The Photography 1A class provides a comprehensive study of photography as an art form.   The course will expose the student to fundamental issues unique to the medium through the study of the history of photography.  The students will experience a variety of approaches to the medium of black and white photography beginning with photograms and also including pinhole photography and 35mm cameras.  Students will create their own photograms, use pinhole cameras to get negatives and make positive images, learn how to process black and white film and enlarge.  Portrait photography is a major aspect of the Photography 1A program and the work of portrait photographers such as Arnold Newman, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Yousuf Karsh will be presented in class.  At the end of the semester, students will work on a final project on a portrait or self-portrait.

The Photography 1B class will build on skills learned in Photography 1A.  In addition, students will learn basic studio lighting and more advanced darkroom techniques to obtain better results when printing in black and white.  Still life is a major aspect of the program and images from the following artists will be presented: Edward Weston, Renger-Patzsch, Minor White and Aaron Siskind.  At the end the semester, students will do research on the biography and style of a photographer who has made important aesthetic advances in history.  The final project will consist of creating still life images with thematic unity.