Course details

The History and Context of Photography 1

IDF1 Acad. year 2016/2017 Winter semester 3 credits

Current academic year

The course consists of lectures on history and contemporary tendencies in photography (with considering its position within both fine arts and non-artistic visuality). Students will be introduced to the development of the medium not in chronological retrospect but in thematic blocs. This way they will be able to understand particular problems within broader philosophical and medial context. Students will learn how to "read" language of photography, to understand its expressive potential and they will learn the main theoretical frameworks within which photography is interpreted.

Guarantor

Fišerová Lucia, Mgr., Ph.D. (FFA)

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Completion

Examination (written+oral)

Time span

  • 13 hrs lectures
  • 13 hrs exercises

Assessment points

  • 100 pts final exam

Department

Faculty of Fine Arts (FaVU)

Subject specific learning outcomes and competences

Students will gain an insight into both development of photography and its contemporaneous trends. They will be able enrich insight into their own photographic practice, they will learn more about the language of photography and the basics of its gallery presentation.

Learning objectives

The aim of this course is to reflect on the actual position of photography in a context of its historical developments. Introduction of new media and social thematics into photography will be of particular interest, as well as a crossing of borders of traditional genre of photography. Photography will be introduced not only as artistic medium but more broadly defined tool for visual communication as well (as in family, science, commercial etc. photography).

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Basic knowledge of the 19th and 20th century visual culture.

Syllabus of lectures

  1. A language of photography.
  2. Photography and history.
  3. Sight of Medusa.
  4. Me is someone else.
  5. Portrait of statesman.
  6. Hero in a landscape.
  7. Where is my homeland?
  8. Life of things.
  9. Pictiures of banalities.
  10. Family of mankind.
  11. The Americans.
  12. Document after the documentary.
  13. Between document and storytellin.

Progress assessment

Study evaluation is based on marks obtained for specified items. Minimimum number of marks to pass is 50.

Controlled instruction

There are no checked study.

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