ARTH423/ART551:

History of Photographic Media and Camera Arts

Andreas Gursky, Salerno, 1990. Chromogenic process print, 188 x 226 cm.

Prof. Roann Barris, fall 2011

office hrs: 213 PF: T 2-4:30 W 10-1 or by appointment; phone: 831- 6001

email: rbarris@radford.edu

Complete online syllabus

Connect to Artstor

some useful web sites:

Robert Leggat's HIstory of Photography (until the 1920s)

Harry's Pro Shop: Some Great Photographers

George Eastman House Index of Photographers

TOPIC OUTLINE (links to study guides and image groups will added throughout the semester)

Week

Topic

Reading
1 Course intro; From optics to chemistry in the 19th century ;
alternative approaches to the history of photography
 Text, chapter 1
Talbot essays on photogenic drawing
2 the daguerreotype: portraits and the beginning of studio practices
the calotype provides a different beginning
 ch. 2, 3
3 new technologies: the paper/glass debate and the amateur/professional debate
ch. 4
4 documenting reality in the 19th century: photographing war and society

SEPT 23: SUBMIT PROJECT IDEA FOR APPROVAL

 ch. 5; graduates: Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others 
5 creating a photographic language: spiritualism, positivism, art

 ch. 6, 8
6 creating a photographic language: the landscape
ch. 7
Krauss: Photography’s Discursive Spaces
Kelsey: Viewing the Archive (graduates)
7 Camera Work, pictorialism and the photo-secession
 ch. 9; Wilson: The Intimate Gallery
8
 photographic modernism, pt 1: the new vision

TERM PROJECT MEETINGS PRIOR TO OCT. 25

 ch. 10; selections from Moholy-Nagy
9 photographic modernism, pt. 2 ch. 11
10 constructing social reality: social document or subjective truth? ch. 12-13; grads: two articles by Benjamin
11 the new photojournalism ch. 14; 
Bright on landscape photog.
Rosler on documentary photography
12 the subversive 60s: pop, minimalism and photography ch. 16-17; Graduates: one of Iverson, James, and Skrebowski

THANKSGIVING BREAK
13-14 the "death" of the author and photography; new media and new subjects ch. 18
  CLASS EXHIBITION

DEC. 12: WRITTEN COMPONENT OF FINAL PROJECT DUE BY 5 PM



Writing/Reading Help:

The Learning Assistance and Resource Center (LARC), located in 126 Walker Hall, is open to all students Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.  Certified, trained tutors provide help with basic study skills, writing, reading, and content-specific material.  An appointment is necessary and can be made by stopping by Walker 126, calling 831-7704, or IMing “rularcappt”.

Radford Honor Code:

I shall uphold the values and ideals of Radford University by engaging in responsible behavior and striving always to be accountable for my actions while holding myself and others to the highest moral and ethical standards of academic integrity and good citizenship as defined in the Standards of Student Conduct.