Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0277 - African Photography

In this photography workshop, each student will use African photographic practices as inspiration for their own photographic work during the semester. It has long been presumed that Europeans and Americans introduced the practices of early photography around the world - as explorers, merchants, colonizers, scholars, archaeologists, anthropologists and tourists. Yet we are increasingly aware of photography produced by people on the African continent. This photography workshop will investigate the many ways photographers (mostly African but also non-African) have made photographs in Africa and will use these practices as blueprints for reimagining the possibilities of what a camera can do. Some questions we will address include: What are the historic relationships between the camera, nationalism, race, the outsider and agency? How can artists glean tools from faraway and use them for their own purposes in a very different context? What else can you do with a camera? Using examples from around the continent and throughout photographic history that vary in form, technique and concept, we will create a framework that takes practices developed in Africa as an origin of photographic inquiry.

Multiple Cultural Perspectives Independent Work Prerequisite: 1 intro photography course or equivalent, 1 critical or cultural studies course; Recommended: 1 200 level course in either the humanities or social sciences Students are expected to spend approximately 4 hours weekly in preparation and work outside of class time.