Reconfiguring Portraiture

Catalog description

As methods of representation are constantly shifting, one thing is clear - the photographic portrait is not what is used to be. Exploring both traditional and contemporary methods of portraiture, this class will uncover and discuss the ways in which we perceive each other in imagery, both as individuals and as groups. Throughout the semester, we will consider how portraits deal with truth, physical absence, the gaze, cultural embodiment, voyeurism and the digital persona. This course will build on the combination of perception, technology, and practice. Throughout the semester, students will advance by learning lighting techniques and strategies of presentation - as these core skills will become tools in the execution of project concepts. In tandem with each project, students will encounter and discuss a wide array of photography and writings from the past to the present, in an effort to understand the meanings and psychological effects of freezing the human image in time.