VSA2430

History and theory of photography part II: 1940 - present

Anne Marsh

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: Two visual arts subjects at first-year level

Objectives At the end of the subject students should have a clear understanding of the postmodern critique of western society as it manifests in the practice and theory of photography.

Synopsis The second part of the history of photography will introduce students to the development of photography through the twentieth century. It will address the distinction between high art and an art of reproduction, and look at issues of originality and authorship in relation to the museum. It will also consider the current practices of surveillance, in Western society and the developing world through a focus on the social history of photography. Theories of simulation will be addressed, and students will be required to familiarise themselves with recent postmodern critiques of photography which draw on psychoanalytic and semiotic theory. Contemporary practice in Australia will be considered, most significantly in relation to the photographic record of Aboriginality.

Assessment Seminar paper (1500 words): 25%
* Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Internet exercise (1500 words): 25%

Preliminary reading

Barthes R Camera Lucida Jonathan Cape, 1982
Bolton R (ed.) The contest of meaning: Critical histories of photography MIT P, 1992

Prescribed texts

Solomon-Godeau A Photography at the dock U Minnesota P, 1991
Squiers C (ed.) The critical image: Essays on contemporary photography Bay, 1990
Tagg J The burden of representation U Massachusetts P, 1988