Module Texts
Clarke, G (1997). The Photograph. Oxford University Press
Hill, P (2007). Approaching Photography. Photographer's Institute Press
Szarkowski, J (2007). The Photographer's Eye. The Museum of Modern Art
Szarkowski, J (1973). Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art
Specialist Periodicals in Library:
AG, Amateur Photographer, American Photo, Aperture, British Journal of Photography (BJP), Camera Austria, Ei8ht (Foto8), Exposure, History of Photography, Image (AOP Magazine), Next Level, Photographer (BIPP Magazine), Photoworks, Portfolio (Back issues only no longer published), Visual Studies.
Module Resources
Specialist photographic equipment
Specialist digital printing facilities
Lecture theatre and tutorial rooms
Thompson Library
Lynda.com
Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment will support this module where relevant.
Word-processing facilities
Internet access
Module Indicative Content
This module offers you the opportunity to explore and investigate, through an intensive engagement with the medium, the pictorial elements available to photographers in the effective communication of observations about the world around us. It encourages you to engage with photographic practices that place the emphasis on 'making' rather than 'taking' photographs. The module asks that you consider the structures of the photograph that John Szarkowski developed in his iconic book The Photographer's Eye and developed further in the book Looking at Photographs. To quote from The Photographer's Eye: "This book is an investigation of what photographs look like, and of why they look that way. It is concerned with photographic style and with photographic tradition: with the sense of possibilities that a photographer today takes to his work".
It builds also conceptually upon the framework of 'description' and 'interpretation' from the semester one Visual Communication module, by providing a wider framework of understanding through the additional methodologies of 'evaluation' and 'theory'. You will learn how to develop the photographic picture, by considering and practising your use of framing, awareness of light and your picture-making skills in general. You will consider more fully the practice and techniques of digital printing skills in the production of a final body of work.
Module Learning Strategies
Scheduled Learning Activities
Lectures
Group Tutorials (Feedback)
Group Discussion (Feedback)
Oral Presentation (Feedback)
Technical Skills Modulettes as appropriate
The Photo-Voices Programme
Guided Independent Study
Independent Photographic Practise and Visual Experimentation
Independent Reading and Research
Key Information Set Data
Scheduled Learning 16%
Guided Independent Study 84%
Module Additional Assessment Details
Portfolio and Evaluation Document 60% / Essay 30% / Presentation 10%
You will present for assessment three pieces of work, which will include:
1. A Portfolio of digital photographic prints.
(Learning Outcomes 1,2,3,4).
Combined with a written Evaluation Document evidencing reflection and context for your work.
(Learning Outcomes 1,2,3).
2. A `Canon' essay length 2,000 words. References and quotations not included in the word count.
(Learning Outcome 5).
3. An oral presentation related to aspects of `The Photographer's Eye'.
(Learning Outcome 6)
Please refer to the Award Handbook for a full description and rationale for assessment methods.
Key Information Set Data
90% Coursework
10% Practical Exam