11283 The Social Photo and Designed Landscapes
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(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 examines 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. 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 using a novel approach to visual research. The latter draws on contemporary interest in generative potential of photographic collections and the legacy of Aby Warburg’s ‘image-atlas’.
In doing so, students come to understand the degree to which the ‘social photo’ mediates professional understandings of designed landscapes. At the same, and by way of the ‘social photo’, students are introduced to a range of innovative designed landscapes, their indeterminate states, and attendant processes of design.
NB It is intended that the visual research conducted during this elective will serve as a data set for a forthcoming publication, authored by the convenor of the elective. More information about this will be provided prior to the commencement of the elective.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Demonstrate how photographic images and practices of photography have been transformed by advancements in digital technologies and networked communications |
|---|---|
| 2. | Distinguish between novel and normative approaches to designed landscapes based on their relationship to indeterminacy |
| 3. | Use photographic images and practices of photography to generate knowledge about designed landscapes |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Formulate an ethical position and develop approaches to advocate for equitable and just landscapes that deliver positive impacts. (C.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is designed as a series of participatory workshops, during which students will work collectively on an assigned task, engage in reviews of work in progress, or discuss relevant sources, including key readings.
Content (topics)
- Visual Culture
- Photography
- Landscape Architecture
- Change and Indeterminacy
- Design Process
Assessment
Assessment task 1: ARCHIVE
| Intent: | Working in groups, students will utilise prescribed methods to create an archive of photographic materials about a particular designed landscape. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 2 and 3 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): .1 and C.1 |
| Type: | Case study |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 35% |
Assessment task 2: ATLAS
| Intent: | Working individually, students will work with the the contents of their respective archive to interrogate the ideas of indeterminacy as they a relates to a particular designed landscape. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2 and 3 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): .1, .2 and C.1 |
| Type: | Case study |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 65% |
Minimum requirements
The DAB attendance policy requires students to attend no less than 80% of formal teaching sessions (lectures and tutorials) for each class they are enrolled in to remain eligible for assessment.
Required texts
Blanchon, B. (2016). Criticism: the potential of the scholarly reading of constructed landscapes. Or, the difficult art of interpretation. Journal of Landscape Architecture, 11:2, 66-71. DOI: 10.1080/18626033.2016.1188575
Jurgenson, N. (2019). The Social Photo. Verso.
Kalkstein, M. Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas: On Photography, Archives, and the Afterlife of Images, Graduate Journal of Research in Art History.
Milligan, B. (2022) Accelerated and Decelerated Landscapes. Places Journal, February 2022. https://doi.org/10.22269/220208
Jurgenson, N. (2019). The Social Photo. Verso.
Rubinstein, D., & Sluis, K. (2008). A Life More photographic: Mapping the Networked Image. Photographies, 1(1), 9–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/17540760701785842
Waldheim, C. (2016). Autonomony, Indeterminacy, Self Organisation. In Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory, Pinceton University Press, 32-47.