ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHY / ALTERNATELY :  AP Studio Art: 2D Design Portfolio

Please review the syllabus below and complete the form above.

National Board Art Instructor:     Benjamin Jaffe
                               
Creative Director / CRib Productions

em: bjaffe@ucls.uchicago.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed for students who have already completed at least one or more years of introductory and or intermediate art courses, with a concentration in Photography or Graphic Design and would like to continue their own personal educational growth in the field of art. We have designed our program to allow our students a full exploration of the basic themes of Design. Upon completion students may opt to submit their portfolios to the AP Studio Art exam and receive college credit. The course requirements are rigorous and demanding, culminating with the production of a portfolio aligned with the College Board’s three section structure:

As an instructor  I value diversity and inclusion and I am committed to a climate of mutual respect. My goal is to create learning environments that are accessible, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or accurate assessment or achievement, please notify me as soon as possible. If you have classroom accommodations that support access and inclusion, please plan to have a conversation with me soon so that we can manage logistics as needed and ensure that I can provide you with what you need to be successful in this class.

As an integral part of this course we will investigate examples of art and photography in the form of slide lectures and occasionally documentary films. Some of these images contain imagery that deals with issues important to the dialogue and history of art. These may include artist images that explore sex and sexuality, race and racism, violence and war, etc. If you do not want to see imagery that directly deals with issues such as these, please let me know right away, so that I can create an alternative research project for you.

SUGGESTED READING:

Click here for a link to the College Board Website with a full description of the course and sample portfolios

SECTION PERCENTAGE of SCORE DESCRIPTION

Section I SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION
60% of grade - 15 digital artworks
that include works ofart and design and process documentation
Typed responses to prompts about the questions that guided students' investigation and how they practiced, experimented, and revised their work.

Section II – SELECTED WORKS
40% of grade - 5 physical works or high quality reproductions of physical works with typed and printed responses describing the materials, processes, and ideas used, along with a digital backup of their physical works

Mini Breadth  12 slides of artworks
that demonstrate a wide variety
Of concepts and approaches in 2D Design

Each of the three scored sections of the portfolios will be included upon consultation between student and instructor. Final deliberation is up to each student. The guiding themes and subjects will be covered in class. Students may use work created in these exercises or create new work. The concentration is usually created from an area of strength in the students portfolio, however many students begin this section with a conceptual idea. It is critical that this section demonstrate a growth in some way.

INSTRUCTIONAL FORMAT

Students will create artworks utilizing a wide variety of media. Students may implement: drawing, pastel, collage, printmaking, darkroom photography, and digital photography. The primary tool used in this course is digital artwork created on Photoshop, however students will be encouraged to experiment with many different media to form their portfolios.


GUIDING THEMES

Students will be led by examples of instructors own work as well as former student work and examples from art history that encompass the major Elements and Principles of Art, to create their own body of work that will enable them to be literate in the language of art

Line              Shape            Form
Value            Contrast        Color
Rhythm         Pattern          Repetition
Texture         Space            Proportion
Dominance    Subject         Balance
Unity            Distortion      Perspective

SUBJECTS

Students will be given assignments that will include specific subjects; others may be chosen by the students as they will best suit a particular work or series. Because of the requirements of the College Board, elements and principles of design must be integrated into submitted images so there will and should be an overlap of theme and subject.

Portraits                          Self Portraits
Documentary                   Motion
Landscapes                      Cityscapes
Abstraction                      Mood &Expression
Light & Shadow                Conceptualism
Still Life                          Point of View 
Symmetry & Asymmetry   Surrealism
Collage & Montage           Scale 

CALENDAR OF ASSIGNMENTS

1st SEMESTER

Mini BREADTH

Texture

Line

Balance

Abstract PS Design

Portrait

Landscape

Color

Macro

Surrealism

Collage

Conceptualism

Hommage

Breadth Crit

SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION

Investigation Statement of Intent   Click here for a Concentration Ideation Worksheet

1st section of 5 Investigation Images

2nd section of 5 Investigation Images

2nd SEMESTER

SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION Continued


3rd Section of 5 Investigation Images

Final Investigation Statement

Investigation Crit

SELECTED WORKS

Artist Statement

5 finished Prints

Exhibition

Final Written Critique

Final Crits

ASSESSMENT

The primary source of assessment will be monthly critiques in which students will be required to write written as well as verbal critiques of each other’s work. Student artwork will be assessed by their peers and the instructor, including their ability to discuss work using the proper terminology as well as their ability to see and dissect aspects of specific artworks. Students must display an understanding of the above themes and subjects in their artmaking as well as a proficiency in technical ability.

PLAGIARISM

All work must be executed by the student. Incorporated artwork as well as any derivative sources must be properly cited and approved by the instructor

BIBLIOGRAPHY & SUGGESTED TEXTS:

Design Principles and Problems 2ndEd 1996 Paul Zelanski & Mary Pat Fisher Thompson
The Art of Seeing 6th Ed. 2005 Paul Zelanski & Mary Pat Fisher PEARSON
Introduction to Design 2004 Alan Pipes PEARSON
Design Basics 6th Ed 2007 David Lauer & Stephen Pentak THOMSON
Design Through Discovery 2nd Ed. 1991 Marjorie Elliott Bevlin HARCOURT

Click on the following CRITIQUE Documentation buttons to open documents:

     

 *NEW* Advanced Photo Sustained Inquiry Final Grade Rubric

Students are required to have a quality digital camera for use in this class:

Camera

A 16MB Sensor or greater is suggested

Lens(es)

A wide to tele variable lens / or a collection of lenses that would allow for wide, telephoto, and prime compositions

Canon Rebel or Nikon D camera: 18mm - 200mm or greater, range of focal lengths....

Micro Four Third cameras:  10mm- 100mm or greater , range of focal lengths...

Students unable to provide their own camera can request to borrow a camera from the instructor ( I have a limited number of loaners so the cameras will be loaned out first come first serve). Any borrowed equipment must be returned at the request of the instructor, in the same condition as it is given or payment for a replacement/repair will be posted to your account.

Students do not have to regularly bring their equipment to school with them. Most often they will only have to transport their film, or memory card, and the cameras themselves can be left safely at home. In this way students can use family cameras as long as they can have weekly access to the equipment. If you do plan on sharing a camera the student should at the very least have their own personal memory card(s). I do expect the bulk of shooting to be done on the weekend during daylight hours. This is the primary form of homework and can most often be done in an hour or so per week.



The student is responsible for repair and/or replacement of any borrowed, damaged, or utilized photography equipment and books.