Contact Information
Professor Sandra Cheng
Office: Namm 602B
Office Hours: Tu/Th 9-10 am or
by appointment
Office Tel: 718-260-5003
Email: scheng@citytech.cuny.eduHelpful Links
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Category Archives: Discussion Topics
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. … Continue reading
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged 1950s, Civil Rights movement, Elizabeth Eckford, Robert Frank, The Americans, The Fifties, Will Counts
2 Comments
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
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged advertising, food photography, Irving Penn, Martin Parr, Thanksgiving
5 Comments
Discussion Topic: The Greatest War Photograph and Robert 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
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged Life Magazine, Robert Capa, Spanish Civil War, war photography
3 Comments
Discussion Topic: Documenting Hurricane Sandy
Before I introduce our next Discussion Topic I want to say that I hope you and your families are safe and recovering from the storm. As we work to return to ‘normal’ and classes resume at CityTech, please take extra time … Continue reading
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged documentary photography, fake photographs, Hurricane Sandy, memes, social media
11 Comments
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
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged cinema, film, Méliès, moon, science fiction, special effects
5 Comments
Discussion Topic: Documenting Brooklyn Vodou
In class, we briefly touched on the beginnings of spiritualist photography. Â The contemporary photographer Shannon Taggart has photographed the world’s largest Spiritualist community in western New York. Â Her photographic projects seem to focus on alternative types of religious experience. Â Taggart’s … Continue reading
Posted in Discussion Topics
Tagged Brooklyn, Haitian, Mambo Carmen, religion, religious experience, Shannon Taggart, Vodou
4 Comments
Discussion Topic: Walker Evans’ Subway Portraits
Walker 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. Read a review about the new edition in the New York Times or listen … Continue reading
Why Not?
Can an app be an art? Maybe? Photography in the 1800’s wasn’t considered an art but just a tool for scientific experiment. Maybe if we give ourselves a couple hundred years we might consider the “app” as artistic. Personally, i … Continue reading
Posted in Discussion Topics
1 Comment
Discussion Topic: Can an App be Art?
The photographer Edward Burtynsky is renowned for his photographs of “industrial ugliness.” Recently, he released a version of his artbook Oil as an app. The photographs highlight the production and the use of oil, from the its extraction to the … Continue reading