The course provides an exploration of the development of architectural photography, from the earliest examples of the genre in the nineteenth century to today.
Robert Elwall, Building With Light: An International History of Architectural Photography, London: Merrell, 2004
Cervin Robinson, Joel Herschman, Architecture Transformed: History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present, Boston, MA: MIT Press, 1987
Learning Objectives
The course aims to provide basic elements for the study of architectural, city and landscape photography. Students are expected to acquire skills in the following areas: technical terms and basic knowledge of photographic techniques; periodisation and reading of photographic iconography; the relationship between photography and disciplines such as urban analysis, architectural restoration, landscape architecture and architectural visualisation.
Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
The program comprises frontal lessons, autonomous readings, lectures, and study trips (pending on health conditions).
The course also includes a practical exercise, during which the student will experiment with the composition and the techniques of photography. During the exercise, the use of a single-lens reflex camera and a tripod is recommended; however digital cameras can be used, too.
Further information
Compulsory readings:
Walter Benjamin, ‘Little History of Photography’, in Walter Benjamin, Selected Writings, 2:2, 1931-1934, ed. by Michael W. Jennings, Howard Eiland, Gary Smith, trans. Rodney Livinstone and others, Cambridge/London: Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 507-530, retrieved from https://monoskop.org/images/0/0e/Benjamin_Walter_1931_1999_Little_History_of_Photography.pdf
David Company, ‘Architecture as Photography: document, publicity, commentary, art’, in Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age, ed. by Alona Pardo an Elias Redstone, Munich: Prestel, 2014, retrieved from https://davidcampany.com/architecture-as-photography-document-publicity-commentary/
Alexandra Tommasini, ‘Introduction: a photographer’s sense of space’, The Journal of Architecture, 24:8 (2019), pp. 1045-1052, retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13602365.2019.1705628
Helmut Gernsheim, Focus on architecture and sculpture: an original approach to the photography of architecture and sculpture, London: The Fountain Press, 1949, retrieved from https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4199/page/n137/mode/1up
Type of Assessment
The practical exercise will be judged. The final exam consists of a written test. It includes a general question on a specific period or theme in the history of architectural photography, and the description of two photographs which have been discussed during the course.
Course program
The lessons cover a range of subjects: the science of viewing; the birth and development of architectural photography; the diffusion of photography among architects and topographers; magazines and texts; photography in the diffusion of the modern movement; photography propaganda, war and reconstruction; communication and artistry; the technological shift of colours and digital images; the development of aerial imagery and its impact on architecture. The narration will proceed both according to a chronological direction and by cross-cutting themes, such as: the effects of photography on both architectural practice and historiography; the documental use of photos; the use of photography in the communication of space; the portraying of cities and landscape trough photography; the impact of aerial and satellite imagery in the contemporary perception of architecture and urbanism. The lessons will be accompanied by some lectures by scholars and professional photographers.