Advanced Digital Art & Photography COURSE SYLLABUS Instructor: Mr. Kannofsky / jkannofsky@animo.org Website: http://www.animoart.org/digitalphoto Introduction The Advanced Digital Art & Photography course is directed towards the skilled and motivated digital and visual art student, interested in producing college-level photographs and photography-based projects, mastering the principles of design, while developing their own personal vision using advanced compositional techniques and concepts. Students will view digital photography as an art form, using the image as ground for collage, manipulation, and current software techniques that place photography within contemporary artistic practices that blend ideas with technology. Practically, the course will focus on developing a deeper understanding of how the elements and principles of design are expressed using digital photographic imagery for student photographers to create their own consistent voice and artistic style. Students will use the critique process as a method for evaluation as well as idea generation for current and future work. Over the course of the school year, students should be able to produce a variety of quality photographic-based works that show advanced knowledge and skill through the lens of their own point of view. Portfolio Requirements Section I: Quality - Five actual works that show high quality taken from your Breadth or Concentration sections Rationale: Quality refers to the total work of art. Mastery of design should be apparent in the composition, concept, and execution of the works, whether they are simple or complex. There is no preferred (or unacceptable) style or content. Section II: Concentration Twelve works that show a strong focus by the student on a particular artistic concern or concept Rationale: A concentration is a body of related works describing an in-depth exploration of a particular artistic concern. It should reflect a process of investigation of a specific visual idea. It is not a selection of a variety of works produced as solutions to class projects or a collection of works with differing intents. Students should be encouraged to explore a personal, central interest as intensively as possible; they are free to work with any idea in any medium that addresses two-dimensional design issues. The concentration should grow out of the student s idea and demonstrate growth and discovery through a number of conceptually related works. In this section, the evaluators are interested not only in the work presented but also in visual evidence of the student s thinking, selected method of working, and development of the work over time. Section III: Breadth Twelve works that show a variety of photographic experiences focusing on the principles of design and elements of art. These works may be in one or many media. Rationale: The student s work in this section should demonstrate understanding of the principles of design integrated with the elements of design and proportion/scale and figure/ground relationships. Students must therefore be actively engaged with these concepts while thoughtfully composing their art. The work in this section should show evidence of conceptual, perceptual, expressive, and technical range.
Field Journal Students will use their field journal as the starting point for their photographic practice. They will learn to develop ideas through quick sketches, mood boards, collage exercises and image analysis so that this practice will develop as both idea generation and reflective practice. Copyright All work must be original. Since students may use imagery from a variety of sources including their own, found, copyrighted photos must show significant alteration before they can become their own work. Students must learn how an image can be manipulated before it is reinvented as their own. They will be trained on contemporary copyright law and discuss these issues so that student s will understand artistic integrity, originality and the ethics of using found imagery. Students will learn how they may use images protected by these laws by transforming the image in a significant way to create original works that go beyond mere duplication. Students who infringe on copyright laws by passing other s work as their own will receive no credit for the assignment and, in more significant cases, the course. Rubrics Students are evaluated using an AP 2-D rubric, based on the principles of design and style, their own developed voice requirements, as well as a rubric based on a strong connection between concept, craft and their own artistic direction. In addition, rubrics will show some flexibility to allow students to develop their own personal artistic expression. Process / Critique Each photograph presented for critique must show a detailed process for creating and choosing the imagery. Students will use their field journal to create concept trails to reveal how their final work was developed and ultimately made. All work will be critiqued by both teacher and peer groups on a weekly basis during class or office hours. Students will learn to use the vocabulary of critique to improve both their work and the use of critique in group situations. Quarterly professional photographer panels will convene to evaluate student work based on a variety of rubrics and criteria. College Level Work Throughout this course, students will work toward developing mastery in concept, composition, and craft. They will be able to determine their mastery through rubrics, personal / group critiques and instructor feedback. To produce a college level portfolio of work, students must show consistent ability to express concept, composition, and execution of 2-D design at a level of quality consistent with advanced art production. Course Rules / Grading Most work will be completed before students enter the class. All work must be completed and posted online on or before the due date. Students must bring their design journals to each class period. The Design Journal is 20% of the course grade. Evaluation of their work is 10% of the course grade. Exercises / assignments are 20% of the course grade. Final projects are 50% of the course grade. UNIT 1: The Mechanics of Photography: Composition & Principles of Design (Weeks 1-5) In this unit, students will review a variety of photo compositional techniques and connect these practices to the elements and principles of art. What are the essential skills of a contemporary photographer? How do design elements make a photo composition successful?
What are the most prevalent principles of design in photographic work? How will students show mastery of this unit s project? Discuss types of Digital Cameras and their strengths; practice basic techniques What are some compositional basics: rule of thirds, symmetry, depth of field, focus, etc. Manipulation in the camera: aperture, ISO, f-stop Focus: shallow focus, close-up, depth of field, bokeh Rule of Thirds compositions: emphasis, balance Close-ups / Proximity photos Aperture, ISO, F-stop manipulation Framing Techniques: one image surrounds an image to create emphasis Motif: repeating shapes, color, elements Using Cropping techniques Elements of art photographing line, shape, form, space, texture Principle: Emphasis using hierarchy, texture, leading lines, etc. Principle: Balance using framing, asymmetrical composition Principle: Rhythm using visual movement by working with motif Principle: Contrast using figure / ground relationships and its connection to emphasis Skills: Cropping What is the criteria for cropping a photo? File formats What file formats create the highest resolution and best quality image? Color Depth Printing: Indexed Color / RGB / CMYK Unit 1 Online Portfolio Project: Interpreting the Still Life Four original photos from constructed and natural still life setups Comparison of original and cropped work Uses one or more principles of design to construct compositions Breadth Assignment: Genre Collages Two genre (landscape, portrait, narrative, cityscape, still life) natural composite collages using found online and magazine imagery Uses Group / Self Evaluation Critique / redesign of one Breadth image Analyze the difference between original and cropped images How do specific compositional techniques such as rule of thirds and rhythm change the visual interest in a photographic work? What are the formal and conceptual differences between color and black & white photography? Personal statement / manifesto: Why do you take photographs? Photo Art History Comparison with one Master: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jeff Wall, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, WPA UNIT 2: Personal vs. Public Space: Your Community Recorded (Weeks 5-9) Students will work with composing the space around them, how they interact as a photographer with that space, and how that space is represented as both a personal and public community. Brainstorming location shoots: home, store, neighborhood, place
What is community? How do you photograph community? How is a space different from place? What are the differences between a personal space and the public community where you live? How do you visually record the meaning and mood of a place? Still Life Setups of personal items (using rhythm and contrast) Your Neighborhood Re-Considered : Students will take portrait action shots focusing on formal contrast, contrast of subject, using a variety of shots, angles and techniques. Cityscapes: using a variety of angles, contrast, framing devices Color to B&W Conversion: formal comparison Breadth Assignment: Community Diptychs Personal / Public photography: creating a work that addresses personal and public imagery by connecting works in a two-panel format. This formal may include: o Color / B&W photography o Personal / public Rhythm / repeating elements embedded in each work Balance: How to use symmetry and asymmetry in photography Contrast / Figure-Ground Digital Darkroom / Software Skills: Black & White conversion Dodging / Burning tools working with image detail RGB Color Correction Unit 2 Online Portfolio Project: Community Photojournalism Six images using visual narrative Addresses motif, consistent concept and composition Group / Self Evaluation Critique / redesign of one Breadth image Analyze the difference between original and manipulated images What images, concepts, beliefs define your community? Personal manifesto on community, location and place Photo Art History Comparison with one Master: Robert Frank, William Eggleston, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Alfred Stieglitz UNIT 3: The Self as Subject: Traditional vs. Contemporary Portraiture (Weeks 9-12) In this unit, students will work with their own self, focusing on their own image, as cipher, as symbol, and as nexus for ideas, creating portraiture through a variety of methods, arranging personal objects as symbols, using software manipulation, and attaching contemporary techniques to traditional portrait compositions. Create a mood board of a variety of portrait styles from traditional to abstract Journal photomontage: experimenting with image combinations Journal entries about personal traits as well as alter ego and fantasy figure What are the most successful compositional devices for creating photo portraits? Experimenting with Self Portraits: different angles, POV, selfies, symbolism, etc.
Portraits of place, an object, a community as metaphor Five Un-traditional Portraits: manipulated using software and natural collage techniques Breadth Assignment: Two mixed media photomontages Private Persona: tell a story or visual narrative by adding elements to its surroundings Public Persona: tell a story or visual narrative by adding elements to its surroundings Balance: Symmetry / Asymmetry Emphasis: How many ways can you emphasize a figure? Digital Darkroom / Software Skills: Color correction: RGB / CMYK Using Filters: add contrast, change hue and saturation Compare Cropped vs. Uncropped images Digital Darkroom: Dodge / Burn Unit 3 Online Portfolio Project: Self Portraiture Six works using a variety of self portrait techniques Group / Self Evaluation Critique / redesign of one Breadth image How many variations of the concept of self can be photographed? What images, concepts, beliefs define portraiture? Personal statement: What traits determine photographer as artist? Photo Art History Comparison with one Master: Diane Arbus, Rineke Dijkstra, Cindy Sherman, Richard Avedon, Sally Mann, Joel Peter Witkin UNIT 4: Photo Truth: Framed v. Manipulated Reality (Weeks 13-17) In this unit, students will explore the differences between real photography and how manipulated photos can both question and create a different sense of the real. Collage / Mood board examples collected by student for ideation of concept Adding imagery: Collage techniques natural vs. digital Dreams and Psychology: Meanings embedded in surrealist collage lso uses compositional techniques from previous units) One Surrealist Photomontage using own photography as base One Cubist Photomontage: Hockney-like technique collage using software One Photo Manipulated Hoax fooling the mind and the eye Restoration of a damaged or old photograph Breadth Assignment: Two digital photomontages using a variety of techniques including mixed media and 3-D elements Emphasis: choosing a central image through figure ground Rhythm: Personal Warhol pastiche project creating multiples using visual rhythm Digital Darkroom / Software Skills: Selection tools how to trim, select pieces / elements of an image Filters: Using contrast, changing hue and saturation Color Distortion: Does manipulating natural into distorted color change the work s meaning? Bitmap to Vector Conversion: Turning pixels into vectors to create a painterly effect Photogram techniques using software
Unit 4 Online Portfolio: Four photomontages using a variety of software techniques Group / Self Evaluation Critique / redesign of one Breadth image Analyze the difference between original and manipulated images Personal statement / position on original vs. manipulated imagery Photo Art History Comparison with one Master:: David Hockney, Jerry Uelsmann, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, Surrealism UNIT 5: Graphics in Photography: Image Text Composite (Weeks 18-22) In this unit, students will add graphic elements with both commercial and fine art goals. Students will compare how these elements change the meaning of the work. Basic typography Graphics: Text boxes, word bubbles, organic/geometric shapes Cropped image poster emulating a master s work Three panel photo comic book Breadth: Two photo-based posters designed Emphasis: direct focus on image / text Balance: Symmetry / Asymmetry with similar imagery / elements Vector tools: organic / geometric shapes Filters: contrast, colorization, distortion, saturation Color Correction: traditional and distorted Unit 5 Online Portfolio: Two contemporary poster designs emphasizing photographic imagery and text Group / Self Evaluation Redesign of one Breadth image How do graphic elements help communicate meaning beyond the images used? How does the use of text change the purpose and meaning of the work? Personal statement on graphic design, image text analysis Photo Art History Comparison with one Master:: Milton Glaser, Alexander Rodchenko, Laslo Maholy-Nagy, Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism UNIT 6: Visual Narrative: Photojournalism and your Culture (Weeks 23-27) Students will construct a visual narrative based on a chosen genre or subject such as landscape, a site-specific location, personal / public issue, manipulated imagery, or mixed media. Brainstorming activities around local social concerns List subjects that address local culture / community Create concept maps from chosen subjects What issues are both personal and public? Five photos focusing on one local social issue
Five photos telling a story using visual narrative Written short story to accompany visual narrative Breadth Assignment: Photo comic book study (3 panels) Principle: How do you create rhythm using motif? Photo / Film Techniques: Mis-en-scene, wide / medium / close-up shots Visual narrative techniques: repeating elements, motif Cropping / Close-ups Copy / Paste techniques Desaturation: B&W vs. Color Unit 6 Online Portfolio: Visual Narrative Project Idea generation to develop a photojournalism project Group / Self Evaluation Redesign of one Breadth image How many ways can a photographer create a series of photos that connect visually, or by concept, or through language? Personal Manifesto on visual storytelling Photo Art History Comparison with one Master: Dorthea Lange, Sebastião Salgado, André Kertész, W. Eugene Smith, Margaret Bourke-White, Duane Michaels UNIT 7: Creative Choice: Composition, Concept and Your Concentration Work (Weeks 28-30) In this unit, students will design their own concentration, developing their own artistic process from design journal sketches to photo production and evaluation. Brainstorming / idea generation around concepts, student vision developed Generate Student Concentration summary Create process and benchmarks for project completion Photo Beast: Students take 40 photos of their chosen concentration, experimenting with technique and composition Student chooses several photographs to transform using filters, adding elements to chosen work Compare and evaluate changes in meaning and vision of images transformed How does a photographer choose the elements and principles they will use in their work? Cropping: Students compare cropped image with the original Digital Darkroom: color correction, dodge/burn techniques Manipulation: What software techniques will you use? Unit 7 Online Portfolio: Post Breadth Portfolio online for evaluation / discussion from peers, instructors, and photography panel Weekly Peer / Self Evaluation Redesign of one Breadth image What photo processes and methods help create a consistent body of work?
Students design a feedback loop based on current process / practice. Photo Art History Comparison with one Master: Lucas Samaras, John Baldessari, Duane Michaels, Graciela Iturbide, William Christenberry, Cindy Sherman UNIT 8: Building Your Concentration Portfolio (Weeks 30-36) In this unit, students will work the remaining 6 weeks on their Concentration work, choosing and adapting their chosen focus and concepts as they work towards producing their final portfolio. The final portfolio is determined by the student then uploaded by early April / spring break. Brainstorming / idea generation around concepts, students vision, goals and style Generate Concentration summary Create process and benchmarks for work Deadlines: Students will generate weekly completion benchmarks Weekly evaluation: Elements / principles of design: discussion and evaluation How are your images connected? Conceptually? Visually? Explain. Critiques by instructor, group, peer and online photo panel tfolio: Choose 12 best works for your Concentration Portfolio Choose 5 best works from both Breadth and Concentration Portfolio for your Quality Section Justify choices through discussion, critique and evaluation Photography Books and Resources Art of Photography by Bruce Barnbaum Resource: http://www.adobe.com al Photographs by Chris Orwing Course Website: http://www.animoart.org/digitalphoto 7 Laptops with image manipulation software Photography & Culture) ed. Val Williams