Genre

The ability to use genre conventions creatively, understanding that Photography shares some of these conventions with other forms of visual and media art.

Developing these skills:

• Wondering & questioning about the nature of photography.

• Daring to be different in pursuing an authentic process of enquiry and in the creation of personal and meaningful works of art.

• Reflecting critically on the work of other photographers and one’s own images and ways of working. 

Associated Theory - The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer (2005)

The Capturing of Light

The ability to select and creatively control a range of Photographic materials, techniques, processes and technologies, considering the ways in which images can form.

Developing these skills:

• Exploring & investigating aspects of the history of photography.

• Crafting & improving work through a structured process of refinement and development.

• Playing with possibilities in order to generate multiple ideas and solutions and make discoveries. 

The Hybrid Tool

The ability to conduct strategic and imaginative research that informs practice, within and beyond the arts, and understand the diversity of functions, contexts and meaning that shape photography.

Developing these skills:

• Exploring & investigating aspects of the history of photography.

• Crafting & improving work through a structured process of refinement and development.

• Making connections with ideas and artists/photographers to understand and join a community of practice. 

Associated Theory - After Photography by Fred Ritchn (2009)

The Art of Selection

The ability to embrace the particular character of photographic image making and be aware of the ways in which photographs alter our perception of the world.

Developing these skills:

• Wondering & questioning about the nature of photography.

• Reflecting critically on the work of other photographers and one’s own images and ways of working.

• Using intuition to find and solve problems, trusting in one’s instincts. 

Associated Theory - On Photography by Susan Sontag (1977)

Photography is Abstract

The ability to understand photographic vision and the ways in which the camera transforms the subject, creating an image which appears to be real but is actually an abstraction.

Developing these skills:

• Challenging assumptions about photographic images and the role of the artist/photographer.

• Tolerating uncertainty by embracing a combination of divergent and convergent modes of thinking.

• Reflecting critically on the work of other photographers and one’s own images and ways of working. 

Associated Theory - 

Photographs Rely on Chance

The ability to embrace chance processes in the creation of photographs, welcoming ambiguity, playfulness,serendipity, risk and not knowing what order to discover something new, recognising discoveries when they materialise.

Developing these skills:

• Exploring & investigating aspects of the history of photography.

• Sharing the ‘product’ with each other and with an authentic audience beyond the classroom.

• Tolerating uncertainty by embracing a combination of divergent and convergent modes of thinking. 

Associated Theory - The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1952)

The Meanings of Photographs are Never Fixed

The ability to develop a sophisticated understanding of the ways photographs are created, produced and distributed and seen affects the image.

Developing these skills:

• Challenging assumptions about photographic images and the role of the artist/photographer.

• Sticking with difficulty by embracing risk, chance and failure as an important part of the process.

• Making connections with ideas and artists/photographers to understand and join a community of practice.

Associated Theory - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin (1936)

Photography has its Own Language & Grammar

If the visual elements of Photography are it’s language, then it’s flatness, incorporating  time; framing and focus, are its grammar. An essential ability is that of understanding this visual vocabulary and its structure so you can begin to play with it. Bending and breaking the rules.

Developing these skills:

• Wondering & Questioning about the nature of photography.

• Developing Techniques to augment one’s intellectual and practical toolkit of resources.

• Playing with Possibilities in order to generate multiple ideas and solutions and make discoveries. 

Associated Theory - 

Photographs are Never Ideologically Neutral

The ability to understand that photographs are made and consumed in the context of a particular time, place and culture. Photographers must accept their ethical responsibility.

Developing these skills:

• Challenging assumptions about photographic images and the role of the artist/photographer.

• Sticking with difficulty by embracing risk, chance and failure as an important part of the process.

• Reflecting critically on the work of other photographers and one’s own images and ways of working. 

Associated Theories - Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag (2003)

'Photographs of Agony' by John Berger (1972)

Photographs Warp our Sense of Time

The ability to consider the relationship between photography, time and loss in existing images and experiment with creating new images that express different ways of conceptualising the passage of time.

Developing these skills:

• Wondering & questioning about the nature of photography.

• Sticking with difficulty by embracing risk, chance and failure as an important part of the process.

• Making connections with ideas and artists/photographers to understand and join a community of practice. 

Associated Theory - Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes (1980)