Home Photo Gallery Classroom Documents Photo League School Opens
September 1939 This fall the Photo League offers three courses in photography which are designed to give the student a thorough competency in the use of his materials, yet to coordinate with this knowledge an understanding of photographic aesthetics. This is not the prevailing sterile aesthetics which consists of a set of rules in "Composition;" rather the school directs attention to the work of those men who practiced and developed photography in its highest sense, who fused the form of their work with the most vital subject matter. Fundamental Practice of Photography--classes to be held every Wednesday beginning Oct. 4 at 7:45 p.m. for 15 weeks. No previous knowledge of photography is required for this course. The student is introduced as quickly as possible to a necessary working knowledge of photography. Through lectures, class demonstrations and assignments, he is made familiar with the camera, elementary laws of optics, films, exposure, development of the negative, and printing. By the end of the course he will have learned to criticize his negatives, to make enlargements, to understand the problems of lighting, etc. Basic Photographic Technique--classes to be held every Monday evening beginning Oct. 2, at 7:45 p.m. for 15 weeks. The student will receive essential advanced training in the handling of his photographic materials and tools. The course includes: indoor and outdoor exposure, meters; filters and their uses with different films; development procedure and formulae; reduction, intensification, fine grain; control of contrast and quality in negatives and contact prints; enlarging technique; cameras, lenses and the use of a view camera; lighting for form, tone, texture and emphasis; composition, still life, portraits, interiors, groups; retouching, copying, indoor and outdoor portraiture; journalistic and documentary photography. Documentary Photograpy--classes to be held for fifteen weeks, every Thursday beginning Oct. 5, at 7:45 p.m. The course will develop the student's appreciation of the function of the photographer by introducing him to the historical development of photography and the work of those who have built a significant tradition in the art. It is assumed that the student here can handle his photographic materials with a certain amount of confidence and proficiency. The class is assigned to make photographs of a chosen documentary scene after consideration of the general problems of documentary photography. After a period of preliminary practice and discussion, the class is then ready to plan and execute a collective document under the guidance of the instructor. The student is directed to Brady, Atget, Steiglitz, Weston, Strand, Lange, Abbott and others, from whose work a body of theory begins to be developed. In this connection the instructor will present to his classes much valuable source material never before collected. Photo League darkrooms and equipment are available to all students under rules applying to Photo League members.
|