Studio of Classic Photography 10

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Subject guarantor

Martin STECKER

Name of lecturer(s)

Martin STECKER

Contents

The classical photography studio focuses on technological procedures and processes in the generation of photography. The content arises from the assumption that the student must master particular technical tasks which open a path to the realization of one's artistic intentions. Procedures are analysed with students which lead to priorly established goals. Part of instruction is a comparison of various technology and their limitations which often may become the single bearer of implementation of the selected intent.

The studio is devoted to working with classic analog photography from cinematic film to large-format photography. Students have the opportunity to work with negatives up to 30x40cm and to subsequently produce on color paper in meter dimensions.

Part of the studio is a workshop focused on historical photography techniques such as flexography, cyanotype, bromoil print or working with gelatine and its transfer to non-standard materials. A unique original, where the bearer of the positive image is the negative, is photography.

The studio is dedicated to technological innovations, research and evaluation of the potential of digital photography and other technologies which take part in the recording of an optical image. Part of the studio are new light sources, managing aerial photography using drones, or acquiring extremely high-quality shots using various robotic devices.

Investigation of the potential for realizing one's creative intentions in relation to the selected technology is, among others, in studio discussions.

Learning outcomes

The classical photography studio focuses on technological procedures and processes in the generation of photography. The content arises from the assumption that the student must master particular technical tasks which open a path to the realization of one's artistic intentions. Procedures are analysed with students which lead to priorly established goals. Part of instruction is a comparison of various technology and their limitations which often may become the single bearer of implementation of the selected intent.

Prerequisites and other requirements

Assignment for the summer term 2022

Masks, masking and camouflage

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.

(Oscar Wilde)

Masks are closely linked with the history of artistic practice, from animistic spiritual use by indigenous tribes, through the colonialist appropriations of African aesthetic traditions by Fauvists and Cubists, to diverse contemporary trends questioning the setting of geopolitical infrastructure.

In a basic sense, a mask can be seen as a disguise that covers the face or a part of it

to protect health, conceal identity, for ritual purposes, to entertain, or to intimidate others. There are also masks that reveal more than they hide. Masks are wonderfully paradoxical in this way: while they may hide the physical reality, they can show us how a person wants to be seen. Such masks can be seemingly invisible. They are something that we wear metaphorically in order to somehow present ourselves to the world, while hiding what we really are thinking or feeling. How does one peek under such a mask and what happens when the mask falls off?

In addition to the above-mentioned levels of meaning, for the purposes of the studio assignment it is useful to extend the perception of masks to the area of camouflage

and masking. In this sense, masks do not have to only conceal the face, but as camouflage can cover entire objects, buildings and landscapes in order to create

an impression of mystery, to alter or challenge their function or to explore their forms. Masking can then be the process of covering or protecting certain parts of a picture

or surface from alteration, in order to create new layers or to directly separate

and emphasize a particular part of the image. In its most direct sense, masking is

an activity of adapting a person or object to its surroundings so that it is not easily seen or detected.

The aim of the studio exercise for the summer term 2021/22 is to explore new ways

of using masks, camouflages and masking by means of the photographic medium not only in the traditional sense, but especially in meanings that are figurative

and transcend the general interpretation of these words. Your work is not limited

by choice of genre or technical approach. You have the opportunity to choose

or discover a creative approach that suits you best, both in terms of expression

and execution. Your research and work-in-progress should be subject to regular consultations. The final work must be anchored in the medium of photography and should consist of at least six individual photographic images.

Literature

Alberro, Alexander - Norvell, Patricia (ed.): Recording Conceptual Art, Berkeley,

Los Angeles a London: University of California Press, 2001

Alberro, Alexander, Sabeth Buchmann: Art After ConceptualArt, MIT Press,

Cambridge and London, 2006

Fried Michael: Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before, Yale University

Press, New Haven 2008

Bourriaud, Nicolas: Postprodukce, Praha: Tranzit, 2004

Bourriaud, Nicolas: Relational Aesthetics, Dijon: Les presses du réel, 2002

Cotton Charlotte: The Photography as Contemporary Art, London, Thames

Hudson, 2004

Císař, Karel (ed): Co je to fotografie? Herrmann a synové, Praha 2004

Foster, Hal (ed): Postmodern Culture, London: Pluto Press, 1990

Foster, Hal; Krauss, Rosalind; Bois, Yves-Alain; Buchloh, Benjamin H.D.: Art

since 1900, London: Thames & Hudson, 2004

Michel Frizot: Nouvelle Histoire de la Photographie, Larousse-Bordas, Paris,

1996

Grygar Štěpán, Konceptuální umění a fotografie, Praha, AMU, 2004

Petříček Miroslav: Myšlení obrazem, Herrmann a synové, Praha 2009

Silverio, Robert: Postmoderní fotografie, Praha: AMU, 2007

Liz Wells. The Photography Reader, Routledge, London, 2003

Wall, Jeff: Selected Essays and Interviews, New York: The Museum of Modern

Art, 2007

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students may be graded based on attendance 80% and participation in group excursions. Each exercise will be graded according to the criteria given.

Note

none

Schedule for winter semester 2023/2024:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2023/2024:

• Week view
• List

The subject is a part of the following study plans

• Photography EN - Master-1920 (Required elective subjects)