1 Introduction
I have 15 years of experience teaching “Photography Theory” to students of the Faculty of Photography in the last year of their master’s degree at the University of the Arts in Poznań. The form of the course is evolving in tandem with the
In the chapter, I assert that the awareness of photography as a conveyor of cultural meaning is essential for the responsible communication of artistic visual messages. Here, the aim of education is both to teach how to create visual messages efficiently and to develop the ability to justify the means employed in taking photographs.
Competence in visual literacy is essential in articulating original artistic expression. It encompasses grasping the role and importance of images in culture, knowledge of the history of image production, and the technical skills allowing one to create technically correct photographs. However, this is not enough as, in my opinion, fostering artists’ self-knowledge is an indispensable outcome that artistic education should strive for: the awareness of why they take photographs and the ability to convey their creative intention to the viewer. The choice of a tool that matches this specific goal is necessary in a culture where (given the dominance of digital images and social media) the artist still has an opportunity to choose any tools from the universe of technical images. As Vilém Flusser (2011a) argues, this handy concept covers all images that require technical devices, together with the socio-cultural apparatus of their production. When deciding on a particular mode of artistic communication, contemporary visual artists should be aware of the language of the medium they choose and of the consequences of their choice. Therefore, the education of artists is a singular task, which involves both constructing the visual form of the image and communicating its content.
The range of issues covered in the course has been devised in such a way as to provide students with competence in critical visual literacy (Simons, 2008). During successive meetings, the syllabus focuses primarily on discussing philosophical and art theory concepts in the context of the socio-cultural history of photography. In this chapter, I present the content, the methods of conducting the course, and the results that we achieved together with students during “Photography Theory” course.
2
How to read photographs? – the course goals and expected outcomes
Relevant literature introduces visual literacy into everyday educational practice and most often examines the competences required for viewers at the early stages of their education to create and interpret images (Edge, 2009; Glasgow, 1994). Fewer empirical studies focus on higher education and apply to student groups that are not professionally related to graphic design (e.g., Matusiak et al., 2019). The questions asked by the researchers raise the issues of awareness of the impact of images on viewers, as well as the ways of acquiring knowledge in various fields using visual means. Education in this field sensitizes students to the issues of visual manipulation (Matusiak et al., 2019), and teaches responsibility for the transmitted message. The aim of activities is often to verify familiarity with archival images, as well as the circulation of commercial images (Messaris, 1995). Most frequently, however, the emphasis is on the relationship between the image, politics, social content, and the pervasiveness of visual media. Molly J. Schoen explains the need for a critical approach to visual content in this type of education as follows: “just because people are consuming more visuals, this does not automatically train them to effectively interpret and use them” (2015, p. 2). The skills Schoen believes to be indispensable correspond well with the Ariella Azoulay’s concept of “civil imagination” (2008). This term describes the ability to discern the ethical foundations of the production and circulation of images, which allows the individual to participate responsibly in visual and media culture.
What is the role of the designer and artist in the education process? Undoubtedly, visual literacy should be integrated with learning the technical aspects of image creation. The value of the artist as a teacher also lies in the creative approach that engages students and broadens the range of educational means (Graham & Goetz Zwirn, 2010; Ravas & Stark, 2012). The place of art education in the perspective of art-based research (ABR) is particularly interesting (Kosińska, 2017; Leavy, 2009). Visual means engage students’ imaginations and can activate the community, referring to the individual experiences of the participants. Marta Kosińska (2017) identifies three tendencies in applying ABR methods. The first one emphasizes the cognitive status of science and art equally, and highlights art’s ability to help us understand the world in depth. In the second approach, called heuristic, art has an experimental and hermeneutic dimension. This means that it leads to cognition through experiment, on the one hand, and develops the skills of critical interpretation, on the other. The third tendency emphasizes activism and activation at the same time. It
The main goal of the “Photography Theory” course is to show the entanglement of photographic practice in political, social and cultural contexts. Therefore, the programme content largely interconnects research conducted as part visual studies in the field of art history and cultural studies (Alpers et al., 1996; Foster, 1988; Hall, 1997) with selected issues of studies on visual literacy (among others visual perception and visual communication). Students learn that visuality is seen as a cultural and social process affecting all aspects of human existence. This concept pertains both to the social ways of constructing visuality and the biological aspect of seeing (Foster, 1988).
For the purposes of the course, it was necessary to consider both reflection on visual culture and visual literacy. Defined most succinctly, visual culture can be taken to mean an interdisciplinary area of phenomena in which vision plays an important social role. Visual literacy denotes the ability to understand and interpret pictures and visual objects.
In the syllabus, I refer to the theoretical foundations that form the basis for the “iconic” or “pictorial turn” (Mitchell, 1994). I also refer to visual semiotics (Barthes, 1964; Eco, 1968) and elements of the psychophysiology of vision and cognitive science (Arnheim, 1954, 1969). It is equally important to introduce reflection on cultural discourses (Foucault, 1966), and the importance of the image for the development of contemporary media.
A large part of the course is devoted to contemporary VL theories, which encompass both biological, psychological and cultural aspects of perception.1 As a result, within the framework of “Photography Theory” such components are included as research on visual language, visual thinking, visual perception, visual communication, and visual learning (Avgerinou & Pettersson, 2011). The above issues are discussed within the unique context in which visual literacy pertains to photography. What I have in mind are the educational initiatives of John L. Debes, the originator of the VL concept, based on his cooperation with Eastman Kodak,2 and also research on the reception of photography in a broader sense. One can mention Roland Barthes’s studies on the rhetoric of the image (1964), or John Berger’s exploration of the narrative nature of photography and the modes of its perception, i.e., how pictures are “read” (Berger & Mohr, 1982).
It is also important to approach the very concept of visual culture critically, noting how once the scholarly term of visual culture “wandered” into
It is important to note the special role of visual literacy in effective visual education and its deep immersion in philosophy, psychology, linguistics, art history, and critical theory (Michelson, 2017). The previously described outcomes and content of the program are in line with the contemporary requirements that education in the field of photography should meet.
The list of competences that a visually literate student should be in possession of includes knowledge of the nature and extent of the visual materials; the effective ability to find and access the required images; the skills to interpret, analyze and evaluate the meanings of images and visual media; the ability to design and use images effectively; and, finally, to understand the social surroundings of creation and to use it ethically (ACRL, 2011).
In the context of the activities discussed here, the following competence on the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards’ list is particularly important: “The visually literate student designs and creates meaningful images and visual media” (ACRL, 2011). It contains guidelines for both image design and the author’s self-reflection. It should be noted that differences between American and European educational systems have a significant effect on the practice of visual literacy.
I will focus attention on the local context and emphasize that each country introduces its own solutions in the field of education in photography.4 My examples will refer to 7. Polska Rama Kwalifikacji – PRK (The 7th Polish Qualifications Framework), which covers the knowledge, skills and social competences to be treated as the basis for creating curricula in Polish higher education. Educational outcomes are outlined generally in the PRK, while VL competences are not distinguished. I could hardly consider artists to be the only ones who are concerned with pictures today, therefore – as I believe – it may be worthwhile to insist that VL competences be included in the qualifications addressed to all higher education institutions in Poland.
In the light of the above elaborated competency framework and the learning outcomes formulated by the University of the Arts, my aim in “Photography Theory” course is to show photography as a conscious practice, in line with Victor Burgin’s “thinking photography” or Vilém Flusser’s “gesture of photography”. In the former, photography is considered as a set of techniques that influence the practice of signification, and which are immersed deeply in a social and historical context (Burgin, 1982, p. 2). For that reason, the point is to see what images mean in the communication process, why users employ them, and why people need photography in everyday life. The philosophy of photography (and more broadly all images belonging to the “universe of technical images”) can “expose this struggle between human being and apparatuses” (Flusser, 2000, p. 75). Images are entangled in so many social, political and cultural contexts that, if they are not understood, they could be a source of abuse and distortion. Thus, the role of reflection is of crucial importance here, making it virtually momentous: it allows the photographers-artists to remain free in the face of machines, and, at the same time, to question the possibility of the freedom available to them (Flusser, 2000).
3 “Photography Theory” as an Educational Experiment
The aim of the study is to examine how students combine artistic intuition with theoretical knowledge. I analyze visual-textual statements and students’ self-reflection on their own works. During the course, students-artists were assigned to select a philosophical text about photography to create an original artistic work. The proposed texts covered the role of photography in fulfilling the functions of memory, archive, mirror, death, presence, identity. The authors whose texts were interpreted by students included Susan Sontag, Umberto Eco, John Berger, and Jolanta Brach-Czaina. I offered a wide range of authors, leaving the students free to select those whose standpoint would best suit their sensitivity and artistic approach.
The course consists of six meetings (full-time students attend 15 meetings) per semester, after which the students are expected to deliver an artistic work. During consecutive meetings, we discuss seminal theoretical texts which are crucial for understanding of the development of art and photographic technology; subsequently, excerpts from the texts are proposed for individual analysis. The task is to create a work of art which constitutes a commentary on, or a loose interpretation of, the text the students have explored, as opposed to an illustration. Finally, the works deriving from the original text are discussed in a group meeting.6
In the academic year 2020/2021, after the students had completed the assignment, I additionally asked them to answer four questions:
Do you read books about photography or visual communication on your own initiative (excluding the motivation arising from the study program)?
Have you ever used the texts of philosophers/writers/visual theorists while looking for inspiration for artistic works?
If so, please mention the names or titles of books that have influenced your work.
After considering the answers to the above questions, do you think that knowledge of the theory of photography can be useful when creating visual works?
The purpose of this brief survey was to find out whether the students’ approach to the theoretical conceptions of photography had changed after
Providing answers was voluntary and did not affect the grade already given. I received two written answers and 8 oral statements (from a group of 11 students). This small number of answers allows preliminary conclusions to be formulated, though further research must be conducted. In the further part of the text, I will analyze the still and moving images created by students during the course and analyze the students’ responses.
4 Students’ Works – Case Studies
Let us take a look at selected works that were created during the course. I chose four projects made using different photographic techniques and relating to two excerpts. I was interested in how the same theoretical fragment of a text can result in distinct interpretations of the young photographers. The works were delivered in the academic years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 by extramural students. It should also be noted that the works from the 2020–2021 semester were created as a result of online meetings.
4.1 Photography as Transience (Based on “Scales – Masks” by Jolanta Brach-Czaina)
Jolanta Brach-Czaina is a Polish philosopher who works within the paradigm of the philosophy of existence. The basic assumption here is that Western European philosophy did not pay enough attention to the basic aspects of everyday life, but instead focused on metaphysical and abstract issues. Brach-Czaina proposes an approach close to feminist criticism: looking at our experience of reality, feeling the sensations of the body such as digestion, aging, and the transformation of identity. In a fragment selected from the volume Błony umysłu (Membranes of the Mind), entitled “Scales – Masks”, the philosopher advances the proposition that photography, being only a mask, is not able to reflect the sensations and experiences of life recorded in the body itself, its wrinkles and folds.
In the photograph taken by Dagmara Barańska-Morzy (see Figure 6.1), we can see the braid against the hood of a jacket. Frost covers the model’s hair. In the upper part of the frame one can notice the woollen structure of a cap. The photo is black and white, using visual means sparingly. The location is not identifiable and may only be conjectured. Consequently, the image focuses our
In photographs, hair is most often a frame for the face, an accessory to clothing, sometimes a prop for the wind or water. Yet hair can tell its own story. Jolanta Brach-Czaina demands that the memory of events be recorded in fragile body casts, capturing fleeting moments with scales torn off the skin or shells frozen on the joints. And is there any part of the
human body more fragile and more elusive than hair? Hair splitting from vitamin deficiency, hair turning gray with worry, hair on which the louse sticks an egg, hair shiny with sweat after running, hair with a dried-on drop of ketchup after visiting a fast-food joint. In my photo, my hair is covered with frost, having collected ice particles carried by the gusty wind, and tells the story of climbing a high mountain in winter.
Dagmara Barańska-Morzy, Hair, 2021, black-and-white photography (© Dagmara Barańska-Morzy)
In Barańska-Morzy’s work, the image and the accompanying text are equally important. The very manner of writing is undoubtedly inspired by the poetic style of the philosopher, and photography is located by the author in the semiotic category of indexes, directly referring viewers to reality. Therefore, it is an equivalent of that cast which would represent the moment. In turn, focusing on detail echoes Brach-Czaina’s admonition to carefully observe the world around us. The work also invokes feminist criticism that emphasizes the importance of experiencing the world not as a metaphysical abstract, but as a specific physical reality.
In the academic year 2019/2020, Joanna Berg drew on Brach-Czaina’s essay when making a film (see Figure 6.2). Her work was inspired by the following extract of the text: “But what do the pictures actually show? They usually feature silhouettes, clothes, faces and hands. […] How does this relate to a living human and their presence in their own body, beyond which they are no longer there?” (Brach-Czaina, 2003, p. 95). The student-artist explains her intention and the working method as follows:
I used my grandmother’s old ID photos (two photos to be exact; in one of them she is about twenty years old, and around forty in the other). I
combined them with a 3D object, which I tried to give organic features, and started recording how this ‘digital tissue’ tears apart a photo scan, which shows traces of their material character (paper cracks, stains, dust). These are also my questions about how the digital influences the corporeal and the material.
Joanna Berg, Scales – Masks, 2020, a frame from a digital animation (© Joanna Berg)
Unlike Barańska-Morzy, Berg was inspired by the question about the process of transformation. Accordingly, she chose a moving medium that illustrates the transformation better than a still frame. The vintage photo morphs in virtual space and time. This work approaches photography more analytically. It is not about recording a fleeting moment in life, as in Barańska-Morzy’s piece, but about developing a concept of a photograph’s existence. Berg’s work forces us to question the vision of photography as a still image. From a technical point of view, photography is static, but in our mind, it is dynamic, which means that in fact we never remember what really happened.
4.2 Photography as an Illusion (Based on Umberto Eco’s Essay “On Mirrors”)
In the academic year 2020/2021 two students chose the same text (selected from the Umberto Eco volume Reading the World), finding different themes in it. A comparison of these two artworks shows how the personal interests of the creator influence the understanding of the text.
In the proposed passage of the essay, Eco analyzes the meanings of various mirror image effects: illusions, staging, deformations, mirages. The Italian semiotician situates photography in the category of “freezing” mirrors. This effect is based on the following phenomenon: “the reflected image freezes on the surface and remains there even when the object has already disappeared” (Eco, 1999, p. 96). In photography, we do not perceive light rays, but their reflection. The difference between that “frozen” trace and a living image is that in a photograph the frame cannot be changed, and the perception of space is different.
This last observation inspired Igor Zieliński to create a special illusion of a mirror (see Figure 6.3). In the two photographs, we see the same man against the backdrop of a yard. In each of the photographs, the posing person is shifted in relation to the line marking the centre of the frame. The model’s pose creates the impression of symmetry.
Igor Zieliński, Mirrors, 2021, negative-positive photography (© Igor Zieliński)
The photographer used a realistic documentary style of photography to construct an illusion of a reflected image. In fact, it is only the figure of the man that produces the impression of symmetrical reflection, which is suggested by the tilt of the figure and its positioning relative to the space of the yard. The
Piotr Zugaj referred to the same excerpt of Eco’s writings as Zieliński. The black and white diptych shows geometric figures on a monochrome background (see Figure 6.4). The shadows cast by the objects and the mirror
Piotr Zugaj, Mirrors, 2021, digital photography (© Piotr Zugaj)
In Zugaj’s interpretation, the subject of analysis is the mirror effect itself, which makes the frameless reflection sometimes perceived by the viewer as an extension of the three-dimensional space. The photographic experiment enhances this illusion also in relation to the two-dimensional space. Although we assume (because it is possible to see the shadow line of the mirrored object) where the boundary of the object is located, the photographer effectively blurs it. The relevant fragment of the text states: “Everything that can be seen is not only the staging, the result of appropriate framing and selection of the viewing angle, but the effect of such a treatment on a given surface that it seems as if it reflects rays coming from some object” (Eco, 1999, p. 99). Zugaj approaches the text analytically and appears to build the foundations for his own artistic and scientific experiment on its basis.
5 Developing a Critical Attitude toward Visuality
A comparison of the works relating to the same texts makes it possible to follow the patterns of the students’ preferences and interests. These change every year but, invariably, the works devoted to memory, body and identity still dominate. Texts in the field of visual sociology are rarely selected (I replaced a fragment of Alan Sekula’s sociological essay with the more “corporeal” Profanations by Giorgio Agamben), but I do try to include that topic in the suggested reading list.
In the responses to the survey, the students-artists reveal completely different approaches to texts, from reading all available Polish translations to a fear of theory as “too difficult and specialized”. Their being accustomed to reading can be attributed to the fact that studies in photography are often the second choice for the course attendees, who have most often already graduated from other fields (e.g., sociology, political science). In turn, those who are fearful of theory see themselves as individuals focused on non-verbal creation. They either find writing difficult or do not like this form of communication. In the interviews and oral statements, the students articulated such statements as “I can’t write” or “I am reluctant to read books”. Theoretical knowledge is necessary for them to pass the subject (the diploma requirements include writing a paper), but they also encounter authors whose texts are indeed worth reading. Students recognize that theoretical knowledge allows them to understand their own motivations and actions, but they believe that it can also lead to a loss of personal artistic originality.
One of the students’ answers aptly sums it up: “When creating visual works, the theory of photography itself is not necessary. Creating a picture happens beyond it, but for me personally it is a very important element needed to understand my actions and emotions and to name them”.
The above statement should be considered as an effect of Polish artistic education, where the emphasis is mainly on teaching students-artists to express individual emotions. Nevertheless, the students’ approach does not have to be inherently erroneous. Outlining the participatory media research method, Richard Chalfen emphasizes the role of creating bio-documentary narratives (Chalfen, 2011, p. 187). Also, educating artists is about introducing a personal perspective. Instead of merely restating or iterating theoretical texts, one’s own attitude toward them is illustrated. In a sense, the artist expresses their own voice with respect to the theory.
From the point of view of professional artists, independence in their search for an artistic path is a necessity. It is also evident that an attitude, in which the artistic “self” is more important than others, causes difficulties in group activities. The choice of an individual task was dictated by many years of practice; when a group project was suggested to students, they repeatedly negotiated the possibility of carrying out independent work.7
The responses confirm that students do recognize the benefits of theoretical knowledge. One of them made the following statement: “For me as an artist, it is important that art should deal only with topics related to art itself; thus, the photograph is at its most interesting when it discusses photography itself. For this reason, I consider the use of the theory of photography in artistic practice as absolutely essential in the entire creative process”. After the presentation of the final task, the students admitted that making a photographic project based on a philosophic text was a challenge, but at the same time it provided them with an opportunity to structure their own notions and ideas relating to the visual tool.
6 Conclusions
The task set during the classes, i.e., making a visual response to a theoretical problem, yields the following educational benefits:
- –
familiarizes the student-artist with the philosophy and theory of art and culture, - –allows one to formulate thoughts in a visual language, and for that reason to convey one’s own experiences and emotions,
- –enables one to appreciate the legitimacy of using a particular artistic tool,
- –develops metaphorical thinking skills,
- –and, finally, it offers a useful exercise before the graduation project, in which students must justify the substance as well as the mode, technique and medium employed to deliver it.
In my opinion, the most important benefit that the students-artists can derive from the course like this, is the development of critical thinking skills. Texts concerned with photography are discussed, while the participants can choose their adversaries and allies from among the authors mentioned. It is important that the selected texts present photography as a component of historical cultural processes. Students begin to see the connections between the image and social practices, acquiring the ability to interpret them.
The works made by students within “Photography Theory” course are not illustrations of the interpreted texts. Often, they contradict or deconstruct the authors’ original theses. Equally, students’ pieces can be considered as an example of developing critical visual literacy in practice. In this context, relevant is to mention Flusser’s (2011b) concept of “the gesture of photographing”. Flusser compared photographing to philosophical thought process. Both concern the action of “seeing” – in philosophy the object is observed mentally, while in photography – physically. The effect, however, is similar – it leads to choosing the best point of view. What’s more, as Flusser reminds us, in Greek the action or “gesture” of seeing entailed theory. Thus, photographing is the practice of seeing or theorizing (Flusser, 2011b).
Such a “gesture” which examines the borders of visual thinking is necessary at various levels of working with visual material – from the thoughtful construction of the visual message, through reference to existing images and known artistic practices, to the ability to predict how the audience might read the artist’s message and what the social impact of the work can be. Without this knowledge, the student would be – to quote the famous words of Walter Benjamin (1972) – as illiterate as “the photographer who cannot read his own pictures” (p. 25).
Someone might ask what for today recall historical texts from the field of photography theory? When I proposed a set of readings to students of art, I assumed that without knowing the basic sources it is impossible to be visually
Finally, teaching visual theories in tandem with their practical implementation emphasis this aspect of VL which is related to the development of critical interpretation skills with respect to visual material as well as the theoretical deliberations of the scholars. The ability to read images “inside out” and to recognize the socio-cultural constructs behind them is what I call critical visual literacy.
Acknowledgments
The author is grateful to her former students, now successful graduates of the University of the Arts in Poznań, for their openness, rewarding interaction during lectures, and sharing the intriguing visual material for this study. The photographs included in this paper have been published by kind courtesy of their authors: Dagmara Barańska-Morzy, Joanna Berg, Igor Zieliński and Piotr Zugaj. Also, the author expresses her gratitude to Szymon Nowak and Stephen Dersley for language consultations and to reviewers and editor of the publication for their helpful comments.
Notes
Visual literacy (VL) dates back to the 1960s, being associated with the representatives of the Rochester School such as John L. Debes, Marshall McLuhan and Colin M. Turbayne (Michelson, 2017).
From 1970 to 1977, Debes worked for the Eastman Kodak Company as the Coordinator of Visual Learning.
I follow here the concept of W.J.T. Mitchell. The author analyzes how visual messages are read, distinguishing between VL as the capacity to read, that is, to interpret and assign meaning to everything we see, and “literary visualcy” (Mitchell, 2008), in which seeing precedes the learned act of reading.
These differences are highlighted by, for example, the article by Sarah Edge, which describes the context of teaching photography in Great Britain (Edge, 2009).
Reference table of directional learning outcomes to effects at level 7 of Polska Rama Kwalifikacji (the Polish Qualifications Framework), for the field of study: photography at the University of the Arts in Poznań, field of art, discipline: fine arts and conservation of works of art, UAP internal document, 2020–2021.
Due to the pandemic, the final discussion in the winter semester 2020 took place online.
Students’ aversion to collaborative work would be a good point for a broader discussion on the image of the artist in contemporary society and the so-called ‘collaborative turn’ in creative arts.
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