Photography Course Descriptions
Scroll down to read descriptions of the photography courses offered at Carthage, or click on these links for additional resources:
History of Photography: Daguerre to Digital
ARH 2100 (FAR) (CL) / 4 credits
This course introduces the history of photography from its experimental beginnings in the early 19th century to the digital practices of the present. The course focuses on the various social, cultural, scientific, and artistic uses of photography as a visual medium, as well as the broader themes and questions that have accompanied photography throughout its history
FOUNDATIONS, SURFACE: Images + Design
ART 1070 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
A studio-based course designed to cultivate a student’s ability to understand and create images. Students will work fluidly across two-dimensional and three-dimensional processes and across material-based and digital-based projects. Projects will involve fundamental principles of design, color, and visual organization through drawing, printmaking, painting, fiber art, book arts, 3D media, technology, and lens-based media. Course content will explore the context of images in the larger culture and the potential of art and design to make inquiries into social, cultural, philosophical, scientific, political, or technological topics. Students will take projects through the creative design process, from ideation to construction, presentation, and critique.
Prerequisite: None
Fall/Spring
FOUNDATIONS, TIME: Movement + Digital
ART 1072 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
This course is a study of design fundamentals in time-based media, with emphasis on content. Students will explore the interactions of time through the lens and the tactile world, using video, sound, animation, performance, installation, and/or new media. Projects will be interdisciplinary in nature, with the combining of time-based media, for example performance art and video, installation art and sound. Through individual production, group projects, and critical discussion, students will examine the relationships between image, sound, linear and nonlinear narrative, time, and space.
Prerequisite: None
Fall/Spring
Darkroom Photography
ART 2110 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
This course focuses on the camera as a tool of expression and photography as a basic art form. Darkroom techniques will be taught, and each student will acquire the compositional and technical skills necessary to create original photographs. Students are required to have their own cameras.
Prerequisite: None
Fall/Spring
Color Photography
ART 2130 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
Students will explore the conceptual, aesthetic, historical, and technical aspects of color photography as an art medium. Students will use DSLR cameras and the contemporary process of digital photography to produce work that is both visually engaging and conceptually challenging. The course will culminate in a portfolio of works that thoroughly explores an area of interest with technical proficiency. Students are required to have their own cameras.
Prerequisite: None
4D
ART 2750 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
Time, space, and technology are fundamental in contemporary art practice. This course will be an introduction to the process of making art by utilizing technology and transaction among people, objects, locations, and situations. Through studio assignments, screenings, readings, lectures, discussion, and/or workshops, students will be introduced to contemporary time-based art practices. Depending on the specific topic offered, this will include video, sound art, performance art, installation, light, experimental film, social practice, web-based, and/or new media.
Prerequisite: None
Studio Photography
Art 3100 (FAR) / 4 credits
An introduction to the use of large format view cameras. Technical instruction includes the use of the camera, lighting equipment, film handling, exposure procedures, film development, and printing.
Prerequisite: ARH 2100
Advanced Darkroom Photography
ART 3110 (FAR) / 4 credits
Advanced studio work in photography. Emphasis is placed upon darkroom photography as a creative and expressive medium and is taught from a fine arts perspective. In addition to the technical issues of image-making, the content, aesthetics, and formal qualities of the photographic image are explored. A 35mm camera with manual exposure capabilities is required. This course may be repeated up to three times. This class may be used as an elective in majors and minors in art.
Prerequisite: ART 2110
Advanced Color Photography
ART 3130 / 4 credits
In this course, students will create an in-depth portfolio of photographic works that demonstrates technical proficiency, thorough historical knowledge, and advanced understanding of the aesthetic and formal concerns in photography. This course will emphasize content development and maximizing the creative and expressive potential of digital color photography. Students are required to have their own digital SLR camera with manual controls.
Prerequisite: ART 2130 or CDM 2500
Art Internship
ART 3550 / 1-12 credits
An internship enables the student to gain practical experience in his or her field of study. All internships require faculty supervision and regular meetings between the student and the instructor. Further credit will be given for internships in subsequent terms in the same placement so long as the supervising faculty member is satisfied that the student is acquiring new or enhancing existing skills and knowledge base. All internships must be arranged through The Aspire Center.
Advanced 4D
ART 3700 / 4 credits
Advanced studio work in time-based media, emphasizing individual production in one or more of these areas: video, sound art, performance art, installation, light, experimental film, social practice, web-based, and/or new media. Students will refine their aesthetic, conceptual, and technical skills through individual projects and continued study of the expanding critical role time-based media has in contemporary art and society. This course may be repeated up to three times.
Prerequisites: ART 2750
Adobe Creative Cloud: Level Up
CDM 1900 / 4 credits
This course focuses on each student’s individual need to increase knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Students will “test in” to a specific level of each program in Adobe and build from there. Students will create and edit multiple small projects within the programs — a crucial skill for many majors seeking to gain entry into their professional field.
Basic Digital Photography
CDM 2500 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
An introduction to photography in which students practice the art of photography, introducing them to the technical and stylistic aspects of digital photo making. Students are required to supply their own digital camera, which has manual capabilities such as aperture and shutter speed priority mode. Using Photoshop software, students will also work with their own photos in the digital realm, applying what they learn to select, manipulate, display, and print work.
Prerequisite: None
Photographing Nature: Investigating Biodiversity and Conservation
CDM 2650 (FAR) (AI) / 4 credits
This course introduces the student to the use of digital photography to explore plant and animal species and their habitats. The course begins with instruction in digital photography and then moves outside where students will focus on organisms, learning to photograph them while exploring their biology. Photography will be used to engage students in making detailed observations and beginning the process of scientific discovery. After learning about species, their ecological interactions, and conservation, students will complete a final project that utilizes visual imagery to educate others about the value of biodiversity, ecology, and/or conservation issues.
Prerequisite: None
Film and New Media Production
CDM 2700 (FAR) (AI) (IDP) / 4 credits
This course engages students in the process of developing, writing, producing, shooting, and editing content for audio, video, virtual reality, and new media. Students study the process of media production by critical analysis of film texts and by active participation in the production process.
Prerequisite: None
Exploring the Documentary Form
CDM 2800 (FAR) (CL) (ITL) / 4 credits
Film is an important and intrinsic medium for understanding our culture and its values. More specifically, nonfiction film has played a critical role in educating society on important issues and histories, often shaping public policy and opinion through production processes. Students will learn about the components of documentary and its production, while exploring the form’s history and various modes of representation that have been cultivated and conceptualized over the past century.
Prerequisite: None
Advanced Digital Photography
CDM 3500 / 4 credits
Advanced Digital Photography is an advanced class for participants who have taken basic digital photography and want to expand their photographic skills. The majority of the class time will be concentrating on the two broad goals of 1) thinking creatively about photography and 2) enhancing technical aspects of photography.
Prerequisite: CDM 2500
Communication Internship
CDM 3550 / 4-8 credits
An internship enabling students to gain practical experience in communication. The internship is typically arranged by the student, and must be approved by a department faculty member and by The Aspire Center. Students meet regularly with the supervising professor, maintain a log or journal of the experience, and complete a major paper documenting, analyzing, and interpreting the internship experience.
Prerequisite: None