History and theory of photography, part I: 1839-1940
Anne Marsh
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
*
Prerequisites: First-year sequence in visual arts (two visual arts subjects at
first-year level)
Objectives At the end of the subject students should have a thorough knowledge of photography as a cross-disciplinary practice.
Synopsis The first part of the subject charts the history of photography from the invention of the camera to surrealism. It considers the uses of photography as a recording device in psychology, social history and the legal system as well as the relationship between photography and the visual arts in the modernist period. The camera as a weapon in nature and in society, ie surveillance of populations (especially in the developing world) will be addressed critically. The role of photography in the print media will be discussed in terms of a shrinking world and finally pornography and eroticism will be analysed focusing on the metaphor of the camera as `keyhole'.
Assessment second year Seminar paper (1500 words): 25%
* Essay (3000
words): 50%
* Visual test (1.5 hours): 25%
Assessment third year Seminar paper (1500 words): 25%
* Essay (3000
words): 50%
* Visual test (1.5 hours): 25%
* Third-year students will
be expected to read more widely and work at a higher level than second-year
students.
Preliminary reading
Jeffrey I Photography: A concise history Thames and Hudson, 1981
Prescribed texts
Barthes R Camera Lucida Jonathan Cape, 1982
Solomon-Godeau A Photography at the dock U Minnesota P, 1991
Tagg J The burden of representation: Essays on photographies and histories U Massachusetts P, 1988
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