The New Narrative Photography

Catalog description

A photograph presented alone and without a description in words is a simple utterance. “Ooh,” “Aah,” and “Huh?” are its proper responses. When pictures are presented in groups with accompanying text (of any length) and perhaps in conjunction with political or poetic conceptual strategies, any statement becomes possible. The photographs can begin to function as a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire treatise. Whether working in fiction, nonfiction, or in a fictive space, artists such as Robert Frank, Jim Goldberg, Roni Horn, Dorothea Lange, Susan Meiselas, Allan Sekula, Taryn Simon, Larry Sultan, and numerous others have been in the process of transforming photography with their work. Or perhaps they have created a medium: the new narrative photography. In this course, students will initially study the work of these “narrative” photographers and either write about their work or make pictures in response to it. The culmination of this experience will be students’ creation of their own bodies of work. If you have a story to tell, a statement to make, or a phenomenon that you wish to study and describe, this course is open to you. No previous photographic experience or special equipment is necessary. The opportunity to forge a new medium is rare. This course will aim to create the forum and the conditions necessary for all to do so in a critical and supportive workshop environment. Photographers we will look at include: Duane Michals, Danny Lyon, Sophie Calle, Eve Sonneman, Bill Owens, Bill Burke, Adrian Piper, Hamish Fulton, Susan Meiselas, Anne Turyn, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Roni Horn, Tacita Dean, Alfredo Jaar, Allan Sekula, Gillian Wearing, Taryn Simon, Joel Sternfeld, Jenny Holzer, Rachel Sussman, Shirin Neshat, Richard Prince, Clarissa Sligh, Wendy Ewald, Lawrence Weiner, Jim Goldberg, Robert Frank, Dorothea Lange, Stanley Wolukau- Wanambwa, Paul Graham,…