History of Photography

Catalog description

Photography is a widely used but relatively little understood medium. This course offers a survey of photography in the United States and Europe from its invention to the present. We examines the ways in which photography has been employed by amateurs, artists, anthropologists, politicians, and scientists for a wide range of purposes. We also examine how the medium has affected portraiture, painting, documentation, journalism, and advertising. The class considers photography in the context of continuing debates regarding the nature of reality and truth, photography's status as art or document, subjectivity versus objectivity, and issues of originality, authenticity, and power.