the
Academic Judiciary. Faculty in the Health Sciences Center (School of Health Technology &
Management, Nursing, Social Welfare, Dental Medicine) and School of Medicine are required
to follow their school-specific procedures. For more comprehensive information on academic
integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please refer to the academic judiciary
website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/uaa/academicjudiciary/
CRITICAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT
Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other
people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior
that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or
inhibits students' ability to learn.