The module introduces the major theoretical and critical literature on photography in the 20th Century through an examination and close reading of key texts by the main authors and thinkers and the most significant concepts that have shaped photographic thinking' and thinking about photography. It examines the relationship between the photo-document and the documentary and provides the basis for reflection and discussion on the photographic image and its production and reception at key junctures e.g. photography as a mass medium in the 1920s and 1930s (Benjamin, Kracauer and Brecht), its role in reportage of war and conflict in the 1960s and 1970s (Sontag and Berger). In addition there is a philosophical enquiry and reflection which examines its relationship to memory, language and its' limits (Barthes, Berger, Flusser, Kracauer, Metz and Sontag).
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The Photographic Document and Documentary formAesthetics, Realism and ModernismBenjamin’s 'Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'Kracauer’ 'Photography', Memory and HistorySontag’s 'On Photography' and 'Regarding the Pain of Others'Barthes’ 'Photographic Message', 'Rhetoric of the Image' and 'Camera Lucida'Photography, Affect and Affective SeeingFlusser's Philosophy of Photography
Primarily lecture-based, this module relies on discussion and on occasion will require extensive preparation for classes, i.e. a flipped class.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 50 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 50 |