Art history & visual studies
850 words
All details in PDF
AHVS 121 Understanding Visual Communication
Winter 2020 Assignment 7
In the early days of the invention of photography there was considerable debate about whether it should be considered as an art form because it is a
mechanical process and one which (supposedly) might not be mediated by the maker. The relatively low learning curve (when compared to painting) was one
of the factors that critics used to argue against photography as art – their point was that anyone could just ‘push a button’, therefore it wasn’t art.
What do you think of this argument?
The advent of digital photography, and developments within the medium have made creative possibilities of photography available to even more people
(think of the wide adoption of Instagram & nostalgic filters for example). What role do these adaptations have in the creation of image making?
In addition to your written work, your assignment this week includes creating a photographic image that contains some aspect of your identity – this may be
personal (for example, as a family member) or geographic (for example, identity as a citizen of Victoria) using one of the provided examples of photo
manipulation on page 2 of this assignment.
I have tried to provide at least one example that will work for any level of digital skills and/or access to locations.
The goals of the assignment are to:
1) consider the implications of democratizing art making (i.e. expanding participation in art)
2) reflect in writing on issues of memory construction through the process of image making
3) explore ideas concerning how the medium of photography affects the meaning of an image
In your write up you will also discuss your intention & process for creating your photo. Also analyze the similarities & differences in what the two photos
have to tell us and what can be learned from them and from their juxtaposition (or, as in examples 1 and 2, their combination). Include reference to concepts
of identity, memory and how the medium creates meaning.
Write a short paper, minimum 750 words, due to me by email ddudley@uvic.ca
Before Monday March 23, 2020 at 3:30PM.
Please see course outline for important details on how to format & submit assignments.
mailto:ddudley@uvic.ca
mailto:ddudley@uvic.ca
Example 1: What Was There type photos Find a historic photo of a specific location and take another photo of the same location. The two images are then
merged together so that one fades into the other (see example below). Staff in the Fine Arts Computer Labs (FA215) can help you learn the software that
will let you manipulate the photos this way. http://www.whatwasthere.com/ has built an entire website around such historic images, many with a sliding
“fade” button (you do not need to animate your photo this way). The example below is from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219584/Ghosts-
war-Artist-superimposes-World-War-II-photographs-modern-pictures-street-scenes.html
Example 3: Before and After type photos.
I don’t have a specific website to point you at, but examples like this are around all over the net (on
Pinterest, for example). These involve the active re-staging of a family photograph, usually in the
same location (though not always), and with as many of the same people and in as close to the original
poses as possible (example at left).
Example 2: Siting the past on the present type photos
Another way of presenting past and present together is done with overlay photos (this is a bit different
from whatwasthere.com showing the historic image framed within the present day photo). In this example
the original photo is actually re-photographed in front of the same location using perspective to create the
illusion of continuity (see photo at right). A website devoted to such images is http://dearphotograph.com/
With these images, the presence of the photographer is usually directly called attention to, by including the
hand within the larger image.
http://dearphotograph.com
http://www.whatwasthere.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219584/Ghosts-war-Artist-superimposes-World-War-II-photographs-modern-pictures-street-scenes.html
http://www.whatwasthere.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219584/Ghosts-war-Artist-superimposes-World-War-II-photographs-modern-pictures-street-scenes.html
http://dearphotograph.com