ADN 490: Art + Design International Studio – Photography

Instructor: Štěpánka Stein
Credits: 6
GEP: Elective

Course Description

The artistic photography class should help the student discover the unique architecture and specific life in Praha through the view under the photographic camera and the secrets of the studio still life photography. The students will be led to find the „innovative and creative eye.” Ultimately, this will result in the development of your way of visualizing your approach to life.

Praha is among the most visited cities in Europe. As one of the few cities in the world (if not the only one), it provides the cross section through all historical architectural styles. Because of historical context and significance, Praha has several attributes – we know it as Praga Caput Regni (Prague, the head of the Kingdom) and The Hundred Spired Prague, among others.

As for the studio still life, there is the ability to monitor the development of photography not just in Bohemia but throughout Europe, from the secession after modernism. Students will photograph, e.g., glass objects as a part of product photography and as a representative of something typically “Bohemian,” the student will be able to experiment with contemporary portrait photography.

Learning Outcomes

Because the development of photography has always been closely connected to both the technical and creative spheres, in this course, the theoretical and historical aspects of photography will be followed by practical exercises in-class work. The class is structured through the parallel study of the technical functions of cameras used in various situations, “digital darkroom” – especially the Photoshop digital editing and manipulation techniques, the development of aesthetics; and last but not least, the course will pinpoint questions of the design of the photographic image. We will not skip the essential approach to how to visualize our world – the B/W photography. You will process your photos the traditional way: in the analog darkroom.