"Just what you see," [Helen] Levitt said. I asked her why it was hard to talk about her photography.

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1 VART 1128-R21 Introduction to Digital Photography MTWTh 9 a.m. 12 p.m. Keating Digital Lab Stephan Apicella Hitchcock Office: SL24Q Office hours: 8 9 a.m. & following each class T. (212) apicellahit@fordham.edu I tried asking about one of her best-known images a black and white picture of four young girls watching soap bubbles drift across the street. I asked her what she captured in that picture. "Just what you see," [Helen] Levitt said. I asked her why it was hard to talk about her photography. "If it were easy to talk about, I'd be a writer," she said. "Since I'm inarticulate, I express myself with images." "Helen Levitt Captured Perfect Moments, Unnoticed." Interview by Amy Block. All Things Considered. National Public Radio. NPR, 30 Mar Radio. Transcript. "The theory of photography can be taught in an hour; the first ideas of how to go about it in a day. What can't be taught...is the feeling for light the artistic appreciation of effects produced by different...sources; it's the understanding of this or that effect following the lines of the features which required your artistic perception. What is taught even less, is the immediate understanding of your subject it's this immediate contact which can put you in sympathy with the sitter, helps you to sum them up, follow their normal attitudes, their ideas, according to their personality, and enables you to make not just a chancy, dreary cardboard copy typical of the merest hack in the darkroom, but a likeness of the most intimate and happy kind..." Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon) 1. Course Description: This class will introduce you to the basics of digital photography. The objectives of the class are an understanding of camera construction, camera usage, control of image, processing of image, printing, in addition to the development of a personal vision. Instruction methods will be comprised of technical demonstrations, lectures regarding historical and contemporary artists, rigorous critiques, and

2 gallery/museum visits and field trips. Additionally, there will be guided assignments, self-directed projects, and student presentations. 2. Class Attendance: Your class attendance record counts for a substantial portion of your grade. Upon your third unexcused absence, your final course grade will be automatically be lowered by a half letter. Lateness to class is extremely disruptive to both the class and your peers. Consequently, regular lateness will lower your final grade. Lastly, be conscious of the fact that non-attendance does not constitute drop or withdrawal. As stated in the Fordham University Undergraduate Faculty Handbook: Students are expected to attend every class of every course for which they are registered. Each class meeting has its own dynamics and provides a unique opportunity for learning. While acknowledging the critical importance of class attendance, the institution also recognizes that there are times when absence from class is unavoidable. Absences for reasons of religious holiday, serious illness, death in the student s immediate family, or required participation in a university-sponsored event are, with the appropriate documentation, excused absences, and students will be given an opportunity to make up class examinations or other graded assignments. The maximum number of total excused absences will not exceed six class meetings for a course that meets three days per week, four class meetings for a course meeting two days per week, or two class meetings for a course that meets once a week. 3. Class Assignments: Assignment grading will be based on a combination of the quality and quantity of images, as well as the intelligence with which the images were generated in relation to the task. Expect to shoot a minimum of 72 images per assignment and print a minimum of ten prints per assignment (when the printing aspect of the class begins). 4. Grading & Final Exam: Grades will be calculated according to your performance in the following categories: Attendance & Class Participation 25%, Overall Production & Assignments 25%, Final Project 50%. The final project will be independently graded by additional photography faculty and factored in with my grade assessment. In addition to coursework, a mandatory final exam/meeting will be held at the university assigned time during exam week. Lastly, I urge you to review the Policy on Academic Integrity stated in the Student Handbook. 5. Textbook: The optional suggested texts for the class will be: Dyer, Geoff. The Ongoing Moment. New York: Pantheon, Print. Horenstein, Henry. Digital Photography: A Basic Manual. New York: Little, Brown, Print. London, Barbara, and Jim Stone. A Short Course in Photography: Digital. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, Print.

3 Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Paris: Idea, Print. Szarkowski, John. The Photographer's Eye. New York: Museum of Modern Art; Distributed by Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y., Print. Moreover, diverse supplementary readings will be provided during the semester. The following texts, although not required, are suggested reading for reference in addition to the suggested course texts and supplementary readings: Goldberg, Vicki, ed. Photography in Print: Writings from 1816 to the Present. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Marien, Mary Warner. Photography: A Cultural History. Second ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Newhall, Beaumont. History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present New York: Bulfinch, Rosenblum, Naomi. A History of Women Photographers. New York: Abbeville Press, Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography. New York: Abbeville Press, Wells, Liz. Photography: A Critical Introduction. Second ed. London: Routledge, Willis, Deborah. Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. New York. New York: WW Norton & Company, Inc., Equipment and supplies: A functional digital darkroom, as well as basic rental cameras will be provided for class members; however, students would be advised to purchase their own digital cameras after consulting with the professor), as well as printing paper (when the time comes), and additional supplies such as a external hard drive. For supplies I suggest the following: B&H Photo, 420 9th Avenue between 33rd & 34th Street, (212) , bhphotovideo.com and K&M Camera, 385 Broadway below Canal Street, (212) , kmcamera.com. For repairs, I suggest Nippon Photo Clinic Service, 37 W 39th St #401, (212) , nipponphotoclinic.com. Excellent prices by mail order can be found at: Freestyle Photographic Supplies freestylephoto.biz. 7. Periodicals and Journals: Here is a listing of periodicals that frequently have quality photography, art, design and writing: Afterimage, American Photo, Aperture, Artforum, Art & Text, Art Issues, Art News, Art In America, Bidoun, Bomb, Blindspot, Cabinet, Camerawork, Camera Austria, Emigre, European Photography, Eye, Frieze, Graphis, ID, Index, Juxtapoz, Lens Work, Let Down, Modern Painters, New Art Examiner, October, Parkett, Photo Metro, Photo District News, Purple Fiction, Purple Prose, See, Trans, Vernacular, Vice, Whitewalls, World Art, Zing. 8. Galleries: For general information on exhibits and dates consult Photograph (photographmag.com), the Village Voice Art Listing section, Sunday New York Times Arts & Leisure section, Art Now gallery guide,

4 TimeOut NY, and Photography in New York. Additional resources are easily obtained on the Internet such as nyartbeat.com. 9. Supply List: Digital Camera: Students must have a digital camera capable of shooting in the RAW format and able to make manual adjustments to Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. Please check with the professor to verify a camera s suitability for the course, or for a recommendation. Students enrolled in the course will have rental access to cameras from the Lincoln Center Campus equipment room SL24K. Camera manual. Memory cards for cameras: 16 32GB. Extra batteries for your camera. UV Haze filter, or Skylight filter. Hard Drive: Students must have a hard drive they are able to bring to class for the purpose of storing all of the images made during the semester. It is recommended that a dedicated portable hard drive be used for this purpose and no other. Inkjet Paper: Students will need to purchase paper for printing during class, assignments, and final projects. An excellent option is Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster. More recommendations will be provided in class.

5 VART 1128 Digital Photography Final Exam Information Apicella-Hitchcock As stated in the class syllabus: 4. Grading & Final Exam: Grades will be calculated according to your performance in the following categories: Attendance & Class Participation 25%, Overall Production & Assignments 25%, Final Project 50%. The final project will be independently graded by additional photography faculty and factored in with my grade assessment. In addition to coursework, a mandatory final meeting will be held at the university assigned time during exam week. The date, time, and location will be made available as soon as the schedule is posted. Regardless, do not book return trips prior to final exam week. Lastly, I urge you to review the Policy on Academic Integrity stated in the Student Handbook. Our last meeting will be a full class portfolio critique in lieu of an exam. You should have your final portfolio, all prints, and all contact sheets ready for display. Please have your photographs organized in the order in which you intend to present them up so as to save time, as well as to maximize image relationships, juxtapositions, and content. Quality of production and vision is of paramount importance; however, there are certain benchmarks along the way through our semester. You should have always been shooting at least 72 images per week. I want to emphasize again that these are minimum, average numbers. Get out and see the world through our wonderful, peculiar rectangular framing device! Numbers are simply an indicator of your effort. If you are not photographically gifted, then you will have to work twice as hard like the rest of us. Some things for all to consider in pulling together your final selection: what makes your images different from your peer s images? How do your images reflect your engagement with the world? Can we detect your interests by looking at your photographs? Can we detect your

6 intelligence and photographic agility by looking at your photographs? Do you demonstrate proficiency with your tool? Lastly, and most importantly, what do you have to say about the world? I look forward to seeing your final results. Stephan Performance categories: Attendance & Class Participation 25% Overall Production & Assignments 25% Final Project 50% A = 4.0: Excellent. Honors-level work. (93-100) A- = 3.7: Still excellent. (90-92) B+ = 3.3: Very good. High level of performance. (87-89) B = 3.0: Good, solid level of performance. (83-86) B- = 2.7: Good. Still above average. (80-82) C+ = 2.3: Average level of performance. (77-79) C = 2.0: Satisfactory, acceptable performance. (73-76) C- = 1.7: Minimally acceptable. (70-72) D+ = 1.0: Passing, but unsatisfactory. (67-69) D =.7: Unsatisfactory. (60-66) F = 0.0: Failure. Inferior performance. (below 60)

7 Apicella-Hitchcock Digital Photography One Synopsis 1: Intro, no assignment 2: 72i open (angles, proximity, vantage point, etc.) 3: 72i Portraits formal & informal 4: Print backlog (contacts for week 2 & 3, 10p, no shooting, read Szarkowski s The Photographer s Eye 5: 72i 10p: Reflections & 15 radius 6: 72i 10p: Depth of field 7: 72i 10p: John Baldessari dart board 8: 72i 10p: Spring Break Assignment 9: 72i 10p: Vivian Maier selfies & kids 10: 72i 10p: open (still B&W) 11: 72i 10p: color: 36 ROYGBIV, 36 open 12: 72i 10p: open 13: 72i 10p: open 14: 72i 10p: open 15: 72i 10p: open 16 20: Final. Assignment: continue shooting forever Totals: 120 prints total 15 prints for final portfolio (taken from total) 936 images (as 13 sets of contact sheets)

8 Summer 2017 Digital Photography Schedule 1. W Intro 2. Th Camera 3. M Technical Demonstration 4. T Screening 5. W Lab 6. Th Field Trip 7. M Lab 8. T Technical Demonstration 9. W Image Presentation 10. Th Critique #2 11. M Lab 12. T Image Presentation 13. W Critique A #3 14. Th Field Trip 15. M Lab 16. T Critique #3 17. W Field Trip 18. Th Book Editing 19. M Book Design 20. T Final Exam