Experimental Photography

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject examines the so-called authenticity of photographic images. Through a series of lectures students will gain an understanding of how artists including Man Ray, Moholy-Nagy, Peter Kennedy and Martyn Jolly have diverged from the mainstream of straight photography from the beginning of the twentieth century until the present. Composition and aesthetic principles will also be covered in the lectures. Art criticism, interpreting images and identifying context will be covered in lectures leading students to develop critiquing skills to enable them to evaluate their own work and the work of others. In their practical projects students will explore concepts such as deception, illusion, representing the un-representable, absence, emptiness, photomontage and distortion using devices such as layering, blurring, ghosting, photograms and digital effects. To achieve these visual effects they will be introduced to studio lighting and advanced Photoshop techniques. Students can also combine their photographs with other visual media and/or text.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• be able to work independently to carry a concept through to an artistic outcome;

• demonstrate sound and independent critical and ethical thinking in their choice of materials and processes;

• able to discuss their work conceptually and technically in a group image review

Students who have completed 760-222 Media Production: Photography are ineligible to enrol in this subject. Students without a basic knowledge of photography must complete the relevant online modules in MAIL: Media Arts Interactive Learning. A basic knowledge of Photoshop is required. A quota of 20 students applies to this subject.