PHOTO-DOCUMENTARY PROJECT FOR CRITIQUE 1

PHOTO-DOCUMENTARY PROJECT FOR CRITIQUE 1
DUE NEXT WEEK! SEPTEMBER 26!

INSTRUCTIONS:

Following your one-on-one conversation with the instructor, return to one of your locations along the Connective Corridor. Using a DSLR camera, take additional photographs. Plan out your shots, and take many. If your subject is a person, define your relationship to your subject: Do they know you are taking their picture? Are they taking yours? Is it collaborative? Are you directing your subject? Are they directing you? Are you surveilling them?

For critique, you will select 2 images to present. You will present the two images (a) individually as two images and (b) as a diptych as one composite. This means you will be responsible for processing and saving 3 files in photoshop: Photo A, Photo B, and Diptych. You may may choose to present your images digitally (projected: 72 dpi, saved as a .JPG), or physically (as prints:300 dpi, saved as a .TIFF).

You will be expected to confidently talk about what decisions are you making and why. You must also able to articulate how and why you chose to employ or reject the rules of composition: Rule of Thirds, Balancing Elements, Perspective, Shape and Line, Framing, Symmetry, Texture and Pattern, Background, Depth of Field, Cropping, etc.

Presenting your work as individual photographs will allow us to read each image alone. Presenting them as a diptych will force a relationship between the images, creating space for us to find meaning between the images. Just as collage creates and breaks meaning through cutting and placing disparate things together, so too can your juxtaposition of two “complete” images. This language also applies to the moving image (example: sequencing, montage), which we will address more in a few weeks.

THINGS TO CONSIDER: Do these images reinforce or contradict one another? Does one offer detail and the other context? Are they harmonious or do they clash? What kind of information do we receive by reading them together?

YOU WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON YOUR:

1. competency with a DSLR
2. conscious use/rejection of the rules of composition
3. satisfactory use of photoshop
4. verbal articulation of your intended narrative/feeling/content/etc. (concept)
5. work that effectively reflects and communicates your intentions/concept
   
   

Follow Up 9/12

Dear Class,

Thanks for your thoughtful responses and conversation yesterday! I was also generally impressed with your 'zines, your problem solving skills, and your working relationships with one another. Keep up the good work.

PLEASE BE ON TIME, NEXT WEEK AND FOREVER. I have little desire to get disciplinary about time, so let’s please be courteous and all be present when class starts, and following breaks. I do my best to get you guys out on time each week, but that relies on us making the best use of our shared time together.

Below are a few follow-ups from this week, and some reminders for next week.

The Cage:

Please remember to fill out the form from the cage and drop it off so that they can enter you into the system. Once you do this, you can start checking out equipment. Next week, we will do a demo of the DSLR cameras you have access to for this class, which are the D70 and the D200. You'll need to use a DSLR to complete your assignment due in two weeks (If you have your own, you can use that. But please let me know what make/model you will be using).

Stuff you need to have for next week:

In order to use the cage equipment, you will need to purchase your own:

CF (CompactFlash) card (for the DSLR cameras)

SD Card (for video camera and audio recorder)

USB A to USB Mini B cable (for transferring images from the cameras to your computer. 

You will use these cards throughout the year, and beyond. I did a quick search of all three of these things on amazon, and you should be able to get all of them for under 50 dollars. If you order them soon, you should have them by next week. You should also be able to get them at the bookstore. You must have a CF card and a cable, next week, in order to use the equipment from the cage.

Laptop:

Please bring your laptop to class next week, with photoshop. Please also have all of your images taken during your research on the connective corridor loaded on to your computer, in a folder specifically for TRM 153.  You do not need to post these to your blog. We will do a photoshop workshop, in class, using your images so you will be prepared for next week. 

Homework:

Come to class with notes and photo sketches (take lots of photos!) from at least 2 destinations on the Connective Corridor bus line. You may choose how you take these photos (on a camera phone, point and shoot, DSLR*.) You must go off campus. Here is a map of the route, including points of interest: http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/CC-Bus-Map-with-stops-18x24-poster-image-size.pdf

Here is the connective corridor bus website: http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/bus/

I'd suggest riding the whole loop! Know where you get off/back on. While in the field, be adventurous and inquisitive. Ask questions, talk to people. Read signs, read between them. Be prepared to talk thoughtfully about your research in class next week during one-on-one meetings with your instructor in class. You will revisit one of your locations next week to complete work to be presented during your first critique (in two weeks).

I am asking you to experience this city as a very modern flaneur. Get to know a part of this city you don’t already.  Wandering with intention, looking closely with the expectation of acknowledging something you find compelling. Try out this way of seeing.  Come back prepared to talk about your research.

*If you want to use one of the cage DSLRS this week, and if you have any trouble with reservations, let me know and I’ll do my best to help you out. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO USE A DSLR THIS WEEK, BUT YOU WILL NEXT WEEK.

Readings:

Please read these two articles for next week. Please write a short response to the articles, and post on the blog. Be sure to include your opinions! (For reference: 2-3 brief paragraphs is an appropriate length). PDFs of these are on Blackboard.

The Art of Peeping, The Guardian.co.uk

How Laura Poitras Helped Edward Snowden Spill His Secrets, NYTIMES Magazine

Also, if you have not posted your response to The Medium is the Massage, please post 3-5 points or reflections based on your assigned section of the text. Please have this posted before the start of class next week. THIS IS IN ADDITION TO YOUR OTHER ASSIGNMENTS. Thank you for those that have already done so.

See you next week! I'm looking forward to what you bring back. As always, don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Best,

Jessica

Follow Up 9/5

Thanks for a great class everyone! I hope you enjoyed the workshop in the library and Special Collections. The library is a wonderful resource, and the items we got a chance to see in Special collections really are a rare treat! I wish you luck and fun as you complete your homework this week.

In a below post, are the"rules" of composition that I introduced in class. You should feel encouraged to do more research on these. There are entire classes devoted to this stuff, so it's important to start paying attention to, using, and experimenting with these important elements of visual language. You will be expected to consider and talk about these through all of the visual work you make in this course. We will learn, together, as we go along.

For next week, you will need photoshop on your laptop. We will be doing in-class demonstrations, so this is very important. If you do not already have it, You can download a 30 day free trial from the Adobe website to save money. See the email I sent out last week for more info. Note: You will need Premiere on week 5, and you will likely need Photoshop and/or Premiere for your final project (and possibly the year, and your academic and professional careers). So you'll have to make a decision about what makes the most sense for you.

Your homework assignment, 'ZINE, is listed under the "Surveillance" page of this blog under "Week 2." Please also take some time to check out the examples of artists using collage and montage listed.

We will talk about Medium is the Massage in class next week, so please make sure to review it and your responses before then. If you haven't done so already, please post your responses to your blog. Don't worry about the other readings listed, we will get to them soon.

Good luck! And please let me know if you have any questions!

Best,
Jessica

RULES OF COMPOSITION: KEYWORDS

Rule of Thirds

Balancing Elements

Perspective (bird's eye view/aerial/up high looking down; worm's eye view/down low looking up)
Foreshortening
Shape and Line 

Framing

Symmetry 

Texture and Pattern

Background

Depth of Field

Cropping (for figures/people: full-length (head to toe), three quarter length (mid thigh up); chest up (traditional portrait), and headshot (close up))

Experiment: Move around, try different things.

Make motivated decisions; learn the rules before you break them.