ART ST 389.046--Advanced Digital Technology
University of New Mexico Spring 2006
Meeting Times: Mondays & Wednesdays 9:00-11:50 am
Meeting Place: DSH 144
Instructor: Tom Richardson
Instructor’s Office: ART220, Phone 277-3830, Hours: TBA
Email: tomrich@unm.edu
Instructor's website: www.tomrichardsonart.com

Course Description:
This course is offered as a continuation of the concepts and skills learned in the 289: Introduction to Digital Photography course. It is designed for those who already have basic knowledge of digital photography and are interested in refining and/or expanding their digital skills. Students will explore the creative potential of the medium while investigating qualities unique to the digital environment such as non-linear storytelling and integration of text and image. A second focus of the class will be to address the various theoretical debates surrounding digital processes. Students will be exposed to these debates through assigned readings and asked to formulate thoughtful conclusions through analysis of readings and class discussions.

Some Topics That Will Be Addressed:
I am a firm believer that artists should obtain certain skills in order to facilitate their artistic vision. It has to do with professionalism. To this end, some of the technical things we will cover are:

• How to properly set up and maintain a managed workflow for digital imaging
• How to make exhibition quality prints from a scanned negative
• How to work with advanced Photoshop techniques for image enhancement and manipulation such as the powerful Curves function for precise color corrections
• How to work with layer masks in Adobe Photoshop to create seamless montage effects
• The different types of output available for digital printing and what the differences are
• How to achieve traditional darkroom effects such as solarization, split-tone printing, and cross processing through digital means
• Determination of the correct file size you need for a specific output
• Basic HTML code and upload images to the internet for public viewing
• The differences between the various digital file types, knowing when to use what type

Class Structure:
The class will be modeled on a "workshop" approach to learning. This means you must be at class on time and ready with materials to work during class. Our scheduled class time will be used primarily for lectures, demonstrations, slide presentations, and critiques. There will also be a number of lab days. You will be exposed to a number of artists this semester through presentations and slides shows. Presentations are intended to spark ideas and expose students to different approaches to making art. Engage in the practice of seeing more actively and you will become a better artist.

Course Philosophies:
You:
Each one of you are an important and integral part of the class. Your life experiences, passions, and interests make each of you unique. The class benefits as a whole when you bring those experiences and your expertise to the class and share your thoughts with each other. This is particularly important for class discussions and critiques. The success of the class largely depends on this group dynamic. I encourage each of you to get to know your classmates. They may turn out to be your best resource.

Your Work:
Since its inception, photography has been used in a variety of contexts including science, graphic arts, news media, and the home. This class will focus on photography as an art form. All work conducted for the class should demonstrate the student’s ability to consider aesthetic and conceptual decisions in terms of making art. Students are expected to go beyond the level of the casual user of photography and delve into topics that touch on issues of cultural and/or personal relevance. Students should consider the long, rich history of photography and where they might find their own personal “voice” among the many artists who have come before them. Your growth as an artist/image maker over the semester will be factored into your final grade.

Originality/Academic dishonesty: All artwork turned in for credit in this course must be of your creation and specific to this course. In general, work that is or has been used for other photography courses will not be acceptable. See me if you have questions. All papers written must follow the academic guidelines set forth by the University of New Mexico. <view academic policy>

Attendance/Participation/Tardiness:
As stated above each person is an important part of the class. Your attendance is not only desired but mandatory. You will be expected to attend all class meetings on time and to stay for the entire class. If you obtain more than three unexcused absences for the course I will assume you have lost interest in the class and I will drop you from the course. An excused absence is one in which you have notified me prior to being absent. Notification by email is best. Absences in general should be reserved for illness or life crises. If you miss class or you are late it is your responsibility to make up the work and find out what you missed. Class participation will count for ten percent of your final grade. Please make an effort to be at class on time. Three late arrivals equal one unexcused absence. Please turn off all cell phones, beepers, pagers, etc before class begins.

<back to top>


Requirements:

Journals: You will be required to keep a daily journal for this class. Memories, dreams, and ideas are the genesis of works of art and extremely ephemeral. I use this word “journal” in the loosest possible sense. If you like to write, you may use it to record daily events. What I am requiring is that you add something on a daily basis. This could be a few words about what you’re thinking, a line from a book or overheard conversation, music lyrics, a letter pasted from a friend, poetry, a dream you had, a drawing, a magazine add, etc, anything that will remind you of what you were thinking, but you must record something everyday. I’m interested in providing a means for you to trace and preserve the development of your thoughts and ideas. Journals will be factored in to your participation grade for the class.

Coursework: Since this is a three-hundred level class, the course will be less assignment driven and focused more on your development of a methodology to producing work. This places a big responsibility on you, the student, but presents a more accurate reflection of artistic practice beyond the academic environment. Essentially what this means is that YOU will have to be the principal motivator behind making work on a regular and steady basis. All students will be expected to show work at scheduled times throughout the semester. We will draw up a schedule during the second week of class. This will count toward 60% of your grade.

For this semester I am proposing a two track approach to your portfolio work. As this is a digital course, whichever path you choose, you must utilize digital means for the production of the work:

Track 1: Early in the semester, you will choose a project to work on based on both an expansion of your technical skills and a refinement of your aesthetic awareness of contemporary photographic practice. You will identify artists who are already working in the mode you want to explore in order to realize the strongest possible work you are capable of. You will choose one theme to work with the entire semester.

Track 2: Use the semester to explore a variety of ways of working broken up into 3-4 week segments. This is a topical approach. One or more segments could explore specific models of working such as collage, the narrative (linear or non-linear), the constructed image, or appropriation. Work with me to establish a plan at the beginning of the semester.

Exercises: In addition to the work you pursue this semester there will be a number of technical exercises to complete. These exercises are brief assignments that will help you learn the techniques of digital photography. The exercises should take no longer than a few hours to complete. These exercises are designed to work in conjunction with the main work you are producing for the class. Exercises will count toward 15 percent of your grade.

Artist Presentation: You will give a ten minute artist presentation on one of the artists from the list I have compiled for this class. Presentation need not be lengthy but should be substantive in nature. This is not a biography assignment. You should analyze a few of the works done by this artist and present to the class the conceptual framework the artist is using to create work. The goal is quality, not quantity. You will need to present visuals to assist in your presentation. I suggest the use of a program such as power point which I can tutor you on. We will visit the Fine Arts Library for an orientation on library research to assist you in your research. The presentation is worth 10% of your final grade.

Readings: There will be a number of readings on reserve at the Fine Arts Library. They are designed to work in conjunction with the visual assignments as well as bring to light theoretical concerns regarding digital photography. Weekly class discussions will be held and each student can expect to lead this discussion at least once during the semester. Readings and class participation will count toward the remaining 15% of your final grade.

<back to top>

Grading Criteria:

The artwork created in class will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1 Technical. e.g., Is the negative well scanned? Is printing appropriate to the subject matter? Have materials and processing been handled in a consistent, considered manner?

2 Formal. Do your photographs employ visually effective strategies to convey their own content? Characteristics such as framing, tonality, placement of subject in the frame, etc. all figure in this level of evaluation.

3 Intentional. Assuming that you are attempting to convey something--a feeling, idea, or argument--do your technical and formal strategies work effectively together to communicate that intended meaning? Are your aims significant or trivial, engaging or tedious, ambitious or rote?

What the letters mean:

Plus and minus grades will be used to further differentiate the above.


Americans with Disabilities Act
This course is in compliance with the ADA law. If you are in need of special assistance due to a disability please see me privately at the beginning of the semester so that accommodations can be made to suit your needs.

Equipment and Materials:

Supplies:
You will need some type of digital storage media in order to save your work as well as transfer files from one place to another. I recommend buying a portable external hard drive. You may also use CDR's or ZIP disks. Jump drives are convenient for transferring small files but generally not suitable for image files. You will also need to buy inkjet paper for making prints. Size and surface is up to you and you may want to explore the different surfaces that are available by purchasing a variety pack. Other items you may want to have on hand include canned air or an anti-static brush.
Digital cameras are not required for the course although you may use one if you own one. The reason for this is that high-end SLR digital cameras are still rather expensive. You need at least a 5 mega-pixel camera in order to produce an 8x10 in. print. This is rather limiting in terms of size. The preferred method will be to use existing traditional cameras to make your images and digitize the negatives through scanning.

Text:
The textbook I am requiring for the course is:
Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers by Martin Evening. It is published by Focal Press
ISBN: 0240519841. You can purchase online through Amazon or through one of the local booksellers. The book retails for around $45.00

Optional texts: Below are some texts that I've found useful for referencing and learning digital photographic techniques:

Mastering Digital Printing by Harald Johnson
Peach Pit Press's Visual Quickstart Guide to Adobe PhotoShop
Exploring Color Photography by Robert Hirsch, Chapters 7&8 on digital
Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing by Dan Burkholder

Course Fee:
There is an $18 lab fee associated with this course that covers the use and maintenance of computers at Dane Smith Hall. It should be automatically deducted from your student account. It does not cover use of other digital facilities at the Fine Arts building.

<back to top>

Resources:

Print Study Room
The University of New Mexico houses an extensive collection of historical and contemporary photographs in the Print Study Room at the Fine Arts Museum in CFA. One class will be dedicated to a visit to the study room where we will view a number of photographs from the collection and meet with the Print Room Supervisor Chris Jones.

Online resources:
This is by no means a comprehensive list. We will work in class to extend its length

http://elibrary.unm.edu/subjects/photog.php a very thorough portal that lists sites of interest to those pursuing photography in the fine arts maintained by Nina Stephenson at the UNM library.
www.photoeye.com store in Santa Fe which sells photographic books and has an extensive online gallery.
www.bhphotovideo.com mail and web order photographic supplies
www.photoformulary.com seller of large array of photographic chemicals.
www.pixelpress.org  online magazine with photo essays on current news events.
www.digitaljournalist.org The Digital Journalist monthly online digital site dedicated to photojournalism
www.spenational.org Society for Photographic Education’s website
www.aperture.org Photographic quarterly dedicated to the promotion of photography as a fine art
www.vsw.org/afterimage Journal of media art and cultural criticism with articles on contemporary photographers
www.zonezero.com online magazine/journal dedicated to the promotion of digital photography hosted by the outspoken Pedro Meyer, with articles, interviews, and galleries

<back to top>

Abbreviated Course Bibliography:

Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. p. 227-285.

Amelunxen, Hubertus Von et al. Photography After Photography. Amsterdam: U+B arts, 1996.

Batchen, Geoffrey. “DA[R]TA.” Each Wild Idea. Massachusetts: MIT, 2002. 176-191.

--------------------- “Ectoplasm.” Each Wild Idea. Massachusetts: MIT, 2002. 128-143.

Baudrillard, Jean. “The Precession of Simulacra.” Simulations. New York: Semiotext(e), Inc., 1983.

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations. Ed. Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken Books, 1969.

Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings of Jorge Luis Borges. Ed. Donald A. Yates and James E. Irby. New York: New Directions, 1964.

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” Electronic Culture: Technology and Visual Representation. Ed. Timothy Druckrey. New York: Aperture, 1996.

Druckrey, Timothy. “From Dada to Digital: Montage in the Twentieth Century.” Aperture no. 136: 4-7.

Leffingwell, Edward. “Andreas Gursky: Making Things Clear.” Art in America June 2001: 76-84.

Lister, Martin, ed. The Photographic Image in Digital Culture. London; New York: Routledge, 1995.

Ritchin, Fred. In Our Own Image. New York: Aperture, 1990.

----------------"Photography's Amateur Hour." www.pixelpress.org, 2004.

Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003.

Stone, Allucquére Rosanne. “In Novel Conditions: The Cross-Dressing Psychiatrist.” The War of Desire & Technology. Massachusetts: MIT, 1996. 65-81.

<back to top>