A380: History of Photography

Instructor: Elizabeth Kuebler-Wolf

Office: Fisher Hall 26

Phone: 955 6392

Mailbox: Marian Hall faculty mailroom (basement)

Office hours: by appointment only.

Course Description:

ARH 380 selectively surveys the history of photography from its beginnings to the turn of the 21^st century, with emphasis on the development and uses of the medium in the USA, England, and France. Although certain individual photographers will receive attention, the course also addresses such things as the business and institutions of photography, certain commercial applications, and some of the key theoretical issues (both past and present) that have emerged in the scholarship and debate on the subject, as well as the cultural and social contexts of photographic practices.

Goals of the Class:

After successfully completing this class, students should:

Have acquired a large mental “database” of historically significant photographers and photographic images from the 19^th and 20^th centuries
Be familiar with the major processes of photographic reproduction, their history and implications for the medium.
Know the social and cultural history relevant to the growth of photography in Western Europe and North America; and have a good understanding of how culture shapes visual images and vice versa.
Be conversant with the major theories about and criticisms of photography, and be able to apply these theories to a wide range of images.

Course administration and policies

Attendance Policy:

1. Definition of attendance: physical presence in class, awake and alert, having read the material to be discussed, and prepared to make comments, ask questions, and participate in the life of the class.

2. Attendance in this class is expected, and required to achieve passing grades on the course exams and assignments. There is no substitute for lecture and in-class discussion; the books in this class are complementary but not identical to course material. In addition, the class is structured to incorporate a large measure of in-class discussion, seminar-style; the success of the class (as well as individual student success) depends upon students’ regular attendance.

3. Absences are at your own discretion. I do not require nor will I accept excuses or explanations for absences; however, attendance is noted and excessive absences (generally more than 2 in a semester) may result in the reduction of final course grade by up to 3 full letters (depending on severity of the case) or compulsory withdrawal from class per Marian College’s policy.

4. We cover something important in every class meeting. If you happen to miss a class, please check with another student for lecture notes.

5. Make-up exam (aka “quiz”) and assignment policy:
There will be NO make up exams offered in this course. Exam dates are noted in the Reading and Assignment Schedule below. Plan to be here for each scheduled exam. If you happen to miss an exam and have a legitimate excuse such as a medical emergency (e.g., NOT a routine doctor’s appointment or work conflict), a comprehensive essay worth 150 points will be offered in the second hour of the final exam period- this may be taken to make up for one missed exam. More than one missed exam cannot be made up. The pop quizzes cannot be made up, although you are only required to take 6 of the 7 total (e.g., you can drop the lowest quiz score).

Grades

3 quizzes @ 150 points each (450 total)

3 short papers @ 50, 100, 150 points (300 total) [details handed out separately]

“Pop” quizzes, in-class writings, etc: 6 [of 7 total] @ 25 points each (150 total)

Attendance & active participation, etc. (100 total)

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Total points possible: 1000

On any assignment or exam, grades are awarded on the standard percentage scale:

90-100% = A range (student demonstrates outstanding grasp of material)

80-89% = B range (indicates above average familiarity with concepts of class)

70-79% = C range (student has achieved minimum acceptable performance)

60-69% = D range (indicates student has made some effort)

59% or below = F (performance is below minimum passing standard)

Academic Honesty

When noted, specific activities in the class may require you to work in collaboration with other students; however, all take-home projects and in-class exams are expected to be the product of your individual effort.

Plagiarism (including uncredited use of Internet resources), cheating, and all varieties of academic dishonesty are serious offenses and will be dealt with according to University policy. If you are in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, cheating, or academic misconduct, please conduct the Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities. Cheating on any test or other assignment will result in a zero for that assignment. Further action may be taken according to Marian College policies if warranted.

Required Texts:

Naomi Rosenblum, World History of Photography
Alan Trachtenberg, ed. Classic Essays on Photography

http://www.geocities.com/kueblerwolf/A380

The first two texts are available in the Marian College bookstore or online at Amazon.com and other vendors (you might check the web for used copies). The third “text” is a website dedicated to materials for this course, where you may find images that will be assigned to you for class discussion, some articles, links to photography research facilities, and various useful websites. Because photography’s history is very well documented online, we will occasionally use the Internet in this course. While you do not need to be a computer whiz to take this course, a certain amount of course material will be available only on the web. As a result, be sure you have regular access to the web, and be sure you know how to use a browser to access the website above.

Warning “Sticker:”

This course covers the history of photography, a human endeavor, which means that we will occasionally encounter the darker side of human nature. Some of the images we will examine are quite graphic and/or explicit in nature, and are potentially offensive, upsetting, or both. Please be aware of this. If you are concerned about the nature of the course images at any time during the semester, please talk to me about it. Be advised, however, that being offended or upset by images in this class will NOT be justification to skip lectures, assignments, readings, exams, or otherwise fail to meet the requirements of the class.

Cell phone policy

As a courtesy to other students, please turn off your cell phone ringer before class. If you forget to do so, please do not answer your phone during class. Answering your phone and engaging in a phone conversation during lecture or class discussion will automatically result in the reduction of your final course grade by one full letter.

Lecture & Readings Schedule

NB: Reading and lecture schedule below is approximate and may be adjusted as needed. Any due dates that might be affected will only be adjusted to be later, rather than earlier, and you will receive fair warning of any such changes.

Important Due Dates:

1/30 = 1^st position paper

2/11 = 1^st quiz

3/4 = 2^nd position paper

3/25 = 2^nd quiz

4/22 = 3^rd position paper

5/ ? = 3^rdquiz (finals week)

Rosenblum = World History of Photography, Naomi Rosenblum

WEB = http://www.geocities/kueblerwolf/A380

Classic Essays = Classic Essays in Photography, ed. Alan Trachtenberg

Week 1: (Weds, 1/16) Introduction to course, red tape, etc. and the pre-history of photography

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “A short technical history, Part I” pp. 192-199

· WEB: take a browse through The Camera Obscura A-Z to get familiar with the history of pre-photographic cameras

· Classic Essays, Fox Talbot, “A brief historical sketch of the invention of the art” pp. 27-36

Week 2: (Weds, 1/23) Early methods: Henry Fox Talbot, Joseph Niepce, Louis Daguerre

***Class does not meet Monday 1/21 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day***

Readings:

· Classic Essays, Niepce, “Memoire on the Heliograph” pp. 5-10, Classic Essays, Daguerre & Arago, pp. 11-26

· Rosenblum, “The early years” pp. 14-37

Week 3: (1/28, 1/30) The Nineteenth-Century Face

Position paper #1 due 1/30

Readings:

· Classic Essays, Edgar Allan Poe, Daguerreotype, pp. 37-38

· Rosenblum, “A Plenitude of Portraits,” pp. 38-83 and “Galerie Contemporaine” pp. 84-93

· WEB: visit Matthew Brady’s Gallery of Illustrious Americans

· WEB: read Philip Hone’s account of visiting Gouraud’s gallery

· WEB: read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s description of sitting for a daguerreotype portrait

Week 4: (2/4, 2/6) Site-seeing (wet-plate photography, stereographs, etc)

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Documentation: Landscape and Architecture” pp. 94-143 and The Western Landscape” 144-154

· Classic Essays, O. W. Holmes, “The Stereoscope and the Stereograph” pp. 71-82

· WEB: An explanation of Wet-plate photography

Week 5: (2/11, 2/13) Site-seeing, part II (War, Expansion, Conquest, News)

**********Quiz #1 Monday, 2/11***********

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Documentation: Objects and Events” pp. 154-191 and “Landscape in the Americas” pp. 127-144

· Browse Rosenblum, “The execution of the Lincoln Conspirators” pp. 200-207

· WEB: Browse through images in Gardner’s Sketchbook of the War online

Week 6: (2/18, 2/20) That’s nice, but is it Art?

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Photography and Art, the First Phase,” pp. 208-243

· Classic Essays, Baudelaire “The modern public & photography” pp.83-90

· Classic Essays, Robinson, “Idealism, Realism, and Expression” pp 91-98

· Classic Essays, Peter Emerson, “Hints on Art” pp. 99-108

Week 7: (2/25, 2/27) The observant eye: Science and Surveillance

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “New Techonology, New Vision, New Users,” pp. 245-258, and “Documentation: The social scene” pp. 341-365

· Classic Essays, Lewis Hine “Social Photography” pp.109-114

· WEB: browse through photos by Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis

Week 8: (3/4, 3/6) The observant eye, cont’d; begin Pictorialism

Readings:

· Rosenblum “Instantaneous Photographs of Everyday Life” pp. 259-29 and “Art photography: another Aspect” pp. 296-339

· Classic Essays, Stieglitz, Pictorial Photography, pp. 115-124

· WEB: Alfred Stieglitz, The Hand Camera-Its Present Importance

Position Paper #2 due Monday 3/4

*****Class does not meet 3/11, 3/13 for Spring Break *****

Week 9: (3/18, 3/20) But, it IS art! Or, the emergence of Pictorialism, Surrealism, and Modernism

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Art, Photography, and Modernism,” pp. 393-441, and review images in “The Machine: Icons of the Industrial Ethos” pp. 454-461

· Classic Essays: Edward Weston, “Seeing Photographically” pp. 169-179

· Classic Essays, Man Ray, “The Age of Light,” pp. 167-169

· WEB: The Manifesto of Group f/64

· WEB: Review images in Ansel Adams at 100, paying particular attention to Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

Week 10: (3/25, 3/27) Everyman a photographer: Kodak & The Brownie camera *******Quiz #2 Monday, 3/25**********

Readings:

· Rosenblum, 259-261

Week 11: (4/1, 4/3) Street Photography, Photojournalism, the FSA, etc.

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Social photography during the Depression,” pp. 365-383

· Rosenblum, “A short technical history, part III” pp. 624-631

· Rosenblum , “Words and pictures,” pp.463-491

· WEB: browse or search through the Library of Congress’ digitized collection of FSA photographs (look for Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans in particular)

Week 12: (4/8, 4/10) Picturing America in The 1950’s: the Family of Man, Harlem on my Mind, Franks’ The Americans

Readings:

· Rosenblum , “Words and pictures,” pp.463-491

· Rosenblum, “Photography since 1950,” pp. 517-543

· WEB: Allen Schoerner, the curator of Harlem on my Mind, reflects on the controversy

Week 13: (4/15, 4/17) Photojournalism? Or, Difference and Sameness on Film; Diane Arbus, Bill Owens

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Photography since 1950, pp.

· WEB: a statement by Diane Arbus

· WEB: Some photographs from Suburbia and other Owens works; also browse the official Bill Owens site for more photos from Suburbia

Week 14: (4/22, 4/24) Advertising & Fashion Photography

Readings:

· Rosenblum, “Pictures in Print; Advertising” pp. 491-515

· Classic Essays, Barthes, “Rhetorics of the Image” pp. 269-288

· WEB: browse the Herb Ritts exhibition at the Boston MFA

Position paper #3 Due 4/22

Week 15: (4/29, 5/1) From Witkin to Webcams: Voyeurism, the web, etc.

Readings:

· Classic Essays, Berger, “Understanding a Photograph” pp. 291-294

· WEB: Nan Goldin, from The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

· WEB: Histories of the Webcam

Final Exam week 5/6-5/10

Final exam scheduled for: