SPE NE Pop-up Conference
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA
April 11, 2013
Photography no longer revolves around prints or processes,
or even traditionally published books. Virtual versions of photography—websites,
blogs, social media—surround us. Even physical books have changed, as self-published
or print-on-demand publications, such as those available from Blurb, Lulu, MagCloud, or Vistaprint have become widely available.
Are these rapidly evolving practices being incorporated into
photography curricula? As photography changes, becoming more virtual every day,
how and what are we teaching our students? Academia must not only address the
various methods of virtual photographic practice but also provide a critical
understanding of these practices.
To illustrate these ideas, I will reference the following
material, which looks at the evolving issues of photography from practical,
academic, and contemporary art perspectives:
-
An interview with Steven Mayes, director of the
VII Photo Agency, on Wired.com’s Raw File blog in which he refers to the cell
phone as “pure implementation of the digital phenomenon.” http://bit.ly/X6ZIZ6
- An American Photo magazine article about photojournalists
using Instagram, from Syria to Sandy: http://bit.ly/Z8tonK
- A
video by multimedia journalist Richard Koci Hernandez where he makes a case for
the serious consideration of Instagram. http://bit.ly/XD2R3G
-
An essay from “The Pleasures of Good
Photographs” by Gerry Badger that questions whether or not photography in the
Photoshop era is indeed still photography. http://bit.ly/12aXcDG
Andreas Gursky, "Bahrain I"
Andreas Gursky, "Rhein"
-
Charlotte Cotton’s essay “Nine Years, A Million
Conceptual Miles,” published on the Aperture blog, which raises concerns about
institutions that have traditionally supported photography—museums,
commercial galleries, and art schools—and their ability to adapt to rapid
changes in photographic practice. http://bit.ly/W8G5hi
- An article in PDNedu, a free magazine for photo students, that
addresses both an interdisciplinary approach to teaching photography and using
social media in the classroom. http://bit.ly/YtPrWg
- The “dilemma” surrounding the New York Times’ use of an
Instagram photograph on the front page: http://bit.ly/10Taoae
-
An article from The
Guardian addressing 10 ways self-publishing has changed the books world –
paying specific attention to point 4 re: photo-books: “If
these [photo-books] are being presented to those who are not big readers, or
regular frequenters of bookshops, the social significance of self-publishing
may be particularly strong.” http://bit.ly/10KIM9L
-
An article from fstopers.com titled “Do I Need a
Photo Degree” by Joseph Gamble: http://bit.ly/YLnmds
-
The concept of “Photo 2.0” as defined by Andy
Adams, founder of flakphoto.com:
Interview with Andy Adams: http://bit.ly/17qOwJC
-Edward Stapel, April 2013
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