OVERVIEW

The aim of this course is to provide students with a basis of knowledge on the history of photography from its beginnings to the 1930s. Special focus will be placed on the significance of the historical techniques of photography, its tangencies and the mutual influences of photography with other visual arts, some issues related to the reading and critical description of photographic work.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of this course is to provide students with a basis of knowledge to critically contextualize photographic works and to provide an organized description of its constitutive, historical, stylistic and material elements.

TEACHING METHODS

In-class lectures with videos and web searches on the main photography collections in the world. Analysis and discussion on the photographs the instructor brings to class. Visits to see the historical photographical collections in Genoa.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

6 cfu course program

Photography from its beginnings (1839) to 1930: fundamental historical features and the impact of the main photographical techniques on the evolution of the language between the 1800s and the 1900s. The basic elements to give a catalographic description of a collection of photographs.

Students should, therefore, know the essential features of the history of photography from 1839-1930 and the principles of the Italian standard of photographic cataloging (known as the “F card” (scheda F) from the “Ministery of Cultural Assets’ Institute of Cataloging and Documentation” (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione del Ministero per i Beni Culturali).

Any change in the exam program must have the instructor’s consent.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ELISABETTA PAPONE (President)

ALBERTO TERRILE (President)

LEO LECCI

PAOLA VALENTI

LESSONS

Class schedule

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITH ELEMENTS OF CATALOGING

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam including an inventory or catalographic description of a photograph.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Students who are able to demonstrate their knowledge of the main stages in the history of photography studied in the course and to organize the description of the historical, material and technical elements of a photograph will pass the final exam. Students who can read a photographic trend as well as an individual photograph within a historical frame and a critical analysis, including a comparison with other forms of media will receive an excellent mark.

Exam schedule