ART 256 : Photography I
This is a basic introductory course in black and white photography as an art form. It emphasizes developing darkroom skills as well as learning how to operate a 35mm camera. In addition to darkroom printing procedures, including developing negatives and using the enlarger, it covers the use of different films and filters for various effects, printing papers, lighting issues, and the presentation of prints for portfolio. Lectures and demonstrations cover various technical issues as well as the basics of photo history and aesthetic guidelines for photographing, developing, and critiquing work. Students are required to supply their own 35mm camera with adjustable controls. Three critique hours and three studio hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Human Expression.
Course Outcomes
Through project work and critique, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
1. Identify and utilize the fundamental components and functions of a 35mm film camera, including aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and manual focus controls.
2. Apply principles of exposure and depth of field (shallow, middle, and wide) to produce technically competent black-and-white photographs using manual camera settings.
3. Implement proper darkroom procedures, including safely mixing chemicals, developing black-and-white film, producing contact sheets, operating the enlarger, and printing photographs using cropping, burning, dodging, filters, and varied paper types and sizes.
4. Experiment with and create photographic works using creative darkroom processes, including photograms and other camera-less techniques.
5. Analyze and interpret historical and contemporary photographic works, movements, and theories, relating aesthetic and technical approaches to their own photographic practice.
6. Critique and evaluate photographic images, both their own and others’, by articulating informed assessments of technical execution, visual composition, and conceptual content using appropriate photographic vocabulary.