11283 The Social Photo and Designed Landscapes
6cpRequisite(s): 48 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10271 Bachelor of Design Interior Architecture OR 48 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10272 Bachelor of Design Interior Architecture Bachelor of International Studies OR 48 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10322 Bachelor of Design Interior Architecture Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation OR 72 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10004 Bachelor of Design Architecture OR 72 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10413 Bachelor of Design Architecture Master of Architecture OR 72 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10325 Bachelor of Design Architecture Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation OR 48 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C09079 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Honours)
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
In his book The Social Photo, media theorist Nathan Jurgenson considers how the rise of smart phones and social media has remade conventional expectations of both photography and the world. Drawing on theory and examples from visual culture, photography, and digital media, Jurgenson’s survey of contemporary developments accounts for a shift, whereby photography once synonymous with fixity, media specificity and objectivity, is now considered indeterminate, in appearance, form and meaning.
This elective explores how understandings of contemporary designed landscapes might benefit from a critical engagement with the increasing indeterminacy of photographic images and practices of photography. This is pursued on the understanding that the indeterminacy of landscapes and indeterminate approaches to designing are of increasing importance to both landscape and architectural cultures. Working with extant images and the infrastructures that support their creation, dissemination, and reception, the elective aims to generate new knowledge about a range of indeterminate landscapes.
Complementing its theoretical and practical concern for contemporary photography, the elective outlines some of the most prevalent ways photographic images and practices of photography mediate our understanding of designed landscapes. This includes looking at the how photographs are implicated in processes of precedent use and the construction of disciplinary canons.
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of how photographic images and practices of photography has been transformed by advancements in digital technologies and networked communications;
- distinguish between novel and normative approaches to designed landscapes based on their relationship to indeterminacy;
- use photographic images and practices of photography to generate knowledge about designed landscapes;
- identify how photographic images and practices of photography are implicated in professional and disciplinary spheres of activity.
Detailed subject description.