Photography through the Lens of Magnum and VII IDSEM-UG 1857 Gallatin School of Individualized Study New York University Spring 2016 Dr. Lauren Walsh Office: 1 Wash. Pl., rm 431 Contact: [email protected] Office hours: Fri. 2-4 Class location: 194M, room 201 Class: 11:00a-1:45p Fridays Learn the history of some of the greatest works of journalistic and documentary photography over the last seventy years through two of the most eminent photo collectives, Magnum and VII. Photographers at these leading collectives have created iconic documentary images and helped define the field of photojournalism as we know it today. In examining Magnum and VII, students learn how these collectives function as a business model, in opposition to wire services and other photo agencies, and how these distinctions have informed the style and content produced by photojournalists over the past few decades. We thus use these collectives as a lens (pun intended!) through which to address a recent history of photography, the trajectory of visual journalism, and ultimately, the place of advocacy in documentary photography, as these collectives often turn an eye toward momentous histories and social justice. In focusing on the work of specific photographers from each collective, students learn about historic events, from coverage of Latin American guerrilla wars to the break up of Yugoslavia, in addition to current humanitarian issues, like the mining of “conflict minerals” in the Congo. These case studies allow us to examine when and how photos have affected the course of history. At times in conversation with photographers from these collectives, we also consider present-day concerns: does the still image have the same power today—an era saturated by images—as it did just a few decades ago? As a photographer, what are the ethical ramifications of acting as the public’s eyes? Readings include theory, journalistic accounts, history, and other critical literature, while authors include Ritchin, Cartier-Bresson, Sontag, and Sliwinski. We examine photographers, such as Robert Capa, Susan Meiselas, Ron Haviv, and Marcus Bleasdale, and naturally, we spend a lot of time looking at photos. We also meet a number of these award- winning photographers. Students visit NYC galleries, write academic papers, and produce a photo project. Course Objectives/Learning Goals: In this seminar, students will learn: • a history of recent photography through two prestigious photo collectives and their specific photographers • visual literacy, which includes not only understanding theory and terms from visual culture studies, but also the skills to question and analyze how images work: What information is conveyed? How is it conveyed? How do photojournalistic images function in the public consciousness? • some of the major conflicts and humanitarian crises of the recent past. We will study given historical contexts as well as develop conceptual processes regarding how photographic coverage has affected public reception of these events. Finally, students have the opportunity: • to understand these “big” or “far away” events in a manner that brings them closer to our own lives, in part through conversation with photographers, which gives insight into the professional’s take on their own images, in addition to how we—in the classroom—appraise their images. 1 Required Texts: • Available at the NYU Book Store, 726 Broadway: o Miller, Russel. Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History. New York: Grove Press, 1997. Approx. $12 o Meiselas, Susan. Nicaragua: June, 1978-July, 1979. Pantheon Books, 1981. Approx. $9. o Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York, FSG, 2003. Approx. $12 • Because photo books can be expensive, I’ve opted to place a number of them on reserve rather than require you to purchase the book (though of course you are welcome to buy a copy, if you like). You will need to visit the Course Reserves desk, lower level 2 of Bobst Library to do the reading (marked below as “on reserve at Bobst”). • All other readings will be distributed via our course website (marked below as “course site”). Please always have a digital or hard copy of the reading on the day it is to be discussed in class. Required Assignments: You will have informal writing assignments (including homework and in-class writing) and formal assignments (longer essays). In addition to the writing assignments, students will give presentations to the class, and produce a visual project. Other Course Requirements: • Timely completion of all assignments, both written work and presentations • Attendance: Because this course meets only once a week, attendance is paramount. You should make every effort to attend every class. If you must miss a class (for instance, you are very sick), you must email me in advance of your absence. Unexcused absences will negatively affect your grade, as does arriving late to class or arriving unprepared to discuss the assigned reading. • Participation: The success of any seminar-sized class depends on the active participation of its members. It is important for you to come to class always fully prepared to participate in the discussion. Class participation counts for 15% of your final grade. • Late and Missed Assignments: Unless otherwise stated, all assignments should be brought to class (as typed hardcopies) on the day they are due. If you will not be in class when a writing assignment is due, you may email it to me by the start of class time. I will not otherwise accept emailed papers; hardcopies are required. Late papers will not be accepted except with valid and preferably written medical excuses. Late final essay versions will be progressively downgraded. • Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. To plagiarize is “to take and pass off as one’s own (the ideas, writing, etc. of another)” (“Plagiarize.” Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged. 2nd ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983). Any time you use the words or ideas, or otherwise employ the research obtained by another writer, you must attribute the material to that source. Anything in your papers that is not attributed must be your own, original thought. Cases of plagiarism will be handled in accordance with university policy. 2 Grading: Grades are based on the quality of written work, as well as your class participation, your presentations, and your visual project/s. Grading Breakdown: Smaller writing and other assignments, including your “observation post” to the course site (approximately 12-15 pages of writing over the course of the semester): 20% Longer essay (approximately 8-10 pages): 25% Presentation: (directions below, approximately 4 pages of writing + visuals) 20% Final project (approximately 6 pages of writing plus substantive visual project): 20% Participation: 15% Course Website: Everyone enrolled in the course will receive an invitation to our course website. You will need to accept the invitation. Updated class agendas, readings, photos for analysis, directions for assignments, and other course materials will be posted there. You will also post some writing assignments here. Please tag each post with important words/themes! This will help us identify connections across disparate photographers’ works, and will provide a strong foundation for the analytic work required of you in essays and projects of the second half of the semester. To this end, there will be a page on our site dedicated to observations you make, all semester long, about interconnections. Everyone is required to post at least one observation (“observation post”), at any point during the semester. Timeline of Photojournalism We will also use our course site to create a Timeline of Photojournalism, beginning at WWII and continuing well into the digital age. Students will generate the content for this Timeline from the presentations they give in class. Each student will give one substantive presentation, for which you will conduct research, prepare visuals, and provide written analysis. All of this material will be posted to our Timeline, so that we a) have a shared space to look back over the analysis of photography you’ve done over the semester and b) can use the Timeline to chart trends—or identify breaks in trends—in aesthetics, content, business practices, and so forth. Each presentation will focus on the work of 1 – 2 photographers from Magnum and/or VII. The photographers will be assigned to students. For each presentation, students must: 1) Give a brief biographic overview of the photographer. Identify whether he/she is with Magnum or VII and when he/she joined the collective. 2) Give a summary of the topic at hand (see syllabus for class session topics) and how it pertains to the photography in question. This can be historical background, social/political context, etc. 3) Give an analysis of at least 2 images (from the body of work we are considering) by the photographer. (NB: Even though we are focused on specific bodies of work by each photographer, you should nevertheless always check the photographer’s personal website in addition to the Magnum/VII sites as a way of acquainting yourself with his/her oeuvre. This will help you think about, for instance: Are the images we examine similar in style to the rest of his/her work?) 4) Provide an assessment of the aesthetic style of the photos you have chosen to focus on. 5) Provide other germane observations, e.g.: What or who has influenced this photographer’s work? Are there other important contextual factors we should know about? How was this body of work received (by the public, or by editors, other) and/or where was it published? Was this work shot on film or is it digital? 6) Provide a bibliography for the research you do. 3 If for some reason you cannot present (for instance, a guest speaker’s schedule shifts and he/she comes in on a new date that doesn’t leave time for a student presentation), we will nevertheless have all this important work on our Timeline.