NEW COURSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY & HUMAN RIGHTS

This summer the Department of Photography & Imaging at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and the Magnum Foundation will offer a suite of four courses in Photography and Human Rights. The courses are designed to explore strategies to create effective documentary projects in pursuit of human rights.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Magnum Foundation is pleased to announce three scholarships for the 2010 NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights Program.

Julius Mwelu Manyasi, Kenya. Male, Age 26
Taslima Akhter, Bangladesh. Female, Age 36
Chi Yin Sim, Singapore. Female, Age 32

» Press Release 2010 NYU/Magnum Foundation Scholarships (PDF)

COURSE INFORMATION

MAY 17 – JUNE 4:
THE PICTURE ESSAY FOR PAPER AND PIXEL – Fred Ritchin
DIGITAL TOOLS FOR DOCUMENTARY PRACTICE –Cate Fallon

JUNE 7 – JUNE 25:
HUMAN RIGHTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY – Peter Lucas
THE PHOTO ESSAY –Susan Meiselas

This 6-week program is made up of 4 intensive evening courses, intended for intermediate and advanced students, including experienced professionals, who seek to hone their documentary and media skills in the context of human rights. The assumption is that all students will be relatively fluent with the use of a camera to produce photographs but will benefit from work on developing a visual essay for both conventional and digital media, using video, sound and interactive techniques to enhance the power of the imagery. A major emphasis of the program will be on the relevance of human rights law to the documentary work, and strategizing projects that aid in the attainment of such basic rights. Guest lecturers for the program will include many documentary photographers, editors, and critics.

Students are encouraged to take all four courses, but the courses can be taken in any combination that works for the student. Courses can be taken for credit or non-credit. Registration begins February 8th. For registration and housing information, please consult nyu.edu/summer. At the end of the summer session, the Department of Photography & Imaging and the Magnum Foundation will host two panels entitled “Bearing Witness: Human Rights and the Law” and “Creating an Alternative Human Rights Documentary Community.” For more information, please visit photo.tisch.nyu.edu or call 212-998-1930.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

THE PICTURE ESSAY FOR PAPER AND PIXEL

(2 credit lecture)

This course will focus on the long-term photographic essay. It will look at both linear and non-linear forms of the essay, with and without the use of text, sound, video and other media. Intent, ethics, grammar and presentation issues will be considered. There will be many references to a variety of historical models from magazines, newspapers, books, exhibitions and digital environments, including the Web.

Fred Ritchin is professor of Photography & Imaging at New York University!s Tisch School of the Arts. He is also the director of PixelPress (www.pixelpress.org), creating web sites, books and exhibitions investigating new documentary strategies and promoting human rights.

DIGITAL TOOLS FOR DOCUMENTARY PRACTICE

The class will explore tools that are useful for a documentary photographer, relating to the digital camera, as well as to image capture, preservation, presentation and transmission. Lighting, audio interviewing, and the production of short videos will also be covered at a basic level. Students work on several small assignments to experiment with software and hardware, and will have the opportunity to complete a small project of their own. This course is intended to give students a fundamental understanding of the efficiencies and possibilities of the digital realm.

Catherine Fallon is the former Digital master printer for Gilles Peress. She has had residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada; the MacDowell Colony; and the Ucross Foundation. Her photographic work has been exhibited at A.I.R. Gallery, New York; Blue Sky Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, Portland, Oregon; City Gallery, New York; and Soho 20, New York.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

(2 credit lecture)

This class will focus on photography, representation, and human rights. Specifically, we will examine the crucial role that photography plays in the global human rights movement. Many photographers who once considered themselves to be working within a documentary tradition now conceive of themselves as also working within a human rights framework. In order to understand this change, we need to view the many historical and contemporary movements related to documentary photography. We will also explore critical issues surrounding the ethics and politics of photographic representation and the different mediums (such as traditional print media versus new media) used to express human rights issues. We will also carefully place photography and visual representation within the wider field of human rights. And finally, we will study the impact photography has had on social change and the many possibilities photographs may have in the future struggle for universal human rights.

Peter Lucas has taught at Columbia University as a lecturer of peace education in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, at The New School, Bogazici University, and Istanbul University. His research and teaching focuses on international studies in human rights, human rights and photography, human rights and media, the poetics of witnessing, peace education, and human rights education and documentary practice.

THE PHOTO ESSAY

This is an advanced course that concentrates on creating photo essays in the context of human rights. Students will photograph, edit, sequence and present a photographic essay that they produce during the course, using allied media when useful; they will also read essential human rights literature and discuss in class its importance in pursuing the photo essay. Issues in effective fieldwork will be discussed, both strategic and ethical. The class will also consider the potential usefulness of such documentary projects and how to target work for greater social impact.

Susan Meiselas (www.susanmeiselas.com) received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and her M.A. in visual education from Harvard University. She is well-known for her coverage of the insurrection in Nicaragua and her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America, including the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador.

More information about the program, including updates, can be found on the NYU website and by downloading the Photography and Human Rights 2010 pdf For additional information, please contact: zoe@magnumfoundation.org