Syllabus
Description
DP3006 : NEW DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Semester II – AY16/17
Wednesdays | 9.00am – 12.00pm
Meridel Rubenstein Meridel@ntu.edu.sg #4-19
Course Description: This course will introduce students to the ways in which contemporary artists and photographers have engaged the camera to explore, extend and question the power of photography as a documentary medium
New Documentary:
Since its invention in the nineteenth century, photography has been used to provide accurate representations of objects, people, places or events. The twentieth-century concept of ‘documentary’ photography, however, is more complex than simply using the camera as a piece of recording technology and suggests a concern with the ways in which photography can bear witness to the world. The documentary value of a photograph is implicitly based on its claim to objectivity, which may depend on the choice of subject matter, the perspective from which it was taken, and the context in which it is shown or reproduced.
Throughout the twentieth century, photographers have sought new ways to document pressing social and political issues, and sometimes even to influence them. In recent years, however, these same forms of documentary photography – with the kinds of subject matter and perspective familiar from newspapers and magazines – have been produced by artists to be exhibited in museums and galleries. In this module, students will also study the question of the documentary role of the photograph today and offers alternative ways of seeing, recording and understanding the events and situations that shape the world in which we live.
Course will be broken down into the following aspects:
- Development of documentary photography
- Difference between Photojournalism and Documentary Photography
- Downwind from Art or Art
- Classic Documentary versus New Documentary Photography
Grading:
- Research Journal : 25% – Research journal, including research on artists and photographers in relation to their proposed project(s)
- Midterm Project : #1 25% Statement, Kindred Artist and issue presentation(10 images or equivalent
- Final Project #2 : 25 % Final project, including an artist statement (15-20 images or equivalent)
a 600 word short writing on their documentary project, and a reflections page of between 200-400 words)
- Class participation, Studentship, Creative Process 25%
Additional Text:
Photography: A Cultural History by Mary Warner Marien on reserve TR 15.M334 2016
The History of Photography by Beaumont Newhall, on reserve TR15.N548
Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1978, Penguin
Catherine de Zegher (ed), Martha Rosler: Positions in the Life World, 1998, Ikon Gallery
Liz Wells, Photography: A Critical Introduction, 2nd ed, 1997, Routledge
Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida
Peter Galassi, Walker Evans and Company, 2000, Museum of Modern Art, New York
| Week 1 January 17
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Course Introduction
Learning Objectives Research Journal Research Journal: including – Research and reflections on artists and photographers in relation to their proposed project – A 600 word short writing on their documentary project – A reflections page of between 200-400 words) Class Discussion: Photojournalism vs Documentary Is there a difference? · •War · •Social Documentary · •“Art” that documents · •“Truth”,Ethics, Persuasion The problematic nature of documentary in relation to ideas about truth A little History, Martin Parr,Sebastaio Salgado,James Nachtwey, Rineke Djistra Taryn Simon Assignment #1 Discover what is most pressing for YOU: 1.A Personal issue 2. An Issue in Singapore 3. An Issue in the World Find example of work by a photographer, writer, artist for each issue 5 minute presentation Bring at least 1 image that points in the direction you might want to go |
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Week 2 24, 25,26,27 January
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Assignment #1 Presentations
Group assignments for Oceanic conference The Convening for Weeks 3 and 4 |
| Week 3 and 4 31 January and 7 February | Group meetings |
| Week 5 14 February | Presentation of reports
Relate findings to declaration of new project |
| Week 6 21 February
Week 7 28 February |
Individual Presentations
Discussion: Classical versus New Documentary Gallery exhibition |
| Recess Week 8 7 March | See Esplanade exhibit and post response on OSS |
| Week 9 14 March | Presentation 2 Group Critique |
| Week 10 21 March | Presentation 2 Group Critique |
| Week 11 28 March
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A comparison of 3 documentary photographers including 1 New Documentarian All posted to OSS
Part 2 New Projects or Continuation |
| Week 12 4 April | Individual Project Consultation/Research Progress |
| Week 13 11 April | Individual Project Consultation/Research Progress |
| Week 14 18 April | Final Submission and Presentation |
| Week 15 25 April Make up class | Final Submission and Presentation |
Research Journal: : 20% – including
1.research on artists and photographers in relation to their proposed project,
2. a 600 word short writing on their documentary project,
3.a reflections page of between 200-400 words),
4. A comparison of 3 documentary photographers including 1 New Documentarian All posted to OSS byMarch 28th
Midterm Project:
– Midterm Project of still images
– Still images (10 images)
– Artist Statement, presentation of kindred artist and issue posted on OSS
Final Project:
– Final Project may consist of still images, moving images, video documentary (lens based media)
– Still images (15 – 20 images) / Moving Image & Video (approximately 3 -5 minutes)
– Artist Statement