Course Description

The emphasis in this intermediate photography class is on creative problem solving with photography for the Communication Design field. Students learn to transform subject matter with photographic style in order to communicate ideas.

Credits, Hours
2 cl hrs, 2 lab hrs, 3 cr

Section HE 10

Class Meetings

This hybrid class will meet 5 times online and 10 times in-person.

The online classes will meet on Zoom. Check your City Tech email or Blackboard for the invitation. The dates of the online classes are: Aug 31, Oct 19, Oct 26, Dec 7, Dec 14

The in-person classes will meet in V111. The dates of those classes are: Sept 14, Sept 21, Sept 28, Oct 5, Oct 12, Nov 2, Nov 9, Nov 16, Nov 23, Nov 30.

Faculty Information

Professor Michals

Robin Michals is a photographer whose work explores a range of environmental issues. Her most recent work, the series Our Neighborhood juxtaposes sites of residential life in cities and towns across the US with the infrastructure of the petrochemical industry. This work was most recently seen in a solo show at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and two-person show, Industrial Sights, with the Chicago-based photographer Matthew Kaplan, at the Marshall J. Gardener Center for the Arts in Gary, Indiana. Images from Our Neighborhood were also part of the 8th Edition of THE FENCE in 2019-2020, and in group shows at David Orton Gallery, the Texas Photographic Society, and in Newsweek Japan and F-Stop and Float magazines. The series was selected for Critical Mass Top 50 in 2019 and for the Tokyo International Photography Competition in 2020.

Online office hours:

  • Mondays 10am-1pm
  • Thursday 10:30-12:30

Contact Information:

  • rmichals@citytech.cuny.edu
  • 917-509-9516

Learning Outcomes

Through hands-on technical exercises and creative assignments, class discussions and critiques, students will demonstrate:

  • Use of professional vocabulary to discuss technical and aesthetic issues in photography
  • lighting and composition to create emotion and feeling in a photograph
  • use photographs to solve visual problems, communicate ideas and emotions

.

Teaching/Learning Methods

  • Technical exercises
  • Creative exploration of photographic style
  • Peer-to-peer critique
  • View and discuss the work of 20th century and contemporary photographers
  • Readings and video resources by and about photographers

Required Equipment

Camera

During in-person classes, all students will be assigned a camera.

You will need a camera to complete the coursework done outside of class. 

You may use a camera phone.

Resource for buying a camera: http://www.dpreview.com

Required Software

Lightroom Versions

Lightroom Classic works with photos on your hard drive. Best for professional photographers who are managing hundreds of thousands of photos.

Lightroom is a cloud-based application so you can edit your photos on any device.

Lightroom Photo Editor/ Lightroom Photoshop App allow you to shoot and edit photos on your mobile device.

This course will give instruction in how to use Lightroom Classic and the Lightroom Photoshop App. You may use Lightroom instead just note that the interface will look a bit different and you will need an iCloud subscription.

If you will be using a camera to do your coursework, you will need access to Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop.

If you are using a cameraphone, you will need the Lightroom Photo Editor App, sometimes called Adobe Lightroom Photoshop.

Academic Integrity Standards 

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.

Attendance

Attendance is taken and is important to success in this class. Both absences and arrival more than 15 minutes after the start of class will be marked. If excessive, the instructor will alert the student that they may be in danger of not meeting the course objectives and participation expectations, which could lead to a lower or failing grade.

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