1
Chapter 7
Photography
Instructor’s Manual
Overview
In this chapter, introduce Photography. Discuss the significance of photography and its
historical ramifications on art since its invention.
Sub Headers
• Technique and Development
• The Camera
• Styles of Photography
o Straight Photography
o Beyond Reproduction: Fine Art Photography
o Photomontage
• Contemporary Approaches
Terms:
aperture
camera body
camera obscura
daguerreotype
lens
photomontage
shutterviewfinder
Lecture #1
Discussion:
In Lecture #1, introduce the technical elements of photography. Go over the history and
developments. Use examples from real life and the text. Engage students in discussing
how they use photography today. Highlight straight photography.
Class Questions/Prompts:
Photographic Truth The late 1700s and early 1800s were periods of intense scientific
investigation. Because of the need for a more scientific method of observation, early
photographs or “drawings with light,” were considered objective and truthful. Around the
time that Henry Peach Robinson made his famous photograph entitled Fading Away
(1858), which was constructed from 5 separate negatives, there was already conflict
2
between the “art” and “science” of photography. Are photographs objective truths? How
are images utilized today?
Safety and Daguerreotypes The original process for creating a Daguerreotype was
incredibly dangerous. Discuss the problems with this process, such as poorly sealed
development boxes and vaporized mercury.
Julia Margaret Cameron Cameron lived during a time when women were expected to
be wives and not follow their own interests. Cameron created hundreds of images of
well-known people and domesticity, often depicting the act of touching or looking. She
was not interested in technical aspects, which is evident in the fingerprints and hair
sometimes found on her plates, but rather photography as art. Cameron dealt more with
meaning and feelings and enlisted everyone and everything around her as a model.
Exercise #1
1. Analysis
a. Have students make observations on materials, methods,
cultural and historical context.
Figure 7-4 Julia Margaret Cameron, Pomona, 1872. The Royal
Photographic Society, Bath, Great Britain.
2. Compare and Contrast
Figure 7-2 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, Collection of Fossils and
Shells, 1859. Daguerreotype. Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Métiers,
Paris, France.
Figure 7-6 Timothy O’Sullivan, Ancient Ruins in the Cañon de Chelle,
N.M., in a Niche 50 Feet above the Present Cañon Bed (now Canyon de
Chelly National Monument, Arizona), 1873.
Lecture #2
Discussion:
In Lecture #2, introduce the artistic and creative Fine Art approaches to photography:
photomontage and other contemporary approaches. Explore the artists who experiment
with photography. Examine contemporary techniques and uses of photography.
3
Class Questions/Prompts:
The Steerage Discuss Alfred Stieglitz’s image The Steerage in-depth. First focus on the
formal properties, specifically line. In this image, line is used to move one’s eye around
the composition and to divide the picture plane into distinct areas. Second, discuss the
social aspects in this photograph, such as how the use of line divides one class of people
from another.
Exercise #2
1. Analysis
a. Have students make observations on materials, methods,
cultural and historical context.
Figure 7-12 Man Ray, Le Souffle (from the portfolio Electricité), 1931.
Rayograph. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
2. Compare and Contrast
Figure 7-16 Sebastião Salgado, Gold Mine, Serra Pelada, State of Para,
Brazil, 1986. Iris Print, 24” x 20”.
Figure 7-19 Nan Goldin, Yogo Puttingon Powder, Bangkok, 1992.
Cibachrome (photograph), from an edition of 325. Nan Goldin Studio,
New York.