Author: Professor Sean Scanlan (Page 2 of 2)

This photo was taken at a car meet in Queens, off Atlantic Avenue. It is very lit up due to the car lights and the lights from the store around, however, this photo was taken around 11pm. This photograph uses the Rule of Thirds, the main focus is the yellow and black Hyundai tiburon along with the gray BMW. The other BMW half out of the picture catches attention as well.

Hi Class,

For the 17th:

Read Parla, Anastasio (both in Dwell), and Teju Cole’s article in Readings menu tab.

Then post a photo (your own), give it a title, and use three of our photo terms to describe it. Chose the terms that make sense for the image. When you post your photo, try to make it about the size of my image below:

Manhattan Stonehenge, 2012.

I took this photo in 2012 as I was crossing 14th street in Manhattan on my way to play ping pong with my friend Tom. What is so interesting to  me is that the lens flare makes this into an art photo–rather than a documentary photo…..

Homework for Thursday, Oct 6th:

1. Print out and read over Essay 2 details
2. Print out and read John Berger’s essay: “Understanding a Photograph”
3. Prepare for Thursday’s Quiz 2 on Sontag and Berger
4. **Take 4 photos: 2 macro and 2 your choice

Depth of Field:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

More on taking better photos with your cell phone:

Hi Class…lot’s of information today!

Homework for next Wednesday!!!: Read Sontag and write summary=Journal 4.

VIDEO CLIPS:

1. How does a digital camera work?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic0czeUJrGE

2. How to develop film using coffee and vitamin C:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYjOqcbBEco

3. A Darkroom in Use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nue495wxlXo

4. Five tips for taking your own digital photographs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YroMyQJ-GMQ 

——————–

Here’s a written description of a store:

“It was a narrow room, with a rather high ceiling, and crowded from floor to ceiling with goodies. There were rows and rows of hams and sausages of all shapes and colors–white, yellow, red, and black; fat and lean and round and long–rows of canned preserves, cocoa and tea, bright translucent glass bottles of honey, marmalade, and jam; round bottles and slender bottles, filled with liqueurs and punch–all these things crowded every inch of the shelves from top to bottom. “

-Thomas Mann

What is the dominant impression of this scene?

Hi Class,

Essay 2 is about taking photos, reading them, and writing about them.

These questions will help us as we move toward Essay 2:

1. What is a photograph? What is the history of photography?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography

2. Why do we take, keep, share, and discard photographs?

3. How should we make sense of photographs?

The French sociologist and critic Roland Barthes wrote about photography, and he came up with two useful terms for studying photographs.

1. Studium: The studium of a photograph is the public and historical background of a photo. The studium is the photo’s context and its general understanding which includes the precise time and place and weather. The studium of a photo must be visible, and it is the cultural reading of faces, gestures, buildings, clothing, and actions within a photo.

2. Punctum: The punctum of a photograph is highly individual, not public. The punctum pierces the viewer in a particular, private way. The punctum, which must be visible,  pierces the viewer like a arrow, raising certain individual memories and consciousnesses to the surface. The punctum bruises me but not you. The punctum is about loving, while the studium is about liking.

*These definitions are from Barthes’ Camera Lucida (New York: Hill and Wang, 1981)

Barthes’ example of punctum:

Little Italy. New York, 1954. Photo by William Klein

“What I stubbornly see are one boy’s bad teeth…”

Hi Class,

Essay 1 is due on Monday morning at 9:00 am in our lab.

In your paper folder (with your name on it) please include:

-Final Draft

-Prior Drafts

-Peer Reviews (2)

-Assignment Details

Proofreading Advice for Monday’s Due Date:

1. Read over your own draft several times.
2. Read your own draft out loud.
3. Have a friend read your draft. Perhaps exchange essays.
4. Read backwards.

Email any  questions,

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan

Conjunction Junction:

Purdue OWL on conjunctions:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/3/4/76/

Hi class,

For homework: Read these three articles in our textbook: Wallis and Steptoe, Powell, and Lubrano. All are in Chapter 3. Then, in your notebook, write a sentence or two that nails down the main idea of each article. You might want to state what you think each author’s Intellectual Home might be.

Also, please change the due dates for Essay 1. First draft is due in class on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Final draft is due in class on Monday, Sept 26.

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Here is the sentence that we worked on in Lab:

As I walked through the tattered tan door to Namm 1107, I noticed my teacher preparing for today’s lesson at his large desk about to write tasks on the fairly new chalkboard, but then I couldn’t help but to look around the room and observe the diverse book bags and open notebooks around me.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hello Students!

This site will grow and develop during the semester, just like you will grow and develop as critical readers and writers.

As we get to know each other, I believe that you will find that I am very fond of reading, and I am interested in new digital technologies. In particular, I like to examine digital tools that can help students work more efficiently. One such digital tool is Wikipedia. Hardly a week goes by when a friend, or a parent of a college student, or a colleague rips into Wikipedia (a new digital research tool) for its flimsy research, its weak documentation, its biased approach. Well, I’ve always thought that Wikipedia keeps gaining ground on other encyclopedias, and it looks like it has truly reached the tipping point, especially when esteemed historian William Cronon gives it the thumbs up:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/one-of-the-nations-top-historians-decides-its-time-to-embrace-wikipedia/252576/

Try this exercise: look up the terms “immigration”and “Brooklyn Bridge” on Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia and tell me which one is more complete with more footnotes and more resources.

Next, here is a small photo of the textbook that we will use this semester:

Please use the ISBN to get the correct version of this book. ISBN: 9781465228314

If you have any questions, please let me know via email:

sscanlan@citytech.cuny.edu

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan