Digital applications that emulate traditional darkroom processes and techniques are not only newly affordable but are also in use in nearly every field of photography. The current commercial race to come out with ever improved, less costly, quality filmless digital cameras points to a not far distant future where darkrooms, chemicals and silver based film will be relegated to the same back shelf where you might find vinyl records and typewriters.
Technological development is one side of the coin.
As the means to produce photographic images profoundly change, so do the aesthetic and critical issues that help us to understand the meaning of the work we are producing and its context in contemporary society. It is important that we consider such issues as, for example, the relationship of digital arts to the traditional arts, how the means of production affect the content and meaning of the work, the ethics of appropriation, and the intersection of the commercial and fine art fields. The course will emphasize the photographic applications of the program, particularly as they are appropriate for the production of photographic artwork. We will accomplish this by a combination of classroom demonstrations, how-to exercises, assignments, and critiques of your work. Through assigned reading, classroom examples, class discussion, and peer critiques of your personal work, you will gain an understanding of some of the important critical, ethical, and social issues of this emerging medium of fine art expression.