Theorie: History of Photography – General Introduction (gLV) 

The seminar explores the most important fields of the medium’s history, including the prehistory and the early history of the medium, documentary practices, relations with art, portraiture and social issues.

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Nummer und TypBKM-BKM-Th.18H.007 / Moduldurchführung
ModulTheorie 
VeranstalterDepartement Fine Arts
LeitungWitold Kanicki
Anzahl Teilnehmendemaximal 17
ECTS3 Credits
LehrformSeminar
ZielgruppenBA Art & Media students & all ZHdK students

Interested students of other study programmes can contact bal.dkm@zhdk.ch and will be informed in calendar week 38 about a possible participation.
Lernziele / KompetenzenBasic knowledge of works, names, notions and events from the history of photography, the relation between cultural changes and photography and its relation to (history of) art, technology and science.
InhalteThis seminar explores the most important fields of photography’s history, starting with its early beginnings and so called „automatic images“ (e.g. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, William Henry Fox Talbot). Subsequent sessions are dedicated to the history of photographic portraiture, documentary and scientific photography, art photography and – last but not least – the social and political use of the medium. Each of these topics is discussed via examples from the entire history of photography. The field of photographic portraiture, for instance, allows to address problems of social and artistic conventions (e.g. André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, Nadar), intimate and amateur pictures, fashion photography and even selfies in contemporary culture and art (e.g. Amalia Ulman). The documentary and scientific use of the medium encompasses ethnographic and anthropologic practices as well as conceptual methods that reappear in art photography (e.g. Bernd and Hilla Becher). The discussion of art photography involves, among others, pictorialism, avant-garde art and photomontages, abstract experiments and the artistic application of the medium in post-war movements. Avant-garde photography and its socio-political ramifications will be the focus of the last sessions of the seminar. The morning sessions are primarily intended for lectures, student presentations and discussions, whereas the afternoon sessions are dedicated to visiting photography exhibitions and discussing films.

Witold Kanicki (* 1979) is an art historian and assistant professor in the Department of Art Education, University of Arts in Poznan (Poland). Prior, he worked as an independent curator and critic.
Bibliographie / LiteraturWill be handed out before the seminar.
Leistungsnachweis / TestatanforderungActive participation in discussions, short presentations of selected articles (to be read before the seminar). Mandatory attendance (minimum 80%); active participation
TermineBlock Week 3: 26 - 30 November
Time: 09:15 - 17:00 o'clock
Bewertungsformbestanden / nicht bestanden
BemerkungSeminar language: English
Termine (5)