COMING UP

DUE Monday (7/2) AT THE START OF CLASS...
 
Practice 1: Romanticism v. Realism Photo Critique 
(Organize a critique using text and image effectively / 2 points)

Purpose: To understand the “atmospheric” differences between romantic imagery versus realist and to demonstrate your ability to identify two styles of photography that communicate different moods. Show your understanding also of raster file type, size, and resolution by downloading photos from the Internet and converting them to high resoluion tiff format. Finally, practice your critiquing skills for later “critique days” where you will comment on the work of fellow class members.

Instructions: Find the work of two photographers, one of whom seems to work in the realist tradition and the other in the romantic. Provide copies (one example from each photographer) from online images at least 720 X 1008 pixels in size (at a dpi of 72 that's a 10 x 14 inch jpeg). Choose your images for their clarity--no pixelating!

Write a critique (1 - 1.5 page) that addresses the issues given as questions below and walk the class through it (oral presentation) on the day due. (The format of the critique you turn in is up to you--written or visual/Powerpoint/video slide show/bulleted presentation with photos--or a combination of these), but you need to answer all of these questions:

• Which photo is romantic and what are the characteristics that identify it as such?
• Which is realist and what are the characteristics that identify it as such?
• What do you notice about the “mood” of each. (Describe it/contrast them.)
• What do you see as the strengths (technical or aesthetic) of the photo you chose from among the romantic?
• What are the strengths (technical or aesthetic) of the photo you chose from the realist?
• What do you see as weaknesses (technical or aesthetic) of the photo you chose from among the romantic?
• What are the weaknesses (technical or aesthetic) of the photo you chose from the realist?
• Come up with a headline to promote a product using each of the two photos: Identify who would be the audience for each advertisement.
• If you were to layer these two photographs together into one image how would you treat each? (Equal size? One smaller than the other in the final image? One more transparent than the other? What about eye path?) Justify your choices by providing me with rationale or example composites and talk about the synthesis of the two moods to create a third.

Bring your document to class for discussion and email a copy to k.hanger@miami.edu with your name in the file name.