photography in the age of instagram
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Photography in the Age of Instagram explores the history and evolution of documentary photography with a special emphasis on the revolutionary times in which we live.
Course Dates:
June 3 - 14, 2013
course times
10:00 AM - 3:00 PMhist 3559: Photography in the Age of Instagram
3-Credits
The first week of the course will be devoted to readings in the history and criticism of photography and to the analysis documentary projects in books, at the university's art museum, and online. During the second week, students will immerse themselves in contemporary photography by participating in Look3, the Festival of the Photograph. They will attend attending exhibitions, talks, and screenings and, with the cooperation of the festival, interact intensively with photographers, editors, and curators in the classroom.
Students will discover the ways in which disruptive technologies and new means of communication are transforming the visual culture that surrounds us. The changes are apparent in our personal lives, but they also have global implications in culture, economics, and politics. The signs are all around us--from the ways in which we now create our sense of personal identity and present ourselves to the world (Facebook photos and Twitter avatars) to new forms of political organizing and activism (Tahrir Square).
It is no secret that the camera phone and social media (themselves dependent on digital image-making and the internet) are driving this transformation. Consider Instagram. In the two years since its launch, it has attracted over 40 million users, who have posted over one billion photos and add five million more every day. Facebook's numbers are even more impressive. There are currently over 100 billion photos posted on the ubiquitous social media site, and its roughly 850 million users upload 250 to 300 million additional images daily.
We cannot know where all of this is taking us, but the role that camera phones and social media played during the upheavals in Iran, in 2009, and across North Africa, during the Arab Spring of 2011, already tells us that this transformation will have profound. So do the ways in which both old and new media outlets are using Instagram as a vehicle for documentary photography and photojournalism, a trend that could be seen in coverage of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.
UVA Today: Summer Session 2013: Students Explore Photography as it Goes Digital.
Tuition and Fees:
Virginia Resident |
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| Tuition | $321 per Credit | $963.00 |
| Summer Fee | $338.00 |
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| Virginia Resident Total | $1,301.00 |
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Non Virginia Resident |
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| Tuition | $1,119.00 per Credit | $3,357.00 |
| Summer Fee | $397.00 |
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| Non-Virginia Total Costs | $3,754.00 |
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Faculty:
John Mason, Associate Professor of History
University of Virginia
