Contemporary Photographic Expression
Assignment #4 – Photo-Based Art


Please hand in your print together with proof sheet(s) and this sheet.

Assignment Description:
Produce a color photograph 16 x 20 inches or larger that addresses issues of race, gender, or class. Archival inkjet, light jet, and chromogenic prints are acceptable.

Related Reading Assignment:
Concluding chapter to Trace and Transformation by Joel Eisenger

Assignment Objective:
Photo-Based Art is a term used by artists who make photographs to distinguish themselves from the old school tradion of photographers who make art. It takes conceptual art and postmodernism as precedents, yet has also, in recent years, begun to reexamine notions of beauty. Nowadays the term "photo-based art" is nearly synonymous with "fine art photography," but with a new school sensibility, usually in the form of very large prints. This assignment is intended to familiarize students with postmodern concerns and its anti-aesthetic roots.

Suggestions:
Feel free to stage the photograph if necessary to get your message across. Medium and large format cameras are recommended, but not required.

Evaluation Criteria:
Craftsmanship - Sharpness
Exposure (full shadow and highlight detail)
Contrast
Value (appropriate lightness / darkness)
Needs dodging and/or burning
Cleanness (no dust, water spots, scratches)
Print damage
Aesthetic / Conceptual refinement (accomplishes assignment description and meets objective)

Grade ___________


Student Name_______________________________


Teacher Comments: