FOUNDATION COURSES

PHD-1030
Photography Workshop I
One semester: 3 studio credits
With an emphasis on extensive darkroom work and group critique, this course will cover printing, negative development, bleaching, spotting and mounting. Assignments will be given and students will submit a portfolio at the end of the semester.

PHD-1035
Photography Workshop II
One semester: 3 studio credits
With an emphasis on extensive Lightroom work and group critique, this course will focus on making archival pigment prints from color negatives and digital files, and color correcting. Establishing a strong technical foundation in color and developing a personal, aesthetic direction will also be stressed. Assignments will be given and students will submit a portfolio at the end of the semester.

PHD-1040
Introduction to the Principles of Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
This series of lectures and demonstrations will supplement the student’s practical experience in PHD-1030, Photography Workshop I. Sessions will investigate the principles of photographic materials and techniques and discuss how to apply them effectively to achieve improved picture quality. Topics include: exposure and exposure meters, development, light and filters, printing materials and techniques, contrast control, cameras and lenses, practical testing, sources of information.

PHD-1080
Introduction to Digital Imaging
One semester: 3 studio credits
Gaining a fundamental understanding of Adobe Photoshop, Bridge and Lightroom applications will be the focus of this course. Topics covered include image size and resolution, flatbed and film scanning, color modes, file formats, painting and editing tools, file management, image adjustments, working with layers and layer masks, and output options. By the end of the semester, students will have a basic understanding of how to work with photographs in a digital environment.

Foundation Symposium
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
Foundation Symposium is designed to introduce the student to a variety of photographic practices and ideas. The symposium is composed of six (6) five-week courses that will explore the following topics.

PHD-1220
Foundation Symposium: Commerce
This course will give an overview of how photography, both vintage and contemporary, is valued and priced in the fine art market. Recent trends in contemporary photography are discussed, and field trips to New York galleries are required. The use of photography in magazines will also be discussed and students will research the possibilities available in editorial, fashion and travel assignments.

PHD-1230
Foundation Symposium: Language
The many ways that photography and language interact to create meanings is the focus of this course. We will examine a broad range of work—advertising, fine art, documentary, photojournalism, fashion—to see how text can shape the way we understand images, and vice versa. Class time will be devoted to in-class assignments, discussions, slide presentations and critiques.

PHD-1240
Foundation Symposium: Career
The practical information and career opportunities available to photographers will be discussed in depth. Topics will include: procedures for introducing work to fine art and commercial industries; résumés, statements and other supportive materials; effective strategies for promotion and marketing in print and on the Web; basic business practices.

PHD-1250
Foundation Symposium: Take Photos, Add Techniques, Stir
This class combines photography with a range of art techniques to create expressive, innovative pictures. The use of paint, collage and alternative photography will be applied to photographs based on a study of principles of visual perception.

PHD-1260
Foundation Symposium: Video
The goal of this production/discussion course is to expose photography students to contemporary video art and to encourage a dialogue between photography and video, both technically and conceptually, as part of a larger art practice. Genres will include mock documentary, music video, reality television and advertising. Each student will produce two video pieces (one to three minutes in duration).

PHD-1270
Foundation Symposium: Social Media
The prevalence of social media and how it informs contemporary culture is the focus of this course. The rapid dissemination of images and its impact on social change, the informality of social media and its influence on pictorial style, and the rise of citizen journalism will be covered. The ways in which the boundaries between amateur and professional have profoundly changed will be addressed.

AHD-1060 / AHD-1065
History of Photography I and II
two semesters: 3 art history credits per semester
An introduction to the history of photography, these courses will begin with a discussion of the invention of photography and continue through the work of the present day. Major photographers and trends in photography will be covered in detail.

HCD-1020
Writing and Literature I
One semester: 3 humanities and sciences credits
This is the first part of a two-semester course that helps students become capable, critical and independent writers. With its focus on developing an argument, the course offers an introduction to some of the skills necessary for critical analysis of written art. It will include a review of writing basics (grammar, coherence, idea development, sentence and essay structure). Since reading widely is a foundation of good writing, course readings are drawn from a selection of premodern Western works, including drama, poetry, the narrative and the critical essay, which will be used as discussion and writing prompts.

HCD-1025
Writing and Literature II
One semester: 3 humanities and sciences credits
This is the second part of a two-semester course that emphasizes writing, reading and critical thinking. Students will write more in-depth essays and a research paper and continue to study grammar and essay development. Course readings are drawn from a selection of modern works, including drama, poetry, the narrative and the critical essay, which will be used as discussion and writing prompts.

SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH YEAR COURSES

PHD-2040 / PHD-2045
Studio Photography I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
The techniques of shooting in the studio are covered in these courses. Working in both a daylight studio and in a studio with incandescent lights and strobe lighting will be explored. Exercises in still life, portraiture and other aspects of studio photography will be given; 4x5", medium format, 35mm cameras and digital capture will be used.

PHD-2050
Photography on Assignment
One semester: 2 studio credits
This intermediate course in photographic nuts and bolts will include technical demonstrations and assignments concerning the use of meters, filters, lighting, flash and color film, among other topics. The course will also include discussions on how to get started in the photographic marketplace, with special emphasis on meeting the visual needs of clients who require promotional photographs (actors, musicians). Student work will be critiqued individually.

PHD-2060 / PHD-2065
Photo Critique I and II
Two semesters: 2 studio credits per semester
Photo Critique initiates an in-depth conversation about photography as driven by content, and each student’s exploration of subject matter. Intention and articulation will be emphasized. Each student will work toward the production of a single body of work. Equally important, the language of critique will be explored, along with a vocabulary that will assist students in expressing new ideas.

PHD-2070
The Critical Eye I: Writing, Reading, Seeing, Discussing
One semester: 2 studio credits
This course will introduce the photography student to critical discourse. Its aim is to enhance in-class dialogue through readings, writing, and the methodology of observation and criticality, to serve aesthetic production in all photographic genres.

PHD-2080
Intermediate Digital Photography
One semester: 2 studio credits
Students will further their knowledge of image construction, manipulation, retouching and collage techniques, using Adobe Photoshop and software extensions. Emphasis will be placed on an exploration of the full potential of all aspects of the application. In addition to exploring various advanced digital imaging techniques, students will be encouraged to apply these techniques to their work, and to critically examine the profound effects that new imaging technologies are having on the ways we see and make art. A variety of topics will be covered, including advanced selection techniques, shape-and-text tools, channels, paths, blending modes, filter effects, service bureaus, color management, monitor calibration and digital cameras.

AHD-2090
History of Contemporary Photography
One semester: 3 art history credits
This course will emphasize the last 40 years of photography, and by a thorough analysis and discussion of the work, it will articulate the dominant cultural and aesthetic ideas of the time. All genres of the medium will be considered, as well as the gradual rise of photography as a major visual art. Of particular importance will be the influence on current photographic ideas and students’ work.

PHD-2120
The Professional Community
One semester: 2 studio credits
Through a series of fieldtrips and lectures, students will become familiar with the varied aspects of the professional photographic community. Students will also develop an in-depth understanding of self-promotion and résumé building, and skills required for professional communication. Trips to galleries, design agencies, publishing houses, stock agencies, museums, photography studios, auction houses and advertising agencies will give students firsthand knowledge of professional opportunities. Through guest lecturers, a variety of topics will be addressed: from copyright law to how to work with design, advertising and stock photography agencies, as well as magazines and book publishers. Other practical topics will include grant writing; portfolio design; introducing work to galleries, museum and nonprofit spaces, and alternative means of presentation.

PHD-2129
Experimental Darkroom Techniques
One semester: 3 studio credits
How many times have you developed your Tri-X in D-76? Are you tired of the same old results? If you want to break out of those photochemical doldrums, take this course. In the first semester, we will explore new ways to use familiar films as well as experimenting with new films and developers. We will experiment with sharp films, grainy films, infrared films as well as some Polaroid products; and also work with a wide variety of developers and toners. The second semester encompasses the realm of the extended print—experiments to challenge your creativity. We will analyze solarized prints and negatives, Polaroid transfers and several non-silver processes such as calotypes, cyanotypes and gum bichromates.

PHD-2133 / PHD-2134
Go Shoot Yourself: A Course in Self-Portraiture I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
The camera is a unique and often surprising source of self-revelation. In particular, self-portraiture is a great way to explore one’s experience, background, feelings and aesthetics. And it’s an especially good vehicle for developing personal vision. Technique and formal considerations will be discussed n these courses, along with ideas about picture-making.

PHD-2139
Advanced Alternative Process
One semester: 3 studio credits
Using gum bichromate, platinum, kallitype, cyanotype, Van Dyke, salted paper, or any other antiquated and alternative photographic process, students will work with the process of their choice to create a body of work. Experimentation is encouraged.

PHD-3020 / PHD-3025
Lecture Series I and II
Two semesters: no credit
This series will provide an introduction to several aspects of, and approaches to, photographic practices. A diverse group of photographers will show their work and share their experiences, providing information and insight into the requirements of working professional photographers.

PHD-3040 / PHD-3045
Photography Seminar I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
Having mastered the fundamental tools of photographic vocabulary, third-year students have the opportunity to build a body of work that embraces their individual interests and observations. These courses will vigorously support these goals. Students need not be cautious and tentative, but fully committed to discovering what they never knew. Students are encouraged to push the boundaries of traditional picture-making. This involves theory, content, context and quality of the image. A range of interests and practices is expected.

PHD-3060
Visual Literacy Survey
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course has two purposes. The first is to provide an overview of contemporary photography and its trends since 1960—not only fine art, but also advertising, photojournalism and any other commercial applications—presented not as an isolated academic study, but something relevant to working today. The second purpose is to encourage students to develop their own criteria for looking at photographs. Students will report on current developments, and their perception of and reaction to contemporary photography. They will also write about and make presentations on their observations in an attempt to formulate and to articulate their own critical aesthetic.

PHD-3066
Digital Studio: Advanced Lighting Techniques
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will explore the mastery and control of light as well as lighting concepts used for professional editorial and advertising photography. Through visual presentations of printed matter, students will review examples of the direction and quality of light and understand its function in the photograph. Students will acquire a repertoire of lighting techniques to heighten the expressive capacity of their work. Students will shoot tethered with the latest available digital cameras and software in a full digital studio environment.

PHD-3068
Lightroom
One semester: 3 studio credits
Adobe Lightroom is a growing standard for millions of photographers, which offers image management, processing, printing and presentation. In my view, it is an indispensable tool for today’s photographer. This course will focus on student’s gaining an understanding of digital asset management; organizational strategies for image evaluation; image processing; presentation approaches for clients, audience and personal use; publication of images to website and integration with social media; color management and integration of third party plug-ins to enhance and expand the power of Lightroom. Students should obtain from the course an understanding of image processing, a mastery of the tools used to create effective workflow, and an overall knowledge of Lightroom.

PHD-3071
Digital Capture and Production
One semester: 3 studio credits
The fundamentals of digital capture and workflow will be covered in this course. Students will develop a command of: capture software, digital cameras (including high-end digital back equipment and DSLR video), on-the-fly problem-solving techniques and industry information for the digital tech.

PHD-3076
Digital Black-and-White Printing
One semester: 3 studio credits
Along with the increasing interest in digital color printing, many photographers are now exploring digital output for their black-and-white work. This course will explore such option by producing prints using Piezography’s carbon black neutral K7 inks and QuadTone RIP software. A workflow for processing imagery (whether analog or digital) and printing will be covered, different papers examined and useful comparisons made between imagery printed using traditional and digital techniques.

PHD-3083
Digital Studio: Your Camera, Your Computer and Your Work
One semester: 3 studio credits
The fundamentals of working in a studio that is fully integrated with digital technology will be covered in this course. Students will be working with medium format Leaf digital backs tethered to a computer and Adobe Lightroom, and will progress to an understanding of digital workflow. Processing images from creation to finished print is increasingly the responsibility of the photographer, and this course will help to streamline that process.

PHD-3084
Digital Photography: Fashion and Beauty
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will cover specialized retouching skills needed to attain successful fashion images. Adobe Photoshop will be the primary software. The course will help students gain increased competence in digital manipulation.

PHD-3086
Digital Photography: The Fine Art of Digital Compositing
One semester: 3 studio credits
With advanced image processing, this course will focus on image-making from concept to output. Students will learn the essentials of a successful composite using layers, layer adjustment, advanced masking, retouching techniques, selection, printing and color management. Students will learn the creative workflow needed to produce compelling and seamless photomontage images.

PHD-3087
Digital Photography: Imaging and the Internet
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will focus on utilizing Web-authoring software and other Internet-related applications to create websites and online artwork. In addition to learning how to prepare images for use on the Web, we will explore the unique dynamics of interactivity and the fundamentals of effective Web design.

PHD-3088
Digital Photography: Printmaking and Color Management
One semester: 3 studio credits
The goal of this course is to develop a working understanding of the materials, practices and aesthetics of contemporary fine art digital printmaking, especially the use of digital color management tools. Through lectures, demonstrations, project-based assignments, as well as studio visits and field trips to digital labs and galleries, students will expand their proficiency and confidence in producing a personal artistic vision through various digital printmaking techniques. Included with the practical aspects of the course will be an exploration of historical and contemporary uses of digital imaging in commercial and fine art photography.

PHD-3089
Digital Photography: Branding Yourself
One semester: 3 studio credits
Creating an identity as a photographer and artist is paramount to professional success. In this course, students will produce several projects, based in self-promotion such as business cards, promo cards, photo books and websites. The course is designed to further your Photoshop skills and introduce new skills using Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver.

PHD-3091
Digital Photography: Imaging and Time-Based Media
One semester: 3 studio credits
The ways in which photographers can employ digital video, motion graphics and sound applications in their artwork will be examined in this course. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the complex relationship between the static image and the dynamics of motion, sound and time. In addition to creating a time-based work of art, students will learn how to output their work into the QuickTime and DVD formats. Applications to be used: Adobe Photoshop, Apple Final Cut Pro, iMovie, After Effects, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, QuickTime Pro, Media Cleaner.

PHD-3101
Advanced Black-and-White Printing
One semester: 3 studio credits
For those who want to extend their printing skills to develop a personal printing style, this workshop course will consist predominantly of work in the darkroom with critique of prints by the instructor.

PHD-3106
Principles of Color for Photographers
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will focus on how to unleash the power of color to give maximum impact to your photographs. Whether it’s fine art, editorial or commercial work, successful photographers know the secrets of color that painters and designers use to create effective color images. Exploring both the technical and aesthetic aspects of color, we will examine such topics as the psychology and symbolism of color, contrast and harmony of colors, and the interaction of colors. Taking advantage of New York’s resources, we will visit galleries and museums to examine contemporary color and to see how great painters of the past handled color. Through lectures, slide presentations, shooting assignments and critiques, students will gain a core understanding of how color works, which will improve their technical ability to shoot and print, with film or digital technologies, as they learn the aesthetic principles behind creating strong color photographs.

PHD-3108
Explorations in Abstract Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
The notion of an abstract photograph is illusive. Is it related to abstract painting? Is it a product of technique—a cameraless image, a multiple exposure, montage? Or is it a product of digital imaging and scientific instrumentation—a visualization of the imagination in a non-representational form, something invisible to the eye? Designed for the ambitious student, this will be a workshop and critique course—participants will explore the concept of abstraction in the production of a body of work.

PHD-3113
Social Documentary
One semester: 3 studio credits
Documentary photographs record the outside world as well as the unique perspective of the photographer. In this course, we will explore facets of image-making and their inherent challenges. Themed assignments will be given each week and will be critiqued the following session. We will focus on developing a unique vision through a body of work while grounding it in contemporary practice. Students will produce an editorially appropriate presentation of the project they have chosen to pursue.

PHD-3121
Shoot/Shout/Change: Photography and Political Activism
One semester: 3 studio credits
Conceived to develop an understanding of how photography and politics are directly interconnected, this studio course is structured around individual and group critiques of work, visiting artists’ presentations and lectures about the work of artists and collectives that have used photography as a way to radically question and alter social and political realities by producing “creative” forms of political engagement. We will address documentary photography and film, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary uses of the photographic medium in demonstrations, performances, street actions and social sculpture. This course will prepare students to have a critical voice, to develop tools to “create politically” and to strengthen their analytical skills and ethical stands in regard to their own work.

PHD-3127
Experimental Documentary (or: Wax On, Wax Off)
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will examine a wide range of works in cinema, video art and photography that originate from or draw upon the documentation of concrete reality—actual people, factual events and verifiable phenomena—yet yield challenging and experimental results, often seeming not of the real world. This style of work parallels documentary technique and uses it as a building block, but ultimately the artist distorts this reality by means of the creative process—freely bending the boundaries of the genre. Through discussion and practice, we will explore the notions of subjective time and space, of memory and interpretation—raising questions about the perception of truth, the creative interrelationship between fact and the imagined, and also issues of morality and ethics. These topics will be examined through lectures, screenings and critiques of work. Artists whose works we will look at include Werner Herzog, Jean-Luc Godard, Stan Brakhage, Guy Maddin, Agnès Varda, Gillian Wearing, Chris Marker, Lars von Trier, Gilad Ratman, Abbas Kiarostami, Christoph Schlingensief and Ulrike Ottinger, among others.

PHD-3129
The Critical Eye II
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course is an in-depth examination of the methods adopted for critical analysis of a photograph. The goal is to reach a keener and greater awareness of “how you see” and thus critically analyze an image. To this end, we will attempt to discover what lies behind what we see, and what values are attributable to the resources of communication, interpretation and representation.

PHD-3133
Writing on Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
Writing about an image can often reveal meaning that is not always evident from visual examination alone. In this course, emphasis will be placed on the use of language to scrutinize and analyze work by photographers and artists to give clarity to one’s impressions and, ultimately, to one’s own work. There will be bi-weekly assignments, required readings and weekly discussions.

PHD-3136
Artists Studios / Artists Writings
One semester: 3 studio credits
How do artists find the source for their work? How do ideas germinate and what kind of conceptual and formal decisions are made in the creative process? What makes artists’ ideas unique? What’s the purpose of an artist’s statement and how does it influence the public’s perception of the work? This is a field-trip based course and students will visit studios in the New York area, interspersed with in-class readings of seminal writings that have profoundly shaped the way we understand current art practice. Students will meet and speak with artists in their studios, witness their process and ask questions about their work. In class, there will be open discussions about ideas such as art conception, production and distribution, as well as more private notions associated with the “intimate” creative process.

PHD-3139
Wet Plate Collodion
One semester: 3 studio credits
This intensive course will dive into the wet plate collodion process, which was the leading mode of photography in the 1850s and ’60s. The process is most commonly known in its three forms—tintypes (positives on tin), ambrotypes (positives on glass), and glass negatives (negatives on glass). The basics of the collodion process will be covered and topics will include: hand coating collodion plates, creating wet collodion images, mixing the chemistry, building a darkroom and modifying cameras for the process, as well as how to print pre-existing imagery using an enlarger onto wet collodion plates. Techniques of preparing the plate, cleaning glass, pouring collodion, exposing, developing, fixing and varnishing will all be addressed. Experimentation will be strongly encouraged. All materials, including cameras, enlargers, chemicals, glass and metal will be supplied.

PHD-3151
Art and Commerce
One semester: 3 studio credits
Are there distinctions between making work for personal expression and for public consumption? Many of these lines have been blurred, when museums are hosting retrospectives of fashion photographers and magazine art directors scour galleries for new talent. In an industry that breeds fierce competition, a photographer’s most effective artillery may well be his ability to stay true to his personal vision, even when producing commissioned images. This course will consider the relationships between these worlds and what this means as students prepare to go into the field with their portfolios. Assignments, critiques and visiting guests will help us to clarify our intentions.

PHD-3163
Photo Bookworks
One semester: 3 studio credits
What do you do with all those photos you have made that are sitting around in boxes? This is a hands-on approach to the photo book using simple bookbinding methods. We will investigate several handmade book structures, including scroll, scrapbook, pamphlet, Oriental fold and fan, as well as the concepts of series, sequence and pacing of images within the books. Books will be examined from the viewpoint of both object and container. A historical overview of book arts—photography books in particular—will be presented. Students will create works from groups of photographs, bound together in completed form. Six to eight books and a group project will be completed.

PHD-3171
Making the Transition to the Professional
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course is designed for juniors and seniors to get a taste of the real world of photography. We will meet with established photographers; corporate clients, designers and advertising agencies; stock agencies and photographic suppliers, as well as galleries and auction houses. Students will be introduced to the career possibilities within the photographic world and learn the business practices of the industry to be able to survive as photographers and ultimately prosper.

PHD-3177 / PHD-3178
Advanced Fashion Critique I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
These critique courses are for students who are interested in building a strong portfolio of fashion photography. Neither technical nor studio courses, class discussions will emphasize the content of the work and its relationship to all contemporary photography, stressing narrative and conceptual practice, and a visual and cultural intelligence. Like all other photographic genres, the goal is an original, challenging, informed and energetic portfolio of images.

PHD-3207
Location Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
Providing the technical background necessary for versatility and competence in location photography is the aim of this course. The objective is to develop each student’s imagination in order to find visually compelling locations, to study the space and available light, and to determine what additional light to bring to the “set.” This course will be supplemented with individual portfolio projects—both exterior and interior locations—and students will explore areas of their own special interests.

PHD-3212
How to Make It as a Working Photographer
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will focus on developing an understanding of the professional world while maintaining your individual style. Class assignments will be geared towards creative problem solving and developing professional skills, including promotion, marketing, invoicing, budgets and how to manage your life as a freelancer. The course will culminate in two portfolio reviews with industry professionals.

PHD-3223
Fifteen Short Investigations Through Photo-Based Art
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will investigate ideas in culture as they relate to photography and art. We will explore inherent photographic concepts, such as appropriation, decontextualization, multiplication, systems, memory, the archive and technology, as a means for generating photo-based work. Issues concerning context and intentionality, authorship and originality, individuality and collectivity will be addressed in relation to relevant cultural and theoretical concepts. Weekly photo-based assignments, critiques, readings and slide presentations will serve to deepen the students’ understanding of their work and locate it within the context of these issues. The objective of this course is to gain agility with a broad range of working methods and a fluency in critical art vocabulary, while fostering a personal relationship to contemporary visual ideas and practice.

PHD-3228 / PHD-3229
Fashion: Concept and Narrative I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
Through discussion, practice and photographic assignments, these courses will examine fashion photography as a conceptual vehicle. In the process, we will acknowledge the most progressive and subversive fashion work being created and the cultural underpinnings that have stimulated this work. These are not studio courses per se, but are discourses on contemporary narrative.

PHD-3233 / PHD-3234
Advanced Fashion Studio I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
These courses are designed for students who are seriously interested in fashion. We will cover all aspects of the field: editorial, advertising, beauty and portrait. Both studio, with artificial lighting (tungsten and strobe), and location, with available light augmented by strobe, will be taught. Various camera formats, from 35mm to 4x5", will be used. Emphasis will be on the anatomy of a fashion shoot: working with models, hair and makeup people, editors, art directors, etc. Personal style will be stressed.

PHD-3238 and PHD-3239
Commercial Careers I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
For the photography student with commercial aspirations, these courses will be driven by and focused on building a portfolio. Regular portfolio reviews will be balanced by the discussion of practical aspects of the field, from assisting to postproduction, to estimates, invoicing, stock and resale. Guest speakers, including art buyers, photo editors, producers and photo agents will add information and insight.

PHD-3243
A Survey of Portraiture
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will survey the history of portraiture through the study of prominent photographers—Brassai, August Sander, Man Ray, Irving Penn, Berenice Abbott and Joel-Peter Witkin, among others. We will look at the relationships among the photographers and their subjects and examine formal studio portraits to informal street portraiture. The beauty and power of color, as well as black-and-white photographs, will also be discussed. Critique of student work will focus on style and influences. Assignments are included.

PHD-3252
Still Life: Studio
One semester: 3 studio credits
For those who are interested in still life technique, this course will cover the advanced procedures for complete control over photographing any object for commercial applications, including food, glass, jewelry and other common products.

PHD-3258
Still Life: Objects of Desire and Disgust
One semester: 3 studio credits
Fruit, lipstick, corpses, skin, insects, purses, diamonds and seashells: all items that have been imaged in modern photographic still life. The Dutch classical masters defined it as an expression of consumption and mortality through static physicality, but today still life images are most often associated with commerce. This course will lead an inquiry into the differences between the historical significance of still life and its modern possibilities, and students will be encouraged to experiment with the genre. Commercial and self-expressive motivations will be equally addressed.

PHD-3261
Sex
One semester: 3 studio credits
The role of sexuality, long a part of photographic history, is intimately related to part of ourselves and to culture. How do images of the body tap into our notions of eroticism, seduction, sensuality, sexual values and feelings? What perspectives broaden traditional ideas in heterosexual and LGBT imagery and challenge gender depictions? Do we create a balance between artistic value and sexual content in an image? Does censorship and politics play a role? Students will be encouraged to explore, examine and produce images in any photographic medium through class discussion and critique.

PHD-3264
Humor in Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course is a serious exploration of the humor (deliberate or unintentional) in photographic imagery. Students will examine the work of established photographers who have successfully employed and incorporated humor, study how it has been previously used in their own pictures, and make new work that utilizes humor more effectively and/or subtly. Discussions will focus on visual puns, irony, wit, ingenuity, the comical, the kitschy, the absurd, the incongruous, the ludicrous, the funny, the clever and the just plain dumb.

PHD-3268
The Dark Stuff
One semester: 3 studio credits
The social taboo as theme has preoccupied photographers from E.J. Bellocq to Robert Mapplethorpe to Larry Clark and Terry Richardson. This course will focus on why the obsession with sin makes for powerful images. We will screen historically important photographs—and often-controversial works—that are synonymous with the subject matter. Students will receive positive influence on current and future projects through discussion that arises from the lecture and critique portion of the course. They will be encouraged to push the envelope of their work, drawing inspiration from the visual and psychological aspects of the existing tradition.

PHD-3269
Photography in Fine Art
One semester: 3 studio credits
While pronounced “dead” every so often, the painted “picture” never really goes away. Instead, painting survives (and flourishes) as a result of its collaboration with a medium once perceived to be its greatest foe—photography. This course will examine this historic co-dependence through lectures, gallery visits, guest lecturers and critique of student work. Artists as diverse as Salvador Dalí, Gerhard Richter and Tina Barney will be discussed in relation to art history and in parallel developments in photography and print media. Of central concern will be recognizing the reasoning process and decision-making employed in the production of a work of art—be it a painting-scaled photograph or a snapshot-size painting.

PHD-3274
Form and Concept
One semester: 3 studio credits
A broad range of artistic endeavors will be considered in this course—painting, sculpture, literature, music, theater—in an attempt to expand each student’s frames of reference to their own work. While diverse mediums and information will be included, student presentations will be based on individual interests and enthusiasms.

PHD-3276
Visual Remix: Photography in the Digital Age
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will explore the increasingly complex relationship between photography and digital culture. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the profound effect the shift from analog to digital technology has had on varying modes of image production and distribution. Among the many topics to be explored will be the relationship of digital imaging technologies to the diminishing veracity of the photographic image, the creative practice of appropriating, mixing and re-contextualizing fragments of digital culture, and the related issues of image authorship and copyright. Class time will be evenly divided between discussion/critique and hands-on studio work. In addition to reading a few short texts, we will look at and discuss a wide range of artists, including those committed to capturing the photographic “decisive moment” and others more interested in exploring the fictional, mutable qualities of the medium. While the focus of the course will be on photographic practice, we will also look at the increasingly blurred boundaries between traditional photography, painting, time-based media, design software and Internet technologies. Class projects will be varied with students encouraged to apply material discussed in class to their own visual and conceptual interests.

PHD-3277 / PHD-3278
Free Money (parts I and II)
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
The premise of these courses is the pursuit of content: the investigation of a sensibility that is unique to each individual. This process is a task of encouragement and permission, with an attitude of risk-taking, experimentation, courage and conviction, and a general subversion of preconceptions about the photographic medium. The agenda is for students to use the medium as a notation and discovery of their thought processes, and as a vehicle to express themselves from their hearts and minds. Inspiration and information will be sought everywhere. A commitment to this process and a strong desire to develop a body of work are required. All photographic genres welcomed; a sense of humor is appreciated.

PHD-3286
Picture Consequences
One semester: 3 studio credits
How often do you text, tweet, use Facebook or blog with pictures? Have you thought about how this common use of photography applies to your artistic practice as an image-maker? In this collaborative course, students will produce pictures and post them to a blog each week in response to catalysts provided by the instructors and by invited artists and curators. Taking into consideration the rise of the Internet as the primary platform for reading and disseminating photographs, students will engage in an online exchange with each other exclusively through their images. Critical discussions about the resulting picture conversations will follow. Students who are interested in careers as artists, commercial photographers, photo editors, book editors and curators will benefit greatly from this exchange and from the contemporary discourse it encourages. The course will culminate with the production of a print-on-demand book in which the translation from the Web to the page will be closely considered.

PHD-3297
Real and Possible
One semester: 3 studio credits
Addressing innovative aspects of photography and lens-based arts, and examining the notions of time, space, light, point of view, banality, models of reality and the enigma of vision, this course intends to provide new means and insights to reflect upon the questions posed by the practice of contemporary photography. Students will be encouraged to develop their own vision, expression and identity. Through discussions of works, including student work, the goal of this course is to achieve an integrated understanding through theory, critique and art practice. The class will be a special place to share knowledge and experience in a stimulating cultural environment; students will develop their personal vision and nourish their intellectual quest through the art of photography.

PHD-3363
The Secret Sits in the Middle
One semester: 3 studio credits
Robert Frost said, “We dance around in a ring and suppose, but the secret lies in the middle and knows.” This course embraces the idea that a photograph can be an outbreathing of a deeply personal self, a reflection of one’s inner journey, and a way to honor one’s own life by discovering or, more accurately, uncovering one’s own poetry—a poetry that resonates with the richness of our unique history, dreams and feelings, one’s center and soul. The course is about finding images from the inside out—finding that place within where imagination and intuition, the conscious and the unconscious, begin their dance, enabling us to truly become the source of our own photographs. We will explore the workings of the creative process and investigate our own sensitized surfaces, mining our discoveries for information, inspiration and the necessary courage to let our vision flow out into the world through our work. Guest artists in different mediums will discuss their processes, and will foster the kind of receptivity and awareness that will allow our best work to emerge.

PHD-3388
Landscape Photography I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
What constitutes a landscape when so many contemporary visions of exterior spaces seem to be at war with one another? This question will be part of an ongoing discussion as we examine artists as disparate as Sally Mann, Lynn Geesaman, Rocky Schenk, Edward Burtynsky, Robert Adams, Edward Weston and Todd Hido, among others. These photographers—past and present—have created mammoth gallery color prints and exquisitely printed 11x14" black-and-white images, depicting everything from rotting corpses to muted, romantic images of gardens created by Louis the XIV. In keeping with this dialogue, students are encouraged to use any format (from pinhole to 4x5") and any material (from black-and-white to inkjet) to create their view of the outside world. Weekly critiques are often supplemented by gallery or museum visits when important artists are exhibiting.

PHD-3411
Wood, Rubber, Leather and a C-Clamp
One semester: 3 studio credits
There’s a long tradition in photography of the photographer/inventor. This course will help students to develop skills while they pursue a specific project that aids in the realization of their vision and personal style. Students will construct cameras, lenses and accessories; make modifications to existing equipment, or create a device to help achieve specific photographic results. We will learn to select appropriate materials, develop problem-solving strategies and acquire the necessary skills to see projects from concept to finished, functional device. Projects can be large and complex or small and simple. Class time will be spent on design and construction. As work progresses and projects begin to yield images, they’ll be adjusted and refined to provide superior results. Participants will be taught basic shop safety and will be supervised when using power tools.

PHD-3416
Installation
One semester: 3 studio credits
Focusing on the application of theory and practice, this course will explore the uses of visual information in space. We will concentrate on the numerous implications of the relationships among artist, object and audience. Using photo editing, drawing and drafting, model construction, computer and digital technology, experimental materials and nontraditional approaches in installation, the formal, spatial, conceptual and political aspects of presentation and installation will be explored. Class time will employ discussion, slide and electronic media presentation, guest lectures, gallery and museum visits and student experimentation. Assignments are geared toward an end of semester exhibition.

PHD-3418
Exhibition Workshop
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will provide students with a basic understanding of photographic presentation and preservation. Through hands-on demonstrations, students will develop a lively understanding of technique, and why it’s important to develop these skills as working artists. Topics will include portfolio possibilities, framing and mounting options, gallery terminology and techniques, the development of self-promotional materials, pricing and the concept of edition. Additionally, there will be exploration of various gallery and museum exhibitions by way of on-site visits and discussion.

PHD-3423 / PHD-3424
Photo Editing/Curatorial Projects I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
The photograph’s flexibility, its ability to accrue meaning depending on context, is the basis of these courses. Two different but related procedures will be explored: (1) the curatorial process in which exhibitions are formed that explore various themes; (2) photo editing in which photographs are chosen or assigned to accompany printed text. Students will participate in these processes with work from both inside and outside the College community. Pictorial research and an informative attitude are expected; this is also an opportunity for ideas and themes in each student’s individual work to be identified and amplified.

PHD-3448
Visual Storytelling: Photography in an Editorial Context
One semester: 3 studio credits
This course will provide photographers with a foundation to work in the editorial realm. We will focus on different genres regularly found in magazines, including portraiture, conceptualism, still life, fashion and documentary photography. The use of historical information and visual references, both current and vintage, will be used to introduce each type of photography. Students will be required to explore the photographic genres through assignments, completing them just as you would for a magazine. Assignments include photographing for published and unpublished editorials. You will develop a “pitch” for a magazine and then complete an assignment based on your own story idea. Group discussion will take place upon the completion of each unit regarding the editing and sequencing process. Students will produce a minimum of three 8x10" prints for each assignment and contact sheets for critique. Assignments will begin with a single portrait and work up to a photo essay.

PHD-3524
No Place Like Home
One semester: 3 studio credits
This critique-based course will explore various notions of home and how our understanding of family and domestic space influences our conception of what home is. Weekly class discussions will guide students in developing a series of photographs that directly addresses their own ideas of home and family. The role and treatment of the domestic landscape in contemporary art and film will be considered through slide lectures, film screenings and readings. We will look at the work of photographers and directors including P. T. Anderson, Tina Barney, Richard Billingham, Larry Clark, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Sally Mann, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Douglas Sirk, Laurie Simmons, Larry Sultan, Wolfgang Tillmans and John Waters, as well as the work of visiting artists. Students are strongly encouraged to develop a working method to breaking down psychological barriers when photographing in different situations to produce images that are specific, personal and revealing. This course is open to all genres of photography.

PHD-3532
The Visual Diary
One semester: 3 studio credits
Diaries are intimate, private and personal memoirs that chronicle lives and have long been part of the history of most creative genres. This course will explore the visual diary in a myriad of contemporary approaches. As a class, we will inquire into the boundary between public and private information and the influence of YouTube, cell phones, Facebook, craigslist and other conveyors of information, as well as historical diaristic forms. As a workshop and critique course, participants will explore the relevance of the diary in the production of a body of work.

PHD-3546-A
Get Over Yourself
One semester: 3 studio credits
It seems appropriate that photography students depict their own lives; the cliché is to shoot what you know. But where is the boundary between the known and the safe, the self-absorbed and the socially conscious? In an era of Facebook, do today’s trends in photography reflect too heavily the current cultural narcissism? What risks, if any, would assist in breaking away from biographical isolation and get artists to start interacting with the often frightening outside world? Integrating the work of “diaristic” photographers ranging from Nan Goldin and Stephen Shore to Elinor Carucci and Eric Weeks, we will explore these issues in the context of each students’ work, and our responsibility in contributing to a larger, more plural dialogue.

PHD-3562
For Memory’s Sake
One semester: 3 studio credits
Events and changes occur in our private lives and in our communities that deserve photographic record and interpretation, both for the present and for posterity. This is a vast subject area with great opportunity for students to find subjects that they feel passionate about. Anything considered worth remembering can be pursued. Photo projects as varied as diaristic and quite personal to far more traditional documentary subjects are appropriate. Through weekly critiques, students will be encouraged and guided to produce a cohesive body of work. The work of relevant artists using a variety of mediums, including painters, sculptors, filmmakers and photographers will be viewed weekly. Students will be encouraged to share artists’ work that inspires them.

PHD-3671
Photography and the Cinema
One semester: 3 studio credits
Both mainstream and independent cinema can play a subconscious role in the photography student’s practice, operating like a deep depository of false memories when confronted by the real. This course will deepen the consideration of the moving image and how it informs the still image, using examples from artists in the 1970s who used photography and found justification in film to work in the current artistic community that appropriates film narrative. We will also address the vigorous relationship of commercial photography with cinema. In addition to lectures and critiques, readings will be assigned and discussed. Emphasis will be placed on articulating ideas as part of an individual’s reasoning process.

PHD-3761
Digital Video and Photography
One semester: 3 studio credits
With the proliferation of digital equipment, making creative and professional-quality video is within reach. Using video cameras or simple point-and-shoot cameras with video capability, students will create conceptual projects using time, movement and sound. Home movies, contemporary art video and works of master filmmakers (Eisenstein, Epstein, Murnau, Antonioni, Fellini and Ray) will be viewed and discussed. Students will be required to make one or more 60-second video relating to their photography project.

PHD-3852 / PHD-3853
Photography in NYC Public Schools I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
These courses are an outreach program in which third- and fourth-year photography students will go into New York City public high schools to teach basic black-and-white photography to a select group of students. SVA students will assist in the development of lesson plans and assignments, and participate on field trips to take pictures together and learn about film processing and basic darkroom techniques. Students will discuss how to approach a new subject and what elements make a powerful photograph; you will also have an opportunity to discuss your own work, and share your expertise and critical knowledge. This experience will help you to gain confidence through the articulation of technical and aesthetic issues and, in the process, contribute to the future of the medium and the community of New York City.

PHD-4080 / PHD-4085
Photography Thesis I and II
Two semesters: 3 studio credits per semester
The fourth-year represents the culmination of a body of work and the beginning of a professional responsibility to it. These are rigorous critique courses that demand commitment and concentration, and a sense of shared purpose in the classroom. These courses will assist in the formation of a coherent and unpredictable body of work that challenges and subverts preconceptions of the photographic medium. A commitment to this process and to respond to your classmates’ work is required: the course is a collaboration. The intent is to support an interest in all different kinds of photography and the premise that the most meaningful work in all genres shares self-expressive motives.

You'll receive a methodical grounding in the rudimentary tools and techniques of photographic practice, but will be encouraged to think creatively and conceptually through immersion in symposium modules. Throughout the first year, study of photographic principles, optical and chemical information, color materials and "seeing" is emphasized; digital technology and practice is also introduced to provide a well-rounded foundation year.

Required Courses
AHD-1060 History of Photography I
AHD-1065 History of Photography II
HCD-1020 Writing and Literature I
HCD-1025 Writing and Literature II
PHD-1030 Photography Workshop I
PHD-1035 Photography Workshop II
PHD-1040 Introduction to the Principles of Photography 
PHD-1080 Introduction to Digital Imaging
PHD-1220 Commerce
PHD-1230 Language
PHD-1240 Career
PHD-1250 Take Photos, Add Techniques, Stir
PHD-1260 Video
PHD-1270 Social Media

As a second-year student, you'll continue to develop your technique while undertaking more self-directed projects on which you're encouraged to work impulsively and intuitively. Our goal is to give you as broad a focus as possible, and to help you reinterpret each genre—whether fine art or commercial—on your own terms. A variety of electives are available, and you'll be asked to take both the art photography and photography on assignment classes, which together frame the ways of working on commission. Digital classes remain a requirement.

Required Courses
AHD-2090 History of Contemporary Photography
PHD-2040 Studio Photography I
PHD-2045 Studio Photography II 
PHD-2050 Photography on Assignment 
PHD-2060 Photo Critique I
PHD-2065 Photo Critique II 
PHD-2070 The Critical Eye I: Writing, Reading, Seeing, Discussing 
PHD-2080 Intermediate Digital Photography
PHD-2120 The Professional Community 
PHD-3020 Lecture Series I*
PHD-3025 Lecture Series II*

* Required courses that can be taken in the sophomore or junior year

By now, with your technique largely mastered, you'll primarily be concerned with developing your own vocabulary and sensibility. Seminar and critique classes will be the primary venue in which to discuss content and the mapping of subject matter. You'll also be required to take classes in contemporary photography and theory, and all students must participate in the Photography Since 1960 seminars.

Required Courses
PHD-3020 Lecture Series I*
PHD-3025 Lecture Series II*
PHD-3040 Photography Seminar I
PHD-3045 Photography Seminar II 
PHD-3060 Contemporary Photography
PHD-3083/PHD-3091 Digital Photography

*Required courses that can be taken in the sophomore or junior year

In your final year, with prospects of graduation and career beckoning, it is critical to maintain your focus and sense of challenge while pursuing your thesis project. Paradoxically, while winding up your undergraduate work, you'll be expected to keep probing deeper into photographic issues and to develop a healthy questioning attitude that will last you a lifetime. Finally, our Mentor program for selected students will match you with professional photographers, art directors or designers and help you make the transition to a successful career in photography.

Required Courses
PHD-4080 Photography Thesis I
PHD-4085 Photography Thesis II