History of Photography and Pictorial Communication

National and international history of photography
- The history of the technology of photography
- The history of reproduction techniques as applied to photography
- The mass-produced picture
- Photomontage and the "typo-photo" of the inter-war period, and their significance for the development of modern graphic design
- Photography as a communicative and rhetorical medium
- The status of photography as a medium for representation
- The status and potential of the photograph in the "digital era"
- Practical-instrumental pictorial communication

The course will give the students knowledge of the general history of photography, a history of photographic reproduction technology, and the role of photography in modern graphic design. The course also has a hermeneutic approach where the students have to make themselves acquainted with critical theory that questions the properties of the published / mass produced photograph as a communicative medium. The course is also about practical and instrumental pictorial communication for designers.

The student will through process-oriented essay writing – based on formative evaluation – in an incremental manner have improved his/her analytical skills, his/her ability for critical reflection, his/her writing skills, his/her ability to locate, gather and synthesise information, his/her ability to critically assess sources and literature, his/her ability to cite and reference sources and literature appropriately, and his/her skills in editorial handling of text.

- Lectures
- Writing of two essays with formative-iterative assessment.

No compulsory assignments