Objectives of the course

The course aims at the investigation of photography as a means of knowledge of the different aspects of urban reality.

For a long time photography has been considered as an important instrument for the documentation and the analysis of the city, considered both in its architectural morphology as in its social composition, use of urban spaces and integration of different contexts.
The contemporary man is daily struck by a huge amount of images. Despite this, or perhaps just because of this reason, the critical analysis of a photographic picture is still a difficult issue. The course aims to offer an education to the image by creating skills of interpretation, representation and understanding in order to re-evaluate the use of photographic images in the study of the city under its various architectural, social, historical and other different aspects.

Themes

The course will zero in on the complex connection between reality and its transcription. Nowadays photography is considered to be the most suitable, and certainly the most widespread instrument as to the documentation of reality. And yet the gap between reality and its representation is very often overlooked or taken for granted.
The very concept of photographic document will become object of reflection. As regards rendering meant as a virtual image of a place it does not exist yet. The role of the photographer as an interpreter of the world around him will be examined closely.
 Moreover the urban space in flux and the often difficult relationship between human and Architecture will be considered matter of investigation.
We will also come to assess the value of human presence within architectural photography in a backward journey starting exactly from rendering, in which the human presence is placed in representational purposes ,

 

Organization

During a part of the course we will go over some essential historical photographic movements which have analyzed the use of the technique of studying the reality since the beginning of the 21st century until today, from the Neue Sachlichkeit one and documentary photography up to the use of the rendering. In particular we will focus on the analysis of the works of some significant authors. Through a historical analysis of different study cases first, then through exercises on the field, we will build a visual approach together in order to interpret and transcribe the reality in which we live.

We will give the foundation of the photographic technique through practical individual or teamwork exercises.
The photo editing, as a narrative modality through images, will play an essential role. We will also present the use of new media, such as google street view, as a starting point for a route of exploration and analysis of urban land.

For the production of the images assigned as exercises during the course and as the final project the use of a camera with the possibility of manual mode equipped with a lens covering the wide-angle focal lengths (24mm - 28mm equivalent) is required.

RULES FOR THE EXAM

For attending students:

Attending students, in addition to the themes covered during the classes, must prepare the final examination on 2 books chosen from the bibliography. Both texts can be also part of the same list. (E.g. two books from list B). You can also choose 1 book from either list A or list B, and 1 book that is not on any list, as long as it is coherent with your thematic path. You will be asked to motivate your choices. 
Attending students will also develop a photography project according to the guidelines given during the course. Project reviews will be provided and the final work will be evaluated during the exam.



For non-attending students:

Non-attending students’ examination consists of :
- an oral part based on 3 books chosen from bibliography,
- a photographic essay.
One text must be chosen from List A and one text from List B. The third book can be chosen from list B or can be one of your choice out of the list.
Book selection must be done according to a coherent and personal thematic path. Most of the books of the two lists are also in other languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish. 
Non-attending students must produce an individual photography project concerning an architectural / urban space theme to be presented during the examination in a PDF layout (printed or
digital) of 10/15 images with a coherent title and a short 200 word text. There is no pre-fixed layout to follow, so also the choice of it depends on you.
The project will be only evaluated during the exam with no previous reviews.

As you can see, on list A in addition to the last two books of the list, there is also a book from Luigi Ghirri. This means that if you choose to prepare for the exam either Susan Sontag’s or Gisele Freund’s book, you must also prepare Luigi Ghirri’s one. The books written by Susan Sontag and Gisele Freund are easier to read and learn, especially if compared to Lugon’s and Schulz’s ones, so in addition, in order to balance the work, it is compulsory to prepare also The Complete Essays by Luigi Ghirri. Thus in this case you will have to prepare four books. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

List A: 

OLIVIER LUGON, Lo stile documentario in fotografia. Da August Sander a Walker Evans 1920-1945, Publisher: Electa, Published in: 2008, ISBN:  9788837065355 (also available in French

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ADRIAN SCHULZ, Architectural Photography: Composition, Capture and Digital Image Processing, Publisher: Rocky Nook, Published in: 2012, ISBN: 9781933952888

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SUSAN SONTAG, On Photography (also available as PDF On Photography - ResearchGate), Publisher: Penguin Classics, Published in: 2008, ISBN: 9780141035789 
+ 
LUIGI GHIRRI, The Complete Essays, 1973 - 1991, Publisher: MACK, Published in: 2016, ISBN: 9781910164143

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GISELE FREUND, Photography & Society (also available as PDF on https://rosswolfe.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/gisecc80le-freund-photography-and-society-1970.pdf), Publisher: David R Godine Pub, Published in: 1980, ISBN: 9780879232504
+ 
LUIGI GHIRRI, The Complete Essays, 1973 - 1991, Publisher: MACK, Published in: 2016, ISBN: 9781910164143

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List B: 

GABRIELE BASILICO, Leggere le fotografie, Editore: Rizzoli, Anno edizione: 2012, ISBN: 17056908XX

ITALO CALVINO, Invisible Cities, Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Published in: 1978, ISBN: 9780156453806

GILLES CLEMENT, Manifest du Tiers Paysage, Publisher: Quodlibet, Published in: 2005, ISBN: 8874620489

WALKER EVANS, American Photographs, Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Published in: 2012, ISBN: 9780870708450

BRICOCOLI, SAVOLDI, Milano Downtown. Azione pubblica e luoghi dell'abitare, Editore: Et. Al./EDIZIONI, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 9788864630182

PETER C. BUNNELL, Inside the Photograph: Writings on Twentieth-century Photography, Publisher: Aperture, Published in: 2006, ISBN: 9781597110211

ROBERTA VALTORTA, Fotografia e Committenza Pubblica. Esperienze Storiche e Contemporanee, Editore: Lupetti, Anno edizione: 2009, ISBN: 9788883911972

GAGLIARDI, La misura dello spazio. Fotografia e architettura: conversazioni con i protagonisti, Editore: Contrasto, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 9788869652240

SERGIO GIUSTI, La Caverna Chiara. Fotografia e campo dell'immaginario ai tempi della tecnologia digitale, Editore: Lupetti, Anno edizione: 2005, ISBN: 9788883911460

LUIGI GHIRRI, Lezioni di fotografia, Editore: Quodlibet, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 9788874623129

CHARLOTTE COTTON, The Photograph as Contemporary Art, Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd., Published in: 2014, ISBN: 9780500204184

ROLAND BARTHES - La Chambre Claire (Camera Lucida is the title of the English version), Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub., Published in: 2010, ISBN: 9780374532338

STEPHEN SHORE - The Nature of Photographs, Publisher: Phaidon, Published in: 2010, ISBN: 9780714859040

GABRIELE BASILICO - Ascolto il tuo cuore, città | I Listen to Your Heart, City, Publisher: Skira, Published in: 2015, ISBN: 9788857231310

GABRIELE BASILICO - Metropolitan Life, Publisher: Contrasto, Published in: 2016, ISBN: 9788869655012