Category Archives: Discussion Topics
Discussion Topic: Beauty in Decay-Photos of Detroit
Last July, the once powerful city of Detroit became the largest American municipality to file for bankruptcy. Yesterday, a federal judge ruled that public pensions are not protected, and the city can now proceed with the bankruptcy process. Detroit has … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: The 2013 Year in Photography
It is December, not only the end of the semester but the end of the year when Top 10 lists fill the news. Time magazine has just released their Top 10 photos of the year. Look through their choices as … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: The Art of Food Photography
I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving! It seems appropriate that we think about food at the start of the holiday season, and the idea that photographing food is an art form. There is a long history of photographing food for commercial … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Robert Capa and the Greatest War Photograph
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: Is Arne Svenson’s Neighbors series an Invasion of Privacy?
Last summer, the photographer Arne Svenson exhibited his Neighbors series at the Julie Saul Gallery in New York City. His photographs created an uproar when his real-world neighbors learned that they were the subjects of his photographs. Using a telephoto … Continue reading
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
Discussion Topic: Photography and Special Effects in Early Film
Georges Méliès released the first science fiction film A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) in 1902. The filmmaker spared no expense for special effects and is regarded as the “father of special effects.” Some of you may have seen … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Is a Selfie Art?
With the rise of selfies and their increasing accessibility on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, it’s inevitable to see an art exhibit devoted to the selfie. A recent discussion topic was the controversial use of a selfie by Rolling Stone Magazine. … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: Views from Versailles to post-Katrina New Orleans
Explore the works of Canadian photographer Robert Polidori, who uses a large-format camera to capture environments that range from the French palace of Versailles to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina or the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Photographs from Polidori’s … Continue reading
Discussion Topic: The Civil War Tintype and Modern Soldiers
Frederick Scott Archer’s wet-plate collodion process dominated photographic production in the mid-19th century. There were three options with the wet-plate process, you could produce a glass negative or an ambrotype (a glass negative with dark backing) or a tintype (also … Continue reading
