The Narrative Tableau: Storytelling through Photography

Quarters
Winter Open
Location
Olympia
Class Standing
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Amjad Faur

This program will explore the range of challenges, problems, and possibilities in conceptualizing, constructing, and photographing in both controlled and found environments. Students will be introduced to digital SLR cameras, (cameras will be available to check out from Media Loan), digital editing techniques, and methods of exploration and experimentation in lighting, image construction and other means of controlling the enormity of possible directions. Lectures, demonstrations, and critiques will be done remotely on Zoom.

Students will be responsible for providing a written statement regarding their final body of work, which will reflect each assignment’s accumulation of research, transformation, and final production. There will be weekly lectures, critiques, and seminars in addition to workshops designed to sharpen students’ ability to write, speak, and account for their decisions. Students can expect weekly reading assignments followed by written responses and formal photography is at once ubiquitous yet inscrutable. Students will also engage in critiques of their work, where they will learn how to evaluate their own process and outcomes, as well as that of their peers.

Students will engage with theories and histories of photographic images as well as their precedents in art history. The program will require students to place their own forms of representation within the context of photography's role in defining the contours of visual modernity. Students will learn of the numerous ways photography has helped to liberate and oppress its subjects throughout its short history. This will help students to be better at critical engagement with visual media as well as to be better participants in the production of new images.

Students will also engage in critiques of their work, where they will learn how to evaluate their own process and outcomes, as well as that of their peers.

Students will engage with theories and histories of photographic images as well as their precedents in art history. The program will require students to place their own forms of representation within the context of photography's role in defining the contours of visual modernity. Students will learn how to distinguish and identify qualities of popular and art photography that often go unseen or taken for granted. This will help students to be better at critical engagement with visual media as well as to be better participants in the production of new images. By the end of the program, students will have a strong grasp on the fundamental mechanics and components of modern photographic techniques as well as the language and dynamics of modern images.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies: 

16 Credit Option:

4 - Introduction to Digital photography

4 - Introduction to the Theory of Photography

4 - Art History: Romanticism and Early Photography

4 - Artistic Practice and Critique

 

12 Credit Option:

4 - Introduction to Digital Cameras

4 - Introduction to the Theory of Photography

4 - Artistic Practice and Critique

 

* Students who choose the 12-credit option may wish to consider enrolling in Photography: Digital Processes

 

Registration

Course Reference Numbers
So - Sr (16): 20298
So - Sr (12): 20303

Academic Details

Photography, Visual Arts, Commercial Design and Photography, Media Studies

12
16
25
Sophomore
Junior
Senior

Schedule

Winter
2025
Open
Remote (W)

See definition of Hybrid, Remote, and In-Person instruction

Day
Schedule Details
Olympia