Introduction to photography and related media

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 3 hours / session

This course provides practical instruction in fundamentals of analog and digital SLR and medium/large format camera operation, film exposure and development, black and white darkroom techniques, digital imaging, and studio lighting.

This semester we will explore the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for our theme- and site-specific term project, which provides opportunities to develop technical skills and experimental photographic techniques, and for personal artistic exploration. Final projects will be presented on site in exhibition format.

Work in progress is continuously presented and discussed in a critical forum. Lectures, readings, visiting professionals, group discussions, and site visits encourage aesthetic appreciation of the medium, as well as a critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed.

The following proposal was submitted to the MIT Council for the Arts, and may also be of interest (PDF).

Mitchell, William J. "The Nascent Medium." In The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780262631600.

Sacks, Oliver. "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. 5th ed. New York, NY: Touchstone, 1998. ISBN: 9780684853949.

Elkins, James. "Just Looking." In The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 1997. ISBN: 9780156004978.

Hirsch, Robert. "Flexible Images: Handmade American Photography, 1969-2002." Exposure 36, no. 1 (2003): 23-42, and cover.

Horenstein, Henry. Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual (excerpts). New York, NY: Little, Brown, 1983. ISBN: 9780316373142.

Regular attendance and punctuality for class and workshops are mandatory. 3 unexcused absences will lower the final grade by one letter. 4 unexcused absences will result in automatically failing the class. It is your responsibility to catch up on missed content through the instructor, TA, or fellow students. Schedule an individual review if you miss a class review.

Don't show me this again

This is one of over 2,200 courses on OCW. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free & open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum.

No enrollment or registration. Freely browse and use OCW materials at your own pace. There's no signup, and no start or end dates.

Knowledge is your reward. Use OCW to guide your own life-long learning, or to teach others. We don't offer credit or certification for using OCW.

Made for sharing. Download files for later. Send to friends and colleagues. Modify, remix, and reuse (just remember to cite OCW as the source.)

Learn more at Get Started with MIT OpenCourseWare