One of my favorite classes this semester is CORE 101: Writing and Photography. It’s one of my thematic option classes (a program I talked about a couple posts ago) and by far the most interesting!
Through examining the history of photography and how its changed, lectures focus on questioning not only the purpose of a photo but also its definition. The class is mainly discussion based so that everyone has the opportunity to comment on the current photo. For example, just last week we talked about why a photo like the one below could be sold for $4.3 million in 2011.
Andreas Gursky, Rhine II
The required essays are equally as interesting to write too. I got to write a paper that introduces myself through a photo I could choose by using the elements of photography writing studied in class. Choosing the photo below, I was surprised to find that for a random shot taken from an iphone, I was able to pick apart the image and explain how each related back to me through symbolism and illusory effect.
Senior Day Tennis Team Photo
Moreover, along with watching movies related to photography such as Blow-Up, we got to make out own cyanotypes–a type of photograph. As a class, we went outside one day where the professor provided us cyanotype paper for us to lay an object on in the sun from which we got a print. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see how powerful the sun could be.
Cyanotype of my watch and necklace
Not only is the class always intriguing in that it has allowed me to view and understand photography in a different light but it has also allowed me to form a strong relationship with my professor. I talk to her in class through discussion, but I also visit her office hours quite often to talk about anything from the material studied in class to ideas I have thought of when browsing through the internet. There is a lot of reading and writing, but I enjoy every bit of it!
