2009 Fall DOCST 113S-01
Bulletin Course Description Investigates subjects in transition, with focus on changing physical and social landscapes of North Carolina. Digital darkroom techniques include digital capture, film scanning, Photoshop, ink-jet printing, as well as other methods of dissemination offered in digital age. Digital photographic impermanence as well as social transience discussed in unison. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Post-Rust
(Instructor named in bulletin description above may not be current. For current instructor, see listing below.)
Title DIGITAL DOCUMENTARY PHOTOG Department DOCST Course Number 2009 Fall 113S Section Number 01 Primary Instructor Post-Rust,Anna S Prerequisites Course Homepage www.susiepostrust.com/Duke08/fall08.html
Synopsis of course content
Capturing Transience: Digital Documentary Photography
Digital photography and documentary approach. Investigates subjects in
transition, with focus on changing and somewhat transient physical and
social landscapes of North Carolina. Digital darkroom techniques include
digital capture, film scanning, Photoshop, ink-jet printing as well as other
methods of dissemination offered in digital age. We will start with basic
understanding of camera use. Students will explore the ethical issues that
face us as a result of the transient nature of images in the digital age.
Students will utilize content-driven, visual storytelling to investigate subjects
in transition, either in the landscape or community. Students will be given
specific field assignments that use photography as a method of visual
communication. Each student will also choose a subject and pursue a
cohesive body of work, to present as a final project. Final projects will result
in a website with audio-visual slides shows, and we will also produce a book
with the class' best work.
Students must have access to a camera for the semester. Digital or film
camera is acceptable. Students are responsible for purchasing and
processing their own film.
Consent of instructor required. Please email your name, year, why you are
interested in the class, and your experience to
susie@susiepostrust.com.
Textbooks
In Our Own Image: The Coming Revolution in Photography by Fred Ritchin
Assignments
Photographic assignments include a series of short field assignments and a
cohesive final project. There will also be reading assignments with class
discussion.
Exams
Mid-term exam on the usage of PhotoShop.
Term Papers
None.
Grade to be based on
Quality and content of assignments, participation and technical proficiency.
Additional Information
Instructor Bio:
Susie Post Rust is a veteran magazine and newspaper photojournalist who has
spent the last two decades documenting the lives of people in more than
twenty countries. Her passion throughout her career has been in-depth
documentary projects that reveal small communities and the people who live
in them. For more than ten years she worked for National Geographic
magazine, while also contributing to Life, U.S. News & World Report,
Newsweek, and the New York Times, as well as nonprofit charity groups,
including World Vision, the North Carolina Food Bank, Food for the Hungry,
and Compassion International. She has an MA in journalism from the
University of Missouri at Columbia and a BSBA from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1986 she was honored with the prestigious Robert
F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Coverage of the Disadvantaged in
recognition of her photographic essay Jerry: A Troubled Mind, the story of
one man’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
