Histories and Aesthetics of Photography I

Catalog description

This course, the first in a two-semester sequence, will present an overview of the multiple and intersecting aesthetics, applications, perceptions, and philosophies of photography. Readings and discussions will examine the emergence and establishment of fine art photography, documentary and photojournalism, photography in the sciences, commercial and pop-cultural photographic applications, photography in the political arena, and photography as a mode of social interaction and identity formation. The class will also study the evolving technical history of photographic processes and the proliferation of critical theoretical perspectives on the medium during its first 100 years.