Course Essentials

• 1/25/2023 - Last day to add.

• 1/25/2023- Last day to drop this course and not earn a W. If you drop after this date, you will receive a W (for "Withdraw") on your transcript.

• 2/26/2023 - Last day to drop this course with a W. If you are enrolled past this date, you will receive a grade for the course on your transcript.

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the historical progression of fixing a still image, that is to say writing with light. Content starts in ancient times with naturally occurring images, and moves through advances in optics and chemical processes. It then moves through the prolific period of traditional Black and White photography and then covers the birth and advancements of the digital light sensor and its possibilities for the future.

1. Identify and evaluate historical issues and examples in photography.

2. Categorize and examine the historical progression of fixing the latent photographic still image.

3. Compare and contrast the connection between current techniques and procedures to preceding foundations in photography.

4. Evaluate the technical and conceptual aspects of historical images.

5. Relate design elements and assemble materials to create a pinhole camera.

6.  Produce and defend a sense of creative and analytical image deconstruction pertaining to key historical photography.

Students will:

1. Explore the camera as a photographic tool over time.

2. Be able to map historical photographic concepts to current digital references.

3. Identify a variety of successful photographers by their work.

There is no textbook for this course. Hooray! I have developed my own content that includes my original contributions along with curated content shared by other scholars and photography organizations and institutions.

Computer/laptop or smartphone

Ideally, you should have access to a laptop or desktop computer to complete this course. However, I have taken care to design a course that can also be completed from a smartphone. If you intend to complete this course on a phone, please let me know and inform me if there are any problems that arise. Your feedback will help me improve our learning environment to support more students. 

Recording Equipment

You will record voice or video comments in this course using a tool called VoiceThread. I understand that recording voice or video comments may make you feel uneasy. I hope you'll lean into this and trust me. I've been using VoiceThread since 2007 (that's a lot of years!) and have surveyed students to understand how it affects their learning. Regularly, students share that speaking helps them unearth different ideas than writing alone, that listening to peers helps them feel more connected to a group and more interested in the content, and that the activities build their confidence in speaking over time. Let's give it a try, ok? If speaking is not an option for you, please reach out to me, ok? I'm here to support you.

To complete the VoiceThread activities, you will need:

• either a microphone or webcam connected to your computer or 

• a smartphone/ tablet

You will use Canvas, which is accessed through your MyMSJC account, and VoiceThread for this course. Neither requires you to create and account or download anything unless you are using a phone as your course access method.

Canvas Student App (recommended for all, required for those who use a phone)

I strongly recommend that you download the free Canvas Student App before course starts you can stay more connected with our course. When prompted to find your school, enter MSJC and then select our course from your Dashboard.

VoiceThread Mobile App (recommended for all, required for those who use a phone)

If you have a computer or laptop, you may view and participate in our VoiceThread assignments with. no additional software. If you are using a phone, you will need to download the free VoiceThread mobile app. Don't create an account, just download the app and you'll be ready for week one.