FA 382 Assignments (2012-2014)


MAPPING PROJECT: Assignment #1

Part 1: Free Association mapping
Use a visual diagram system (bubble graph, line graph, etc.) to create a make a timeline of your personal creativity. Be prepared to share in class.


Part 2: Subjectivity of Memory
Visually create a finished map (using collage, drawing,painting, Photoshop, wire, string, buttons, flowers,paper, photos, markers, colored pencils, etc. that represent your hometown/neighborhood/childhood home (choose). The finished piece needs to be a minimum of 8.5x11. We will scan and or photograph the finished piece in class. Remember, our goal is not so much accuracy, so much as a subject map of who you are/where you are from. 

Due week 2.

Notes:
What is a map? (Excerpt from Community Mapping ‘zine by Hannah Lewis)
-Maps are powerful.
-Maps have interests or an argument to make.
-Maps are socially constructed.
-Maps are often conventionalized (they become seen as true or real).
-Maps are shaped by (and shape) political, economic, social, and cultural discourses of the time.
-Maps are a means of communication that many people find appealing.
-Maps come in many forms, such as aboriginal maps of stories, songs, or dreams showing the convergence of boundaries between realms.
-Maps have different ways of representing time.
-Maps are relational—they represent relationships between spatial or physical elements, cultural values and abstract ideas. For example: a road map shows the distance between physical places, but also shows cultural relationships in place names and abstract ideas, such as wilderness or adventure.
-Maps reflect the map-maker’s worldview: the


Intermediate Photography-FA 382

For Assignment #2, The In-Between. This next project is a good deal about pushing your photographic creativity, craft, and thinking. Below you will find a list of expression, sayings, adjectives, and the like. In many cases, the words don’t necessarily make logical sense. I would like you to respond to 20 of the expressions below photographically.  In some instances, two or more images (a diptych for example) may work.

How you interpret the expression is up to you. Some of you may choose to literally interpret and illustrate the words. Others of you may use it as a starting point to be inspired. I ask that you take the assignment seriously (well, not to seriously) have fun, push your creative thinking, and to create memorable, well crafted photographs. I need you to include the text with each photo.

A look                                                   a private moment                       
Inside/outside                                      Three Strikes                                   
Upside down                                                 Macro-Micro                                   
A curious placed hotdog                         Heavy                                               
Action/reaction                                     Excruciating                        
Gravity                                                free Fall                                   
In-between                                                Persistent Pain
Smooth                                                Desiring
Big hair                                                Fuzzy Food
Twisted                                                Clenched
Violently happy                                      Tasty Surprise
Sticky fingers                                                Misguided Youth
An unbelievable truth                          Rear End
Weak tension                                                  Confused
Infinite gesture                                     Bubble Wrap
Chance                                                   Have, had, want
Fluidity                                                   Circulation
Disposable Time                                    Free Fall
Bullocks                                                  Long and Short of it
Thirsty                                                   ½ full/ ½ empty
Love, music, laughter                        Vast Ending
It never comes back                                    Outside the lines
Medication                                                Origins
Crummy                                                Trespasses
Quiet                                                            Appetite
Sky Fire                                                Late

Links to review:
Nan Goldin

Ryan Mcginley

Wolfgang Tillmans (Exhibition Catalog)

Wolfgang Tillmans (Video)
http://vimeo.com/26537857

Zoe Strauss
http://www.zoestrauss.com/



Assignment #3

Your 3rd assignment is to make memorable pictures using four basic flash techniques. 10 images due week 8.

1. Turning down the ambient light
You achieve this by underexposing the ambient light by 2-4 stops. Or your flash is 2-4 stops brighter then the background. The more underexposed the ambient light, the darker the background behind the subject.

2. Painting with light
You will need a tripod or a way to place the camera stationary. It will also be helpful to have an off camera sync cord that you can “flash” the image at the end (or the beginning if you don’t)

3. Ghosting
Ghosting occurs when the ambient exposure is close to normal, and the shutter speed used for that normal exposure is slow in relation to the motion of your subject.

4. Stop Action
A flash is an excellent tool for stopping action. Simply set your flash to automatic and use the basic flash techniques such as distance, bounce, diffusion, etc., to stop action.

5. Fill Flash
Meter the scene with your camera or hand held light meter. Underexpose the scene by 1-2 stops.

Tips:
In calculating any exposure for an electronic flash, you need to keep in mind that there are 2 potential light sources that expose your film/digital sensor. One is the ambient light already present and the other is the light emitted by the flash. You should always consider the two.

Always remember to keep your sync speed set for your shutter speed while using a focal plane shutter (usually 1/60)

Remember to check the lights on the back of your flash when exposing. If the light is green (or equivalent) shows, then your flash is charged and ready to expose the scene properly.

You can find examples and technical info in your book Photography, under the chapter on lighting.



Photography -FA 382
Intermediate Photography

ASSIGNMENT 4
RE-PHOTO PROJECT

SELECT 5 IMAGES TO RECREATE. PREFERABLY ART PHOTOS (FROM BOOKS AND MAGAZINES IN CLASS) AND/OR PERSONAL/FAMILY PHOTOS. 

At least 3 should be done in the studio, 2 in natural light. 

The concept of re-photo is often associated with place and landscapes. You can view one of the most famous projects: "http://www.thirdview.org/3v/home/index.html" Also, if you do a internet search of "re-photograph" you will get examples and a definition.

For us, I want to focus more on recreating (copying, reproducing, recreating) photos in order to think about lighting, composition, angle, etc. I am not looking for exact reproductions so much as inspiration/motivation/development in seeing. 


ASSIGNMENT 5: Creating Video with DSLR's
We will be working collaboratively on a project and will briefly touch upon time-lapse, HD video capturing and editing, display, story boarding, and the like. As for the collaborative aspect, I would like us as a class, to collectively come up with a concept that we can work with. More specifically I would like the concept to have 3 parts (or approaches) to video.

For example, Dogme 95 is a movement with specific rules: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95”

 Think about you approaches, themes, concepts, and/or limitations we can develop. We  will break down into 3 smaller teams, develop the concept, and then work collectively together to create the 3 parts of the project. Our final editing will be done in Photoshop and I-movie, with the options of using Premiere and After Effects is desired.


Project 6
staged photography (or self designed final project)
Staged photography involves a performance enacted before the camera, akin to the arrested dramas of tableauxs. 

Or, you are welcome to write a proposal for a self designed final project. 

I am interested in you developing ambiguity, complexity and tension in staged images through the editing and selection of images.

Things to consider:
Importance of context. Re-contextualizing. Taking something from one situation and putting into another. 
Be playful. Push the boundaries of genres (blur the line between documentary, posed, staged, street, etc.)

Digital Captures. We will print selected images in the lab.

Final Projects
5 final images, printed, and presentation read