Course Syllabus

Ways of Seeing: Storytelling Through Photography A

Jacob Aue Sobol, Untitled, 2004, from the series Sabine

Course Description
Study abroad often serves as a key experience and a turning point in your understanding of the world. This class is an effort to make sense of your study abroad stay: rather than creating photographs as mementos, you will make pictures that are unique to your stay in Copenhagen, but still refer back to your life in general. It is not enough to point a camera at a tourist site or use it to make Facebook or Instagram images. You will be encouraged to view your new environment – not through the lens of an outsider viewing a novelty, but to give us, as viewers, special access to your world.

This class combines project development, photographic assignments, critiques and a survey of the history and theory of photography. You will engage with the medium of photography and the process of creating a coherent photographic project while at the same time learn about the development of photography and how your own pictures reference this. In class, our critiques will focus on intentionality and imbedded meaning in photography.

During the course of the semester, you will solve Photographic Assignments that will give you a chance to develop your photographic skills, explore and understand various storytelling approaches within photography. This will spark your creativity and get you closer to finding your photographic voice and approach to express yourself through photography. You will be challenged during this course, so your creativity, courage and curiosity is mandatory.

Course Format

Throughout this semester, we consider the cohort our Artist Collective. You will work on your personal projects and we will develop and create projects as a group. Through critiques and feedbacks, you all participate in the growth your classmates development. The collective is a creative space, where you are encouraged to explore and use your creativity to express yourself within photography.

While working our way through the different genres of photography our class activities will engage you to look at and discuss the work of professional practitioners as well the implications related to the photographic medium.

All students will do two presentations (7 minutes) on an individual photographer related to, but not actually cited in, the given topic. Presentations (in the form of a slideshow or PowerPoint) should be uploaded to canvas the day prior to the presentation.

While creating photographs on a regular basis during the semester, your critiques will help you to develop your skills, approach, style and final project idea. Each student will have 2 critiques during the semester, in which the cohort will provide constructive criticism. Students must bring a minimum of 12 new printed images for each critique, and must be prepared to talk about all of them. By the end of the semester you will have a final project of 3 to 25 images (depending on the type of work you are doing), a project statement presenting the work and a final essay with reflections on your process and inspiration.

We will create a Final book presentation of all student projects in connection with the DIS Final Showcase by the end of the semester. All students will show their final project in the form of a zine, which is a small photobook.


Learning Objectives

• You will gain a deeper understanding of the cultural impact of the medium of photography in a historical context, and be able to locate your own work in relation to that tradition.
• You will become knowledgeable about the process of creating a story or conveying a certain stance with images and you will get your own experiences doing so.
• You will develop a language of photographic critique – both of your own work and of others – and be able to thoughtfully describe the meaning of a photograph.
• You will generate a coherent photographic project where you express your stance or story and a project statement where you concisely present your project.
• You will develop a new sensitivity to looking at the world through the lens of a camera.
• You will learn how to manipulate a camera with agility and create the pictures you want to make, in terms of technique, form and content.

Course Instructor
Sanne Vils Axelsen holds a MFA in photography from University of Hartford (2016) and a  B.A. in Photojournalism from The Danish School of Media and Journalism (2010). Recipient of a Cultural exchange Scholarship for studies at FAMU in Prague (2009). Has worked as a freelance photographer since 2010.

Important Course Requirements
Attendance at all class sessions is mandatory. Two unexcused absences will warrant a reduced letter grade. Three unexcused absences will result in failure.

In order to be eligible for a passing grade in the class, all work must be submitted.

The use of distracting devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.) is prohibited during class. This is your responsibility and I will not remind you. Failure to comply will adversely affect participation grades. You are allowed to use these only when needed for specific class activities.

If you have difficulty with an assignment, please consult your instructor before your deadline. This doesn't mean that you will get a pass. But you will get advise on how to solve the issue.

NOTE: Students are expected to bring their own camera, preferably a DSLR.

Grade Components
Presentations: 20%
Written assignment: 20%
Development and Participation during the semester: 30%
Final Project and Artist Statement: 30%

Grade Breakdown

Presentation

• Choose a project / body of work from the selected photographer.
• It is important that your presentation is about their work and not their life story.
• Use between 10-15 photos in your presentation. Keep text slides at an absolute minimum.
• Present the photographers work, their intention, idea, photographic approach and your interpretation of it.
• Engage your fellow classmates in a conversation about the work.

Written Assignment

• You are to write an academic essay of 900-1200 words.
• This is a chance to show the analytical skills you have developed during this course and to show that you understand the theories discussed.

Development and Participation during the semester:

• Read the assigned literature. Refer to it during class.
• Be present. Engage in discussions in the classroom and on Canvas.
• Put time, effort and creativity into solving the Photo Assignments given throughout the semester.
• Participate in your fellow classmates critiques. Ask them relevant questions about their work and give them your honest opinion in order to help them find their direction. Be prepared for your own critique.

Final Project (Zine, Project Statement and essay)

• Narrow down your project idea, approach and language to create a coherent photographic project in the form of a book.
• In the written part of the final project, relate analytically to your own final project and explain it to the rest of the world. Write the following two:
  • A short presentational text that will be included in your final zine - a small photo book (100-300 words)
  • An essay where you analyze your process and your work and relate it to the history of photography (600-700 words)

Assignments

Photo assignment: First Impression Photodiary: After the first class, you begin making photos every day. Each day, you will receive instructions for the next photo you have to create. When you all bring your seven photos to class the following Thursday, we will have a class exercise and discussion about the work.

Written Assignment:  Writing assignment on photography. This is a writing assignment for you to use the analytical skills developed during this course and show that you understand the theory we have encountered. You will write a 900-1200 word assignment. The content for the assignment will be presented in class.

Final Project: For your critiques, you will bring a minimum of 12 prints each time. By the end of the semester you will have a finished project consisting of an amount of images between 3 and 25 (depends on the project approach you choose and we will agree on an amount). What is important is that you find your way of telling your story or conveying a feeling that translate your experience of being abroad. Your growing knowledge about photography throughout the semester will inspire your own process and project. The final project will be handed in as a small photographic book – a zine.

Readings

• John Szarkowski. The Photographers Eye. MOMA. 1966.
• Gerry Badger. A tale of two portraits from The pleasures of good photographs. Aperture. 2010
• Roland Barthes, selection from Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. Hill and Wang. 1981.
• Martin Gayford. Selection from Man with a blue scarf: on Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud.  Thames & Hudson. 2010.
• Gerry Badger. Face to face from The Genious of Photography. Quadrille Publishing Ltd. 2007.
• Charlotte Cotton. Chapter 5: Intimate Life. In The Photograph as Contemporary Art. Thames & Hudson. 2004.
• John Berger, Chapter 1 from Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books. 1972.
• Stephen Shore, excerpt from The Nature of Photographs. Phaidon. 2007
• Abigail Solomon-Godeau. Who Is Speaking Thus: Some Questions about Documentary Photography. In Photography at the Dock. University of Minnesota Press. 1991.
• Henri Cartier-Bresson. The Decisive Moment from The Mind’s Eye. Aperture. 1999.
• Susan Sontag. Regarding the pain of others. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2003.
• Susan Sontag. In Platos Cave from On photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1977.

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

• Course Enrollment and Grading
• Attendance
• Coursework, Exams, and Final Grade Reports

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org