ARTS 624
The Documentary Tradition: Photographing Daily Life

Sasha Rudensky

Sept. 9th         Introduction: Class Structure, Expectations, Syllabus

                        Slide Lecture: What is Documentary Photography?

                        Critique: Pre-Existing work

Assignment:    Roll #1: Familiar/Unfamiliar theme

                        Reading: Handouts

Sept. 16th       Critique: Familiar/Unfamiliar Assignment

Review: Exposure and Metering; Histograms

                        Slide Lecture: Seeing and Translating Light

Assignment:    Roll #2: Seeing Light

                        Reading: Handouts

Sept. 23rd       Critique: Seeing Light Assignment

                        Review Cont’d: Reading Negatives & Contacts, Processing Digital Files

                        Lecture and Discussion: Ethical and Legal Issues in Photography

Assignment:    Roll #3: Ordinary as Extraordinary theme

                        Reading: Cartier-Bresson, Cotton

Sept. 30th       Critique: Ordinary as Extraordinary Assignment

                        Lecture: Visualization (slides)

                        Discussion: Charlotte Cotton’s Essay

Assignment:     Roll #4: Minimalism/Complexity

                        Reading: Szarkowski, handouts

Oct. 7th           Critique: Minimalism/Complexity

                        Lecture: Photographic Design

Assignment:     Roll #5: Your Choice

                        Reading: Coles

Oct. 14th         Critique: Your Choice

                        Lecture: A Brief History of Photography (Slides)

Assignment:    Roll #6: The Layered Photograph

                        Reading: Lethem

Oct. 21st         Critique: The Layered Photograph

                        Lecture & Discussion: In Search of Personal Style

                        Lecture & Discussion: How to Approach/Find Subjects

                        Discussion: Lethem’s “The Ecstasy of Influence”

Assignment:     Roll #7: Your choice

                        Reading: handouts

Oct. 28th         Critique: Your Choice

                        Guest Lecturer

Assignment:     Roll #8: Photographic Series (Preliminary Shooting)

                        Reading: Berger

Nov. 4th          Quick Critique: Preliminary Shooting (work prints)

                        Slide Lecture: Photographic Series

                        Discussion: Berger’s Another Way of Telling

Assignment:     Roll #9 & 10: Photographic Series

                        No Reading

Nov. 11th        Critique: Photographic Series – Work Prints

                        Guest Lecturer

Assignment:     Roll #11: Photographic Series

                        No Reading

Nov. 18th        Critique: The Series Assignment

                        Slide Lecture: Documentary Tradition in Contemporary Practice

Discussion: Documentary and Postmodernism

Assignment:     Roll #12: Option: Directorial Approach or Continuation of Series

                        Reading: handouts

Nov. 25th        No Critique

                        Slide Lecture: Sasha’s Work

                        Lecture & Discussion: Continuing to Do Photography

                        Evaluations

Assignment:     Prepare Portfolio for Final Review

**************************THANKSGIVING*************************

Dec. 2nd         Final Review – 12 Final Prints (Minimum of 5 Prints should be the “Series” Assignment