Stick a fork in us, we're done

All portfolios have been graded and returned, students may pick them up anytime. Have a great holiday break!

End Game Schedule

Here is the schedule for the last class meetings of the semester:

December 1.........Work Day

December 3..........Self Portrait crit

December 5..........Last Day of Classes FL2014

December 8..........Final Portfolios due today no later than 3 pm

December 15........Final Portfolios returned.

Assignment #7 Studio nude

The female nude – magical, erotic, aesthetic – has been modeled and painted since prehistory. Appearing rarely and awkwardly in the earliest art, she attained fulfillment and glory in ancient Greece. In their idealized treatment of the nude, The Greeks established a standard that only the asceticism of the Middle Ages ignored. The artists of the Renaissance and their successors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries revived the nude, and by the 1930’s she was again a conventional form. It was inevitable that she should become a favorite subject of photography. - Peter Lacey

Bring one print to class for critique on November 17th.

Model will be supplied during in class shoot on November 5, students may of course photograph a model of their own choosing.

Assignment #6 Studio portrait

Photography can be an additive practice as we have discussed in class, but no where is this more evident than the lighting studio. You begin with a black room, add a back ground, set lights, determine  camera angle and lastly choose a subject.

In this assignment you will enlist the help of a human subject, no younger than 14 years old and photograph them under controlled lighting conditions in the lighting studio. Pay attention to direction of main and fill lights and ratio between each source. In the studio, everything matters.

Richard Avedon

Artists to research are: Karsh, Avedon, Halsman, Leibovitz, Scavullo and Penn.

Crit date November 10

Environmental Portrait #5

“The subject must be thought of in terms of the 20th century, of houses he lives in and places he works, in terms of the kind of light the windows in these places let through and by which we see him every day.”

Arnold Newman

                                       "Willie The Lion Smith"  by Arnold Newman 1960

 Simply put, an environmental portrait is a portrait of a person that includes enough of the environment around that person to provide context that helps the viewer understand more about the defining characteristics of the subject.  One of the keys to a successful environmental portrait is that the portion of the scene included in the frame should be "representative" of the environment or context you want the viewer to associate with the subject.  The relative importance of the subject to the environment is also important in defining an "environmental portrait."  The subject should be the most prominent element in the scene, with the surrounding elements providing strong supporting context.  If you are too close to your subject to include enough of the environment, then the image simply becomes a normal portrait.  On the other hand, if the subject is so small in the frame that other elements become more prominent, or viewers cannot discern the defining characteristics of the subject, then the image would be better classified as something other than an environmental portrait.

"Baker" August Sander

Shoot a minimum of 50 images/frames. You can shoot this assignment at a number of locations and even on different days. The subject must be part of the process and may include others, no candid photos of random people you have not met however! No animals or no humans under the age of 14 year as primary subject matter.

Lewis Hine

Bring one print to class for critique on October 29.

Assignment #4 Documentary Photography-The Event

Gary Winogrand

Crit is October 22

Assignment #3 Landscape of the Street

This assignment is different from the decisive moment, where the element of time and location are critical. In this assignment you will look toward capturing the urban landscape in its complexities and visual structures.

Walker Evans, Bethleham, Pa 1935

Critique is October 8, bring one print minimum to the crit.

Assignment #2 The Street Photography-Decisive Moment

Assignment #2 The Street Photography-Decisive Moment

“You must milk the cow a great deal, to get enough milk, to make a little bit of cheese”

Henri Cartier-Bresson

There come certain moments in our lives when any number of forces (both those we can control and those we can’t) merge together.  Everything comes together as if fate had planned it that way.  To simplify this in a phrase; being in the right place at the right time.

The French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson describes this sensation in his work as being “The Decisive Moment”.  A point in time and space when those forces (people, buildings, autos, animals, shapes, forms, weather etc.) arrange themselves in front of his camera to present a complete statement, both visually and emotionally.  Everything is revealed with perfect clarity.

But this is a very quick and fleeting moment.  The power created by all these forces dissolves as quickly as it arises.  Cartier-Bresson sees it as his responsibility as a photographer to be aware of such moments and to photograph them at precisely “the decisive moment”.

Your assignment, shoot at least two rolls of 36 exposure of these decisive moments you find in your world.  These are best found outdoors and in situations where there are lots of people around.  Use ISO 400 speed setting and try to use higher shutter speeds if your subjects are moving, around 250-500 of a second.

Carry your camera in the ready mode, that is pre-focused and the exposure controls adjusted for the lighting situation you are in.  Try concentrating on the three basic elements (time, space, and objects in space, like people).  Observe their interaction.  You skill will increase with practice and timing is everything.

Turn in a minimum of one print that best presents the idea of the decisive moment. The print may be of any size.

For more information, check out the works of Cartier-Bresson in the art and architecture library and the works of Elliot Erwitt and Gray Winnogrand two other photographers who deal with these elements.

Gary Winogrand

Critique for this assignment is September 24

Assignment #1 The Black & White Image

Black & White photography is different from color photography from both an obvious visual approach but also from a more conceptual understanding. With the exception of a few who are color blind, we all see and understand the world in color. To make black & white images requires that you make the translation in your head as your shooting.

For this assignment shoot one roll of 36 exposure HP-5 or similar film with the goal of making images where it matters that the image is mono toned and not in color. As part of this assignment, you should bracket all your images, one stop over, one exposed what you believe to be the correct exposure and one stop under exposed.

Bring the exposed film to class for in class processing September 3.

Welcome to ART 1186 Black & White Photography I

Course Syllabus (the fine print)

Prof. Stan Strembicki

Black and White Photography I ART1186 sec 01

FL 2014 V1.0

Monday & Wednesday 1:00-4:00

08/2514           class intro; exposure and development; assignment #1-The Black & White image 08/27/14  TBA possible field trip

09/01/14          Labor Day-no WU classes

09/03/14          film processing demo; students bring exposed roll to class from Assignment #1

09/08/14          slides for assignment #2 (“Street Photography-Decisive Moment”); lab time for film processing

09/10/14          contact printing & enlarging demo; students bring developed film to class

09/15/14          Crit assignment #1-The Black and White Image

09/17/14          Contrast control & Burning and Dodging demo -work day   

09/22/14          slides for assignment #3 Landscape of the Street

09/24/14          Crit for assignment #2- Street Photography/Decisive Moment assignment

09/29/14          Field trip to SLAM or TBA

10/01/14          Stan’s Life In Art lecture

10/06/14          slides for#4 Documentary photography-The Event

10/08/14          Crit for #3 Landscape of the street

10/13/14          Slide lecture for  #5-“environmental portrait”

10/15/14          No Stan (TBA)

10/20/14          fiber print demo/lecture 

10/22/14          Crit for #4 Documentary Photography-The Event

10/27/14          Lecture and give assignment # 6 Studio portrait

10/29/14          crit for #5 Environmental Portrait

11/03/14          Slides for studio assignment  #7 Studio nude

11/05/14          nude model in class

11/10/14          crit  # 6 Studio portrait

11/12/14          Slides for Self portrait #9

11/17/14          crit for assignment  #7 studio nude

11/24/14          crit for assignment #8-Personal Still Life

11/26/14          No class-Thanksgiving Break-lab closed

                       

12/01/14          presentation, mounting and matting

12/03/14          crit for # 9 Self Portrait

12/05/14          last day of classes

12/08/14          final portfolio due today                                 

12/11/14          final exams begin                   

12/15/14          portfolios returned

Assignments:

1. Exposure and development P/F
2. Street Photography-decisive moment
3. Landscape of the Street
4. Documentary Photography-The Event
5. Environmental Portrait
6. Studio Portrait
7. Studio nude
8. Personal Still Life
9. Self portrait

Final Portfolios:

You are expected to shoot film, perform all lab work, and final presentation. Students who use other students’ prints or negatives without attribution are guilty of cheating and will be referred to the Associate Dean for further action, and fail the class. Final portfolios consist of 10-15 matted or mounted prints, printed to your highest standards.  Portfolio may include assignments, may be thematic, or may just have 15 of your best images.  All prints should be spotted and ready for presentation.  All prints must be in something that resembles a folder or case.  No trash bags or loose prints please.  Label all mats on rear with your name and class.

Grading:

Work will be graded in two parts, 1) craft and technique, which refer to camera handling skills, and print quality and 2) concept and creative solution to assignment problem.

Final grade comprised of the following guidelines:

                                                                        25% assignment

25% attendance and class participation

                                                                        50% final portfolio

Attendance policy:

Students are expected to attend all classes, in case of medical excuse, students are responsible for supplying documentation to faculty.  Excessive absence  (five unexcused) will result in lowering of grade, one letter and seven unexcused, failure of class entirely.  Students should plan on arriving to class on time. Excessive tardiness will result in a lowering of the final grade.

Digital Etiquette:

This should go without saying, but let’s say it anyway: you should turn off your cell-phone and/or other devices (iPods, etc) before you enter the classroom. If your phone rings once during class this semester, we’ll all laugh and I’ll ask you to turn it off. If your phone rings again during class this semester, we’ll need to have a talk.

I understand that your phones connect you with your friends and family, but the classroom should be a place apart, however briefly, from the outside world. You will learn more, in short, if you can concentrate on the class while you’re in class. If you’re really into your phone to that extent, consider taking my class this Spring 2015 “Cell Phones, Snapshots and the Social Network”, it’ll all be about the mobile device and making art.

Stan’s office number/voice mail:  935 8406

Stan’s cell 314 440 2894

Stan’s E mail address:  Strembicki@wustl.edu

Class blog: www.blackandwhitephoto1.blogspot.com