This course is for students who have previously studied photography and who wish to use historic methods to complement their ideas. The primary medium will be black and white film and will emphasize the development of a personal vision of each student. Projects may also include the production and use of pin-hole or other alternative cameras and investigate their relationship to 16th and 17th century optical devices and images found in Rome. There will be experimentation and investigation with a variety of methods and materials that are not commonly used such as lumen prints, contact printing, and large format film. Along with studio time the class will consist of lectures, technical demonstrations, field trips and group critiques. Students will produce a series of printed images for their final portfolio.
The Advanced Photography Workshop focuses on analog tools and techniques. We move from a competence in film processing and black and white darkroom printing towards historic, alternative, and experimental photographic techniques. Starting from the basic pinhole camera, students are guided through the various methods of “drawing with light” to explore more sophisticated, hands-on printing techniques and image-making devices. Using both analog and digital tools, simple chemistry, and experimentation, we explore artistic solutions to contemporary image making ideas.
With the eternal city as our backdrop, we explore the history of photographic imaging and the way we see ourselves in the past and the future. In an advanced course, students are expected to show competency in various techniques, courage to work independently, and an ability to create a final project portfolio. Weekly critiques and assigned readings encourage a contemporary, critical context for understanding photographic images.
Material Covered:
- Advanced Film Processing: The use of various methods add control to the quality of the negative, pushing, pulling, use of warm and cold developers.
- Advanced Darkroom Printing: toning processes, solarizing, layering, sandwiching negatives, split filtering are applied.
- Historical Techniques: cyanotype, daguerreotype, salt and gum bichromate prints, wet collodion processes are explored
- Pinhole cameras: Use of large- and small-scale homemade cameras
- Film Format: Fil cameras, 35mm, medium (120) and large format 4 x 5 Lomography
- Digital post Product: work is canned and finished in Photoshop or Lightroom
Along with a 35 mm camera students are encouraged to bring any type of pin-hole camera, Diana-F, Lomo LC-A or other film cameras. A small number of basic film cameras are available at Temple Rome for limited student use.
Digital photography and darkroom photography with a minimum grade of C-, or equivalent. For Temple students, specific pre-requisites include one of the following (GAD 2441 or GAD 2451) and one of the following (GAD 3412 or GAD 3414).
In Rome, this course is cross-listed with Art 3611.