Author Archives: Sandra Cheng
Announcement: FINAL EXAM notes and TERMINOLOGY
Reminder, the FINAL EXAM is next Tuesday, December 20th at 10:00 AM. Please be on time, arrive early! Thank you for a semester of stimulating discussion, in class, and on the blog. Below is a review of the exam format. … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Jeff Wall and Staged Photography in the 2lst Century
We’ve reached the end of the semester and you’ve probably noticed the issue of staged photographs persists from the 19th century till now. Jeff Wall’s large-scale photographs exemplify the use of staged photography in contemporary art. Watch a short interview … Continue reading
Announcement: Latest slide list plus short list for FINAL are ONLINE
I have just uploaded the last slide list (#7) that covers Postmodern photography. You will also find the short list for the Final exam under “Class Downloads.” Our last lecture is on Thursday, December 15th. The FINAL is on Tuesday, … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Nan Goldin’s Scopophilic View of the Louvre
The photographer Nan Goldin is best known for her intensely private photographs of friends and lovers during the late 1970s through 1980s. Her groundbreaking publication The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986) epitomizes the “snapshot aesthetic” in photography. Goldin currently has … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: The Art of Food Photography
Happy Thanksgiving! It seems appropriate that we think about food this week, and the idea that photographing food is an art form. There is a long history of photographing food for commercial purposes.  The following NPR article outlines a current … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: The Greatest War Photograph and Capa
At the age of 23, Robert Capa took a photograph that many have labeled the greatest war photograph of all time. Taken during the Spanish Civil War, the renown of Capa’s photograph, Falling Soldier or Death of a Loyalist Soldier, … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Photographing the Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
This week, I would like you to consider two photographic works taken at the very beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s. In 1955, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank traveled across the country taking photographs of people. Unbeknownst to … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Walker Evans’ Subway Portraits
Nov 3 is Walker Evans’ birthday (he would be 108!) Evans’ photographed people on the New York City subways between 1938-1941. He only published these photographs 25 years later in his book, Many Are Called, which was re-issued in 2004. … Continue reading
Announcement: New Exhibition Option and Blog Update
As mentioned in class, I included a new exhibition option for Writing Assignment #2. If you wish, you can review the other photography show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is two-part option: for your review, I would like … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Photography and Early Film
In 1902, Georges MĂ©liès released the first science fiction film, A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune). The filmmaker spared no expense for special effects. Review the approximately 11-minute long film and consider the following questions. Do … Continue reading
