Syllabus
Queens College
Art Department / Photography & Imaging
Senior Photography Seminar
PHOTO 376
Fall 2024
Hybrid – Klapper 147
Instructor: Matt Greco
Office: Klapper 106
Hours: By Appt
Email: matthew.greco@qc.cuny.edu
Course Website: professorgreco.com
Course Description:
The penultimate semester of the BFA in Photography & Imaging program will be the first of two courses that begin to culminate the ideas and work you have done so far. Senior Photography Seminar will include discussions on historical and contemporary photography and will include gallery and museum visits. Readings will cover early and contemporary theory and analysis of photography and the critical concerns therein. You will research the work of other photographers and present your findings as a final presentation as well as participate in critiques of your own work. Seminar will provide the opportunity to organize existing work into portfolios and create new work. This course will be an opportunity for you to develop a specific vision as a photographer, artist and help you conceptualize and develop ideas in your work professionally.
Course Objectives:
At the close of this course the successful student will have acquired an understanding for looking at pictures and talking about pictures by reading essays and talking about photography. You will expand your vocabulary to include the proper terminology for creating and critiquing photographs. Students will use this vocabulary to engage in meaningful critique of their images and the images of their peers. You will research works by other photographers (and artists) that relate to your work, write critical essays about the work of other photographers, and produce a visual presentation complete with examples of photographs and references. Students will demonstrate the ability to think creatively, form project ideas, and follow those ideas from conception to realization.
Course Requirements:
Students will be expected to complete all assignments on time and to the best of their ability. Students are expected to attend the few in-person classes but life does happen so you get 1 absence, after that, additional absences will likely result in missed participation and thus a lower grade. Be on time please; tardiness is as bad as absences; I will begin class a few minutes late to give everyone time to get settled in – do not abuse this. This is a small section so this course will run like a seminar. Most of your assignments will be given online leaving our meeting time for discussion. We will meet as a group two or three times during the semester and will meet twice at the end of the semester for your final critique and final presentations.
Reasonable Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should register with the Special Services Office by emailing QC.SPSV@qc.cuny.edu. For more information about services available to Queens College students, visit the Office of Special Services website: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/studentlife/services/specialserv/Pages/default.aspx.
CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity:
Only your own photos, images and/or writing are permitted for use in projects. The unauthorized use of images and compositions that are not your own is considered plagiarism. Academic Dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion as provided at https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/policies-procedures/academic-integrity-policy/.
Course Website:
Please check our course website every week for updates to the syllabus or schedule, links to information and resources, and a student gallery page where we will showcase your work throughout the semester.
Assignments:
- Readings/Watchings
You will complete all assigned readings/watchings and participate in meaningful discussion.
- Writings
You will write short essays on select readings and on the field trips
- Final Portfolio (15-20 images)
You will propose a project for the semester that will result in a final portfolio that you will present at final critique
- Final Presentation (5-10min)
Present visually on a photographer or artist that you feel shares a similarity with your work. Alternatively present visually on your own work and compare and contrast it to other photographers or artists.
Grades:
Written assignments – 10%
Discussions – 30%
Final Portfolio – 30%
Final Presentation– 30%
Printing:
You can utilize the Klapper Imaging Lab in Klapper Hall 108 to print files for this course. The prints will be paid for through your M&T fee. Students will be required to submit your files to the lab to be printed.
Field Trips:
We will take field trips into Manhattan to visit museums or galleries to be determined. While I recommend you visit with the group when I am there you can visit the museum or gallery on your own. It is required that you make the visit sometime during the semester.
All assignments to be submitted to me at the end of the term via a link to a cloud folder.
Required Reading (links below):
Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
Part One – Chapters 4, 5, 11, 15, 19, 24
Part Two – Chapters 25, 27, 35, 36, 44, 48
Classic Essays on Photography by Alan Trachtenberg
The Daguerreotype Edgar Allan Poe pp 37
The Modern Public & Photography Charles Baudelaire pp 83
Photography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy pp 165
Seeing Photographically Edward Weston pp 169
On Photography by Susan Sontag
Chapters TBD
The Photographer’s Eye by John Szarkowski
Chapters TBD
Schedule (subject to change):
Week 1: 8.29
Discussion (in-person Klapper 174)
Course outline, review syllabus, schedule of hybrid/in-person meetings
Week 2: 9.5
Assignments – Reading
Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
Part One – Chapters 4, 5, 11, 15, 19, 24
Part Two – Chapters 25, 27, 35, 36, 44, 48
Assignments – Writing
Write half page on something personal you felt in reading Camera Lucinda
Week 3: 9.12
Assignments – Reading
Classic Essays on Photography by Alan Trachtenberg
The Daguerreotype Edgar Allan Poe pp 37
The Modern Public & Photography Charles Baudelaire pp 83
Photography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy pp 165
Seeing Photographically Edward Weston pp 169
Assignments – Writing
Write half page on how you see differently now
Week 4: 9.19
On Location (in-person)
Field Trip: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Assignments – Writing
Write half page response/reaction to visit
Week 5: 9.26
Assignments – Shooting
Write 1 page proposal for shooting assignment for final portfolio
Begin prepping/shooting for final portfolio project
Week 6: 10.3
NO CLASS
Assignments – Reading
On Photography by Susan Sontag
Assignments – Writing
Write half page
Week 7: 10.10
Discussion (in-person Klapper 174)
Come prepared to discuss topics from the readings and field trip to date.
Give update/seek critique on shooting project proposal
Introduce presentation project
Week 8: 10.17
Assignments – Shooting
Cont. shooting final portfolio project
Assignments – Presentation
Start thinking about your presentation – basic outline, list of photogs to Google
Week 9: 10.24
Assignments – Watching
Watch: Waste Land
A film by Lucy Walker documenting a project by Brazilian photographer Vic Muniz
Take notes.
Assignments – Writing
Write half page on artists collaborating with poor/nonprofessional communities. Exploitation or Benefit?
Week 10: 10.31
Boooooo!!!! Happy Halloween!
Assignments – Reading
The Photographer’s Eye by John Szarkowski
Assignments – Writing
Write half page
Assignments – Presentation
Working on research/outline for presentation
Assignments – Shooting
Cont. shooting final portfolio project
Week 11: 11.7
Discussion (in-person Klapper 174)
Come prepared to discuss a topic from one of the readings, watchings, or field trips to date.
Give update on presentation
Give update/seek critique on shooting project
Week 12: 11.14
Assignments – Presentation
Finishing up research and first draft of visual presentation
Assignments – Shooting
Cont. shooting final portfolio project
Finalize 15-20 images to hand in digitally
Print 5 for final crit
Week 13: 11.21
On Location (in-person)
Field Trip: TBD
Assignments – Writing
Write half page response/reaction to visit
Week 14: 11.28
NO CLASS
Assignments – Presentation
Final touches on presentation for Dec 12th
Assignments – Shooting
Finalize 15-20 images to hand in digitally
Print 5 for final crit (deadline for printing)
Week 15: 12.5
Discussion (in-person Klapper 672)
Final Critique – present 5 images
Week 16: 12.12
Discussion (in-person Klapper 107)
LAST DAY OF CLASS
Final Presentations – 5-10min
PDF Syllabus
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Resources
Readings:
Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
Classic Essays on Photography by Alan Trachtenberg
The Daguerreotype Edgar Allan Poe pp 37
The Modern Public & Photography Charles Baudelaire pp 83
Photography Laszlo Moholy-Nagy pp 165
Seeing Photographically Edward Weston pp 169
On Photography by Susan Sontag
The Photographer’s Eye by John Szarkowski
Assignments:
Guide to Making The Presentation
Waste Land by Lucy Walker Featuring Vic Muniz found here
Portfolio:
Your final portfolio is to consist of 15-20 images which need to be edited and sized for print and printed. The quality of the images will matter; you will likely have to print the images more than once to get the best final prints. You will be expected to shoot around 600 images- those images that did not make it into the final portfolio need to be available for me to see, at the end of the semester you will provide me with a link to a cloud folder with roughly 600 unedited images.
Presentation:
Find a photographer whose work resonates with you – whose work you find to be similar to yours in some way. Create a 5-10min presentation about that photographer and how they relate to you. The link above is a rough guideline for your presentation, feel free to be creative with this presentation as long as you answer the fundamental questions.
Printing:
Send a link to a folder of images to klapperimaging@qc.cuny.edu
MAKE SURE YOUR IMAGES ARE PREPPED AND READY FOR PRINT. That includes edited, sized, and named correctly. Naming convention: “first initial_last name_file name_paper type_print size.jpg”
e.g. “mgreco_flowers 1_hotpress_8.5×11.jpg”
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA):
https://www.moma.org/
11 West 53rd St.
Adobe for CUNY:
https://cisweb.cuny.edu/covid19/Accessing-AdobeCreativeCloud-COVID19-Outbreak.pdf
Software:
Adobe CC
Kanopy Streaming for Queens College
https://www.kanopy.com/en/qc
LinkedIn Learning (was Lynda.com):
http://qc.cuny.edu/sl/lynda
Equipment Reviews:
http://www.dpreview.com/
Online Photography Magazines:
http://www.aperture.org/
http://www.dpmag.com/
http://www.popphoto.com/
http://www.shutterbug.com/
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/index.shtml
http://www.bandwmag.com/
http://www.diyphotography.net/
Photography Exhibitions in NYC:
New York Photo Diary
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Artists:
Joel Meyerowitz – What you put in the Frame determines the photograph
Keith Loutit Tilt-Shift Time-lapse Videos
Slow Mo Guys showing a DSLR shutter at 10,000 FPS
Other Guys Bar Scene:
This is the Bar Scene from the movie “The Other Guys” and this is a “How they did it” with Phillips’ “Carousel” which is the same technique