ARTH 359 Studies in Contemporary Photographic Art

• Tuesdays, 8:45am-11:15am
• EV-1-615
• Instructor: Georgia Phillips-Amos

This course will trace key movements, theories, and methods that have shaped photographic practice in the last century (with a focus on the 1980s–today). Each week will be thematic, ranging in focus from the memorial quality of photography, to the ethics of early documentary imagery, indigenous artists’ decolonial work in ethnographic archives, and contemporary responses to surveillance imaging. As artists and art historians, we will consider photography as a site of knowledge production, asking questions about subjectivity, representation, and power as we go. Students will come away from this course familiar with the history of contemporary photography, an understanding of key theoretical texts relevant to the medium, and the vocabulary to analyze and address photographs in any context. Through lectures, small-group discussions, and written projects, we will explore and interrogate the canon as it stands, developing the tools to engage in lively debate on the cultural value and significance of photography today.