Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	09/23/2020
Top Code	101100 - Cinematography
Units	3 Total Units
Hours	54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)	OC Humanities - AA (OC1)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)	OCC Arts - AS (OSC1)
California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)	Cal-GETC 3B Humanities (3B)
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)	IGETC 3B Humanities (3B)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)	CSU C2 Humanities (C2)

Course Description

Lecture/discussion class that explores how photographs function in society, and, in turn, how society determines our visual environment. Images will be analyzed in context of the total photographic milieu: news, advertising, snapshots, art, the internet, TV, etc. How photographs function as evidence, demonstrations of desire, historical memory, cultural values, propaganda, and surveillance will be examined. The manufacturing of personal identity and cultural history through photographic artifacts will be emphasized. Fulfills “100” elective course requirement for Photography Certificate of Achievement. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Analyze and evaluate the denotative and connotative aspects of visual language, and appraise the role of aesthetics in various types of photography, both verbally and in written response.
2. Formulate and execute a presentation discussing the social and cultural impact of a particular type of photographic imagery.

Course Objectives

• 1. Evaluate photographic language.
• 2. Demonstrate ability to analyze photographs through various modes of analysis.
• 3. Assess the inter-relationship of meaning and aesthetics.
• 4. Evaluate the impact of new technologies on photographic meaning.
• 5. Demonstrate understanding of various types of photographic practices in relationship to social/political issues.
• 6. Demonstrate understanding of photojournalism.
• 7. Demonstrate understanding of advertising techniques.
• 8. Discuss the impact of the work of particular photographers on society and culture.
• 9. Evaluate contemporary photographic practice within a historical and cultural context.
• 10. Examine the significance of photographs in the shaping of identity.

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Lecture Content

I.    Historical Shaping of Photographic Discourse        A. Photography as a Scientific Tool—Revealing the Invisible        B. The Phenomenology of a Photograph        C.  Reproducibility and the Ubiquity of the Photographic Image        D. The Myth of Objectivity—The Impact of Postmodernism on Photographic Discourse    II.    Photographic Language        A. Light—setting the mood        B. Composition—directing the viewers attention        C. Aesthetics Particular to Photography and the Creation of Meaning:        depth of field,  lens choice, camera point of view, the frame, control of motion    III.    Introduction to Visual Semiotics        A. Denotative        B. Connotative—the Role of Aesthetics        C.  Sign: signifier and signified        D   The photograph as Index    IV.    Information and Persuasion         A. Defining What is Real—The Photograph as Evidence         B. Surveillance Photography and the Archive                 C.  Propaganda: Symbol and Mass Distribution    V.    Symbolism—The Photograph as a Demonstration of Desire        A.  Objectification and Spectacle       B.  The Construction of Celebrity—the Paparazzi        C.  The Gaze—Feminist analyses        D.  The Glorification of Consumption in Advertising Imagery            VI.    War Photography        A. The Crimea to WWII—Photographs as Truth and Lie        B.  WWII to Vietnam—The Role of the Photography in forming Cultural Memory        C. Central America to Afghanistan—from the Invisible to the Photo Op        D. Embedded Journalism vs. Uncensored Journalism        E.  Propaganda and the Construction of History    VII    Advertising        A. Target Audience           B.  The Manufacture of Desire           C.  The Monopoly of Cultural Space            D.  Representation and/or Production of Social Values                E. The Integrated Communications Mix            F.  Politics as Commodity        VIII    Photojournalism Documentary        A.  Relationship of Photographer to Subject to Viewer –The Concerned Photographer        B.  Citizen Photographers and Mobile Technologies        C.    From The Photogra phic Essay to the Exhibition “Keeper”        D.  Text/image relationship  I    Historical Shaping of Photographic Discourse        IX     Portraiture            A.   Physiognomy and Racial Stereotyping            B.   Albums and the Construction of Personal Memory            C.   The Body as a Site of Debate            D.   Social Media and the Construction of the Self            X.    New Technologies and Communications        A.    The Erosion of the Index        B.    Digital Manipulation and the Unreal Real        C.    Stock Photography—Archives of Cultural Values        D.  The Internet—Photographic Archives and Social Media        E.   Surveillance— The Shifts in Public and Private Boundaries        XI.    Still vs. Moving Imagery        A.    Live Reporting and Emotional Immediacy        B.    Photographys Influence on Cinema        C.  A Sense of Time—Sequencing        D.  The YouTube era        F.  The Immediacy of Electronic Reporting

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
• DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

1. Demonstration of key concepts in lectures.              2.   Slide presentations to illustrate concepts.          3.   Film Screenings to illustrate concepts.          4.   Interactive computer lectures to illustrate concepts.          5.   Discussion of Assigned Readings.          6.   Small group review sessions.           7.   Guest speakers.           8.   Student presentations.

Reading Assignments

Reading assignments provided by the instructor from a variety of sources will examine the relationship between aesthetics and content, information and persuasion, the relationship of the photographer to his/her subject, still and moving images, evolving digital technologies, photographic archives, surveillance, historical memory and propaganda, and cultural value formation.

Writing Assignments

1. Students will produce writing assignments analyzing assigned readings. 2. Students will write image analyses applying methodologies learned in class. 3. Research assignment. 4.  Exhibition reviews.

Out-of-class Assignments

1. Students will review slide lectures.  2. Students will produce written responses summarizing reading assignments. 3.  Students will produce written responses analyizing photographic imagery. 4. Research Projects.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

1.  Analysis of various methodologies and theoretical approaches for interpreting photographs. 2.  Analysis of the visual representation of social issues and cultural value systems. 3.  Analysis of aesthetics role in the creation of meaning.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

1.   Writing assignments analyzing photographic imagery.       2.   Written Summaries/Analyses of Reading Assignments.       3.   Presentation of Research.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Sturken, M, Cartwright, L. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, Latest ed. Oxford University Press, 2009 Rationale: Resource 2. Required Hariman, R., Lucaites, J.L. No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy, latest ed. University of Chicago Press, 2011 3. Required Sontag, S. Regarding the Pain of Others, latest ed. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013 4. Required Sontag, S. On Photography, latest ed. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 5. Required Light, K. Witness in Our Time: Working Lives on Documentary Photographers, latest ed. Smithsonian Books, 2010 6. Required Howells, R, Negreiros, J. Visual Culture, latest ed. Polity, 2012 7. Required McLuhan, M, Lapham, L. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, latest ed. The MIT Press, 1994 Rationale: . 8. Required Bolton, R. The Contest of Meaning: Critical Histories of Photography, latest ed. The MIT Press, 1992 Rationale: . 9. Required Trachtenberg, A. Reading American Photographs: Images as History, Mathew Brady to Walker Evans, latest ed. Hill and Wang, 2010 10. Required Grundberg, A. Crisis of the Real(Aperture Ideas), latest ed. Aperture, 2010 11. Required Goldberg, V. Photography in Print: Writings from 1816 to the Present, latest ed. University of New Mexico Press, 1988 Rationale: . 12. Required Barthes, R. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography, latest ed. Hill and Wang, 2010 13. Required Barthes, R. Mythologies: The Complete Edition, in a New Translation, latest ed. Hill and Wang, 2013

Other Resources

1. Additional Assigned Readings from:        Zakia. Photography and Perception. St. Louis: Light Impressions, 1979 or latest.         Selected Articles from Current Periodicals including the New York Times, Wired, Los Angeles Times, and similar.