ARTS3710

Step away from the computer and move into the darkroom. This course is designed to introduce students to intermediate and advanced techniques in black and white photography. The class covers exposure and development, printing, archival considerations, and film formats. Traditional darkroom skills will be emphasized, the history of the camera and photography, and ways conceptual and contemporary artists approach these traditional techniques today.

Through lectures, demonstrations, critiques, and readings you will develop an understanding of the history of darkroom photography in a contemporary art context. Throughout the course you will explore how your own voice can find form through a photographic practice. Students should come to class with a working knowledge of the basics of analog camera operation and photographic principles. There will be a review of darkroom, covered in ARTS 1701: Introduction to Photography, especially at the beginning of the term. The core of this class is a series of photographic assignments. Some will have a technical basis. Some will emphasize finding your personal voice and direction as a photographic artist. All work should be approached in the service of creative expression, self-reflection, and exploration. Students will leave the class with advanced darkroom skills, deeper knowledge of photographic history, and how these skills can be used and applied to support their creative work and life.

Prerequisite: 1701