Module Information
Module Identifier
AR11620
Module Title
Photographic Practice II: Identity/Face
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
Satisfactory entrance portfolio
Reading List
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Assigned course work Portfolio of photographs, feedback and assessment tutorial | 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Assigned course work Portfolio of new photographs | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an applied technical competence and a growing fluency in a broad range of media as appropriate to photographic making.
2. Understand the rationale behind the application of photographic skills to other areas of photographic and art practice.
3. Produce a body of work in photographic practice.
4. Demonstrate more fundamental skills in the photographic processes covered by this module.
5. Make an informed and personal response within a prescriptive brief, and to articulate a response both towards your own work and that of others.
6. Apply photographic techniques in order to record and respond to the figure and portrait in its broadest sense.
Brief description
Photography enables us to express our ideas through the mediated capture of light in an analogue and digital form. This module extends the practice introduced during Semester 1 in both the darkroom and digital practices.
Students will be introduced to medium and large format cameras and their use in the studio and in the field. This will be introduced in both film and digital formats as well as the continued use of 35mm digital SLR and analogue.
At the end of the module, students will have produced a portfolio of works on the theme of ‘Identity/Face’. You will investigate the potential of photographic media further in a themed context exploring identity, the portrait and environment. Students will also have the opportunity to explore process and concept further, and develop a cohesive portfolio of work on an agreed subject relating to the module’s theme.
The photographic portrait is core to this project, but the negotiated approach could relate to identity, tradition, environment, family, gender or occupation among other themes.
The resultant portfolio should demonstrate a growing aesthetic understanding, informed selection of images, and technical development. There will be workshops exploring further applications of the DSLR camera, studio lighting and digital processes such as Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as accurate calibration for digital printing and portfolio presentation.
The module paves the way for greater explorations of lens-based media in Semester 1 of Year 2 when creative contexts in photography are explored further.
Through practical classes, workshops, demonstrations, lectures and assignments, this module offers further introductions to the language of photography and its multifarious forms.
Students will be introduced to medium and large format cameras and their use in the studio and in the field. This will be introduced in both film and digital formats as well as the continued use of 35mm digital SLR and analogue.
At the end of the module, students will have produced a portfolio of works on the theme of ‘Identity/Face’. You will investigate the potential of photographic media further in a themed context exploring identity, the portrait and environment. Students will also have the opportunity to explore process and concept further, and develop a cohesive portfolio of work on an agreed subject relating to the module’s theme.
The photographic portrait is core to this project, but the negotiated approach could relate to identity, tradition, environment, family, gender or occupation among other themes.
The resultant portfolio should demonstrate a growing aesthetic understanding, informed selection of images, and technical development. There will be workshops exploring further applications of the DSLR camera, studio lighting and digital processes such as Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as accurate calibration for digital printing and portfolio presentation.
The module paves the way for greater explorations of lens-based media in Semester 1 of Year 2 when creative contexts in photography are explored further.
Through practical classes, workshops, demonstrations, lectures and assignments, this module offers further introductions to the language of photography and its multifarious forms.
Content
This module comprises weekly lectures on techniques, methods and processes common to photography. Using ‘Identity/Face’ as the unifying theme complements the core art history module AH10610 Representing the Body to provide a themed approach to photographic practice.
1. Lecture: Introduction to the module. Launch of the portfolio project, ‘Identity/Face’.
Practical: Introduction to medium format cameras.
2. Lecture: The Big Lens – structuring photographic meaning.
Practical: Introduction to large format cameras in the studio.
3. Lecture: Colour photography as an expressive praxis.
Practical: Colour printing and digital calibration.
4. Lecture: Identity and Culture in the photographic form
Practical: Fieldwork with medium and large format cameras. Exposure and composition.
5. Lecture: The Radical Body – protest and dissent in the photographic image.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
6. Tutorials, Seminar and Group Tutorials.
7. Lecture: The Vanishing Face – photographic censorship and manipulation.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
8. Lecture: Style and Substance - fashion and editorial bodies.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
9. Lecture: The Extended Eye – photography as record of the self.
10. Lecture: Strange Bodies – transgressive and expressive photographies
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops
Group Tutorial and review of all the work made on this part of the module.
1. Lecture: Introduction to the module. Launch of the portfolio project, ‘Identity/Face’.
Practical: Introduction to medium format cameras.
2. Lecture: The Big Lens – structuring photographic meaning.
Practical: Introduction to large format cameras in the studio.
3. Lecture: Colour photography as an expressive praxis.
Practical: Colour printing and digital calibration.
4. Lecture: Identity and Culture in the photographic form
Practical: Fieldwork with medium and large format cameras. Exposure and composition.
5. Lecture: The Radical Body – protest and dissent in the photographic image.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
6. Tutorials, Seminar and Group Tutorials.
7. Lecture: The Vanishing Face – photographic censorship and manipulation.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
8. Lecture: Style and Substance - fashion and editorial bodies.
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops.
9. Lecture: The Extended Eye – photography as record of the self.
10. Lecture: Strange Bodies – transgressive and expressive photographies
Practical: Darkroom printing/digital workshops
Group Tutorial and review of all the work made on this part of the module.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Students are gradually introduced to numerical technical information e.g. in chemical processes of photography, lens apertures, depth of field, etc. |
| Communication | Discussion of photographs in individual and group situations throughout semester. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Mode of teaching during practicals and tutorials provides feedback during the semester giving students ample opportunity to respond to feedback. |
| Information Technology | Research visual imagery and access email, Blackboard, Photoshop, etc. is explained and students referred to IS Helpdesk if necessary. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Students are encouraged to consider future options during Semester 1, with both a short- and long-term view. |
| Problem solving | Problem solving is inherent and evidential in the production of photographic artworks. |
| Research skills | Students are introduced to our subject area librarian; instructed on keeping visual diary and notebooks that necessitate research skills. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Techniques and methodology introduced as appropriate throughout semester. |
| Team work | Using subject specific equipment in dedicated studio spaces / darkrooms / MacSuite requires teamwork. Small group tutorials and outdoor field work reinforces team/group ethos. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4