This course will survey the history of photography from its invention in 1839 to the present by focusing primarily on its role in American art and society. Within this chronologically organized survey, specific historical events and artistic movements will illuminate important themes in American photography. Topics will include photography and the Civil War, O'Sullivan's photographs of the American West, Southworth & Hawes' Boston portraiture studio, Stieglitz's Photo-Secession and the battle for photography as a fine art, documentary photography, the Museum of Modern Art's institutionalization of the history of the medium, Life magazine photojournalism, photo-essays on American society by Robert Frank and Walker Evans, fashion photography, and contemporary photographic investigations of the landscape, the human body, and racial, sexual, and gender identity. Visits to both the Clark and WCMA printrooms will supplement the lectures. Requirements: writing assignments, midterm, final exam, and class participation. No prerequisites. Enrollment limited to 40. Preference given to majors.

Hour: ARAUZ