On Photographic Remembrance

Catalog description

“On Photographic Remembrance” is an introductory course to mixed-media fiction writing. This course will delve into how archival photographs are a medium for experimental storytelling and lost personal histories. Students will develop their analytical skills of historical and “found” photographs from the Prelinger Archives, a public resource containing thousands of film footage and photographs featuring never-before released war documentation, 60’s televised films, and home videos. Students will use this resource as inspiration for their own speculative fiction: how can the interplay of photography and prose represent fragmented time and memory? We will explore how various contemporary authors, multimedia artists, and filmmakers use structural, visual, and literary devices to imbue their works with a sense of both realism and mystery.