Conversations:The Photographic Portrait

Catalog description

There are probably more pictures of human faces in the world than there are actual human faces. Because of their ominpresence, photographic portraits and self-portraits can seem simple and direct. Point and shoot, right? We often evaluate such pictures with one question: Do I look good? But pictures of faces are more complex than we usually imagine. In this course, in which the main goal is to practice the art of conversation, we'll talk about those complexitites, as we discover them in portraits and self-portraits of all kinds: yearbook portraits, family portraits, glamorous portraits, death portraits, erotic portraits, and even mugshots. We'll dig into such questions as these: what can or does a portrait reveal about its subject? what does it hide? what are the artistic, cultural, political, and economic reasons for portrait-taking? what do we intend when we take pictures of ourselves? and what are the power relationships that might exist between photographer, subject, and viewer? Course will meet from August 29th-November 7th.