AN ANALYSIS OF THE SHIFT FROM BLACK & WHITE TO COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INTRODUCTORY PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES Chase Masters A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION December 2008 Committee: Terry Herman, Advisor Gary Benjamin Charles Spontelli Jeff Sharp ii © 2008 Chase M. Masters All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Terry Herman, Advisor While some institutions of higher education teach their introductory photography courses in the traditional black and white format, many are switching to color. The focus of this study was to explore the reasoning behind the decision of institutions of higher education to either continue teaching the introductory photography course in black and white or make the switch to color. Higher education level introductory photography educators were chosen as participants for the study and responded to a survey created by the researcher. The survey included questions regarding their opinions between the two color formats in the introductory classroom, what format they currently instruct with, why they use that format, and who made that decision. Results from the survey showed that the higher education level introductory photography educators preferred to teach using black and white photography to color. They also preferred the digital format to film. Interestingly enough, they survey showed that the educators associated black and white photography with film cameras and associated color photography with digital cameras. These results seemed to contradict with the previous results, making for an intriguing conclusion. iv This is dedicated to my amazing family for all of their love, guidance, and support. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must first thank Terry Herman. She went completely above and beyond her responsibilities as my advisor. Besides being an incredible teacher, advisor, and friend, she was always happy to take some time out of her busy day to see how everything was coming along. I thank her for giving me deadlines to stick to and for pushing me when I began to procrastinate, which I am sometimes known to do! I would also like to thank the rest of my committee: Gary Benjamin, Charles Spontelli, and Jeff Sharp. Their conversations, ideas, and direction helped me mold an idea into something great. I appreciate their understanding and accommodations when I had to defend my proposal on Vicodin, three days after having my appendix removed. Thanks!! Thank you to Donna Trautman for the advice, encouragement, and kind words. She helped me come up with the original idea for my thesis during my first semester in graduate school. The annotated bibliography really ended up pulling through! I have got to thank Kim Strickland for helping me through graduate school. She made sure I had the many forms filled out correctly, helped me with my schedule, always wanted to know how I was doing, and provided an excellent backyard for volleyball! A thanks goes out to all of the close friends I have made at BGSU. I must specifically thank Todd Pavlack for pushing me to join the C&TE program and Andrew MacMillan-Ladd for pushing me in the right direction since elementary school. Another thanks goes to all of the other teaching assistants, co-workers, and teachers I have worked with throughout the years. I learned so much from each and every one of them. Lastly, I need to give my biggest thanks to my entire family, especially my mom, dad, Clara, and John. They provided an enormous amount of encouragement and support. There is no way I could have pulled this off without their help. Thank you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Context of the Problem ............................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 1 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................ 2 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................................... 3 Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 3 Definition of Terms .................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Review of Literature ..................................................................................................... 5 Black & White Photography ....................................................................................................... 5 Color Photography ...................................................................................................................... 7 Photography Education ............................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 10 Restatement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 10 Restatement of the Objectives .................................................................................................. 10 Research Design ....................................................................................................................... 11 Sampling Design & Procedures ................................................................................................ 12 Data Collection Instrument ....................................................................................................... 12 Timeline & Budget ................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 4: Findings ....................................................................................................................... 14 Response Rates ......................................................................................................................... 14 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Teaching Method .................................................................................................................. 15 vii Format ................................................................................................................................... 15 Background Information ....................................................................................................... 17 Preference ............................................................................................................................. 19 Advantages of Black & White Photography ......................................................................... 19 Challenges of Black & White Photography .......................................................................... 20 Advantages of Color Photography ........................................................................................ 20 Challenges of Color Photography ......................................................................................... 20 Switching Color Formats ...................................................................................................... 21 Reactions ............................................................................................................................... 22 Importance ............................................................................................................................ 23 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 24 Summary of Black & White Photography ............................................................................ 24 Summary of Color Photography ........................................................................................... 25 Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, & Recommendations............................................................ 26 Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 26 Objective One ........................................................................................................................... 26 Objective Two ........................................................................................................................... 27 Objective Three ......................................................................................................................... 27 Objective Four .......................................................................................................................... 28 Objective Five ........................................................................................................................... 29 Conclusions & Recommendations ............................................................................................ 29 Summary ..................................................................................................................................