The one-year Digital photography program is a total immersion experience designed to equip students with the practical skills to be working photography professionals. It uniquely provides instruction and intensive hands-on experience in the technology, aesthetics, history and theory of both still and motion picture digital imaging.

While photography has always been intrinsically tied to technology, the image-makers of today cannot afford to call themselves just photographers. They must also be digital imaging experts, and capable of working confidently with high-definition video.

No significant prior experience in photography is assumed. The program brings everyone to the same level very quickly, beginning with the fundamentals and filling the inevitable gaps in the understanding of those who have some experience.

Skills learned as a result of successful completion of this program include:
• An in-depth knowledge of digital SLR cameras, lighting, post-production, and printing
• Research techniques for documentary subjects or news stories visualized through photography
• Mastery of Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite
• Knowledge of the history of photography
• Knowledge of aesthetic theories of photography and experience with its practical application
• The ability to work independently in a high-pressure creative environment

SEMESTER ONE OVERVIEW

The main goal of the first semester is to develop core photography skills by shooting immediate and ongoing assignments with a state of the art digital SLR, the Canon 5D Mark II. As students shoot and edit, they are immersed in the theory and history of photography. Looking at master works and participating in critiques, students develop skills to conceptualize, pre-visualize, compose, expose and edit powerful images using light and perspective to underscore content.

Photographers are first and foremost light hunters. Students learn to recognize the power of dramatic light and the potential of shadows as we bend the sun, the moon, and every conceivable artificial light source from sparklers to fresnels, studio flash to LEDs to illuminate our subjects. Even as they learn traditional 3-point lighting, students are encouraged to think beyond convention to choose lighting techniques with the emotional and dramatic impact.

As students examine a wide range of imaging disciplines, they also practice the essential business skills that enable any professional to run a successful practice, including research, assignments, bidding, self-promotion, marketing, stock imagery, studio organization, contracts, exhibition, licensing, publishing and artist grants.

Photography today is intrinsically linked to Adobe Photoshop as the pre-eminent digital darkroom tool. Industry experts help students master non-destructive image editing, learn the staggering power of RAW processing, how to target and shift colors with incredible precision, professional selection and masking techniques, and even how to manipulate time in the editing process.

SEMESTER ONE OBJECTIVES

PROJECT GOALS

• Test apertures ranges, shutter speeds, lenses, lighting tools, and filtration options on a wide variety of subjects.
• Thoroughly test the limits of over and under exposure and RAW processing and the effect on the "look" of an image.
• Research, conceptualize, shoot, edit and output a photographic documentary essay, including a written artist's statement.
• Conceptualize, shoot, edit and output a fine-art exhibition on a single cohesive theme, including a written artist's statement.
• Develop and participate in a community of creative peers capable of providing invaluable critical feedback.

LEARNING GOALS

• Understand the components of exposure.
• Acquire a working mastery over the Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR camera and standard lenses for still imaging.
• Develop working digital darkroom skills using Adobe Photoshop.
• Understand basic color management and be able to output accurate prints to modern inkjet printers.
• Recognize the characteristics and make creative use of basic lighting tools and camera position to create drama and emotional impact under typical lighting conditions.
• Examine the history of photography and photo technology up to the arrival of handheld 35mm cameras.
• Understand and apply theories of aesthetics, semiotics, design, composition and color.

SEMESTER ONE CLASSES

Studio Practice I
Studio Practice is the core of the curriculum, encompassing lecture, demonstration, shooting assignments on location or in the studio, and critique. Students learn the mechanics of cameras and lenses and the components of exposure. Students are taught to be aware of the unique characteristics that light can take: direct, diffused, reflected, tempered by atmosphere. They begin to master the modern digital SLR, and analyze digital capture’s pleasures (instant gratification!) and pitfalls (generic, competent images). Every technique is practiced through individual assignments, which are critiqued by faculty and peers.
Digital Imaging I
This course is an intensive introduction to Adobe Lightroom as a RAW editor and indispensable organization tool, and Adobe Photoshop, possibly the greatest tool of visual illusion and manipulation ever invented. Bypassing the flashy effects that wow trade show patrons looking for the path of least effort, students learn professional digital darkroom techniques that give unprecedented color and tonal control over their images. Students build their digital workflow from RAW processing through non-destructive editing, and output from print to web page to iPod. This course includes lecture, demonstration and lab time for students to edit their own images with the assistance of expert faculty.

History & Theory I
Intensive study, analysis, and critique of the work of master photographers, their techniques, aesthetics and approaches helps to equip students to choose the most effective means of realizing their own projects. The history of photography is studied from its beginning through the proliferation of the handheld 35mm camera. Students are guided to analyze the cultural and societal impact of photography, and the evolution of the medium from the original assumed veracity of photographs to the exploitation of the viewer’s acceptance of the photograph as “truth,” given the use of modern photographic manipulation with tools such as Photoshop. Additionally, students become intimately familiar with a particular photographer’s body of work through written research projects.

Discussions include composition, traditional and non-conventional framing, color theory, design, semiotics (signs and symbols), the effect of technological changes on photography, the use and limitations of photography as a documentary and personal record, and the surprisingly long history of using viewer assumptions to distort the truth.

Documentary Photography I
In this class, students take a close look at the evolution of documentary photography through the work of established and emerging masters such as Bernice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Jonas Bendiksen, Matthew Brady, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstadt, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Dorothea Lange, Mary Ellen Mark, Steve McCurry, James Nachtwey, Sebastiao Salgado, Eugene Smith, and others.

Guest presentations play a major part of this course, as well as written analyses. Students build on their in-depth exposure to the work of these masters to research, plan and execute their own documentary and project for in-class critique. Students also learn multimedia technique for the presentation of images using audio interviews, ambient sound and music.

Visiting artists address the business practices of successful documentary photographers, including private and public funding, assignment work, self-promotion, exhibition, approaching galleries and museums, book publishing, stock and commercial licensing.

Fine Art Photography I
A semester long workshop to explore the possibilities of photography as a fine art form. Students will become acquainted with principles of graphic design, composition, color and perception. We will discuss the distinctions — however occasionally slippery they may be—between art and commerce, and examine the schism between so-called “straight” photography and concept-over-aesthetics art. Students will conceptualize, shoot, edit, process, present and discuss in class their work, which will derive from weekly assignments. The course culminates with a final body of finished, printed photographs of conceptual rigor and a high level of technical accomplishment.

The long tradition of work of established and contemporary masters is examined, such as Florian Aichen-Maier, Bill Brandt, Keith Carter, William Eggelston, Lee Friedlander, Michael Kenna, Sze-Tsung Leong, Philip Lorca-diCorcia, Loretta Lux, Sally Mann, Richard Misrach, Tina Modotti, Sandy Skoglund, Cindy Sherman, Edward Weston, William Wegman, and others. Guest presentations are expected to play a major part of this course, as well as written analyses. Students build on their in-depth exposure to the work of these masters to research, plan and execute their own documentary and fine art projects for in-class critique.

Shooting Lab
This lab is a hands-on opportunity for students to learn professional techniques on location with rotating faculty. Covering a wide range of genres, aesthetic, logistical and technical challenges, students work directly with teachers to apply concepts to assignments of increasing complexity. Field trips to photograph the infinite variety of locations and subjects near New York and Los Angeles play a major part of this course, as well as studio assignments.

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