ESB067 Aesthetics and Theory of Photography

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2012
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Barbora Kundračíková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Osolsobě, Ph.D.
Department of Aesthetics – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Ing. Ivana Vašinová
Supplier department: Department of Aesthetics – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 15:50–17:25 C43
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
While the current thinking about photography is rich in ideas, this seminar should be focused narrowly on an aesthetic dispute about its artistic essence. Its aim is to introduce a variable fixed stars of the current debate, confronting the arguments of both major parties (proponents and opponents of the status of artistry of photograph) and seek answers to questions about what is pure photography and what is its relationship to the real picture, what defines the photographic picture about its causality, whether transparency is a mere assumption, or reality of photograph, and what is the difference between looking at reality directly and through the picture frame.
Syllabus
  • • Photos and Aesthetics / Art History • Specificity of the media: Noël Carroll, Rudolf Arnheim and others • Walter Benjamin, reproduction, aura and a small history of photography • Sigfried Kracauer and André Bazin • Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag • Roger Scruton and Kendall L. Walton • William King, Robert Wicks and weak response to Roger Scruton • Strong response: Nigel Warburton and Dominic McIver Lopes • Jonathan Friday, Patrick Berger and John Maynard • The concept of visual studies: Rosalind Krauss, Allan Sekula, Jean Aumont, Wolfgang Kemp and others
Literature
    required literature
  • CARROLL, Noël. - The Specificity of Media in the Arts. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 1985, 19(4): 5-20.
  • WARBURTON, Nigel. Individual Style in Photographic Art. British Journal of Aesthetics (1996), 36:4, s. 389-397.
  • KING, William L. Scruton and Reason for Looking at Photographs. British Journal of Aesthetics, 1992, 32/3.
  • MCIVER LOPES, Dominic. 2003. The Aesthetics of Photographic Transparency. Mind, 112: 335-348.
  • MAYNARD, Patric. Drawing and Shooting: Causality in Depiction. In: The Jounal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (1985), 44(2): 115-129.
  • CÍSAŘ, Karel (ed.). Co je to fotografie? Praha : Herrmann a synové, 2005.
  • WICKS, Robert. Photography as Representational Art. British Journal of Aesthetics (1989), 29:1, s. 1-9.
  • BERGER, John. O pohledu. Praha : Agite/Fra, 2009.
  • FRIDAY, Jonathan. - Photography and Representation of Vision. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2001), 59(4): 351-362.
  • SONTAG, Susan. O fotografii. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Paseka, 2002, 181 s. ISBN 8071854719. info
  • BARTHES, Roland. Světlá komora :vysvětlivka k fotografii. [1. vyd.]. Bratislava: Archa, 1994, 107 s. ISBN 80-7115-081-9. info
  • ARNHEIM, Rudolf. Dvojí autenticita fotografického média (The Two Authenticities of the Photographic Media). The journal of aesthetics and art criticism. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993, vol. 51, No 4. ISSN 0021-8529. info
  • SCRUTON, Roger. Photography and Representation. Critical Inquiry. The University of Chicago Press, 1981, vol. 7, No 3, p. 577-603. ISSN 0093-1896. info
  • RUDOLF, Arnheim. On the Nature of Photography. In Critical Inquiry. The University of Chicago Press, 1975, p. 149-161. info
    recommended literature
  • SCRUTON, Roger. Estetické porozumění : eseje o filozofii, umění a kultuře. Translated by Jiří Ogrocký. 1. vyd. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2005, 177 s. ISBN 8085947927. info
  • AUMONT, Jacques. Obraz. 1. vyd. V Praze: Akademie múzických umění v Praze, 2005, 325 s. ISBN 80-7331-045-7. info
Teaching methods
Lecture and discussion, visitation of photographic exhibitions / collections, individual preparation of an essay on an assigned topic and its presentation.
Assessment methods
Participation on the lecture (maximum of 3 absences), presentation of the individual work and active participation on the discussion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: posluchači bc. estetiky, kteří začali své studium před více než třemi semestry, musí mít splněnu postupovou zkoušku (ESAPZE), jinak si tento předmět nemohou zapsat. Pro ostatní obory není zápis omezen.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014, Autumn 2015, Spring 2017.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2012, recent)
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