Postcards from the City: Exploration with Artistic Photography
ART-40165
Explore the Art of Street Photography
9 Weeks | Prerequisite: ART- 40629 Photo 1: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO
The first class meeting is mandatory.
Street photography offers a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the heart of urban life, capturing the candid moments that define our cities. In this unique 9-week course, you will immerse yourself in the craft of street photography while also embracing the nostalgic art of creating photographic postcards. Drawing inspiration from renowned photographers such as Steve McCurry, Robert Doisneau, Diane Arbus, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, you will study the techniques that helped define this captivating genre. Whether it's the hustle of a busy street corner or the quiet solitude of an urban park, you’ll develop a deep understanding of how to capture fleeting moments in a constantly changing environment.
Course Details
Throughout the course, you will learn to approach street photography with both technical skill and a creative eye. Using a modified gear kit, you will experiment with various camera settings to capture the essence of light, color, shape, and shadow in your surroundings. Alongside practical shooting assignments, you’ll also dive into the rich history of the street photography genre, exploring how iconic photographers have shaped its evolution. With field trips and critiques, you will be encouraged to express your unique vision through your lens, developing your own style while adhering to ethical and legal guidelines for photographing people in public spaces.
The culmination of this course is a fun and meaningful project: creating your own postcards that capture the urban landscape. Not only will you learn to produce high-quality street photography, but you will also experience the timeless tradition of sharing your visual narrative through postcards.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a personal portfolio of images that showcase your understanding of street photography, as well as an appreciation for how this form of photography communicates stories, emotions, and the spirit of the city.
What You'll Learn
- Identify Street Photography Style: Recognize the distinctive elements of street photography and apply them to your own work.
- Master Technical Settings: Utilize appropriate aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings for both black-and-white and color street photography.
- Create Impactful Urban Imagery: Capture the unique qualities of urban life using light, color, and composition in dynamic and authentic ways.
- Understand Postcards as Artifacts: Appreciate the historical and communicative value of postcards as a reflection of society’s interpersonal norms.
- Develop a Personal Street Photography Portfolio: Build a cohesive collection of images that express your personal vision of the urban landscape.
Course Information
Equipment/Software: All types of cameras are welcome including cell phones. Creative Cloud Photography Plan required (or full Adobe Creative Cloud plan). Lightroom Classic needed (not Lightroom Creative Cloud) and Photoshop needed. Tripod and external hard drive recommended.
Flexible Enrollment: This course is an elective for the Photography: Images and Techniques Professional Certificate but is open to all students, even if you're enrolled in the Certificate Program.
Course sessions
Section ID:
Class type:
This course is entirely web-based and to be completed asynchronously between the published course start and end dates. Synchronous attendance is NOT required.
You will have access to your online course on the published start date OR 1 business day after your enrollment is confirmed if you enroll on or after the published start date.
Textbooks:
All course materials are included unless otherwise stated.
Policies:
- No refunds after: 1/10/2025
- Early Enrollment Discount: $400 ($425 if enrolled after 12/9/2024)
- Early enrollment advised
- No UCSD parking permit required
- No visitors permitted
Note:
Schedule:
Instructor:
Melanie Fiander
Melanie's work has been featured in Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Abroad, New York Weddings, PDN, The Vendor Report, Scotland Wedding, Tie the Knot Scotland, Ländle Wedding's "Seasons of Yes", Whimsically Wed, Bermuda Weddings and Honeymoons, Bermudian Weddings, How They Asked by The Knot, The Gray Collective, Wedding Wire, United With Love, National Geographic, It Started With Yes, Glittery Bride, 100 Layer Cake, Lets Bee Together, The Newport Bride, and Wedding Chicks.
Melanie has also shown her fine artwork at Masterworks Museum and the Bermuda Society of Arts in Bermuda, The Dunes in Washington D.C., Jason Simon’s One Minute Film Festival in New York, The Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Space Gallery, and Portland Museum of Art in Maine.
Although still photography is her passion, she also has experience in time-based media and video. A large portion of her work created during graduate school was centered around video and audio; one of which was shown at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.
Melanie has also hosted and curated a short film festival called the "Fiander Film Festival" in February of 2012, a sold-out event that was held at The Dunes in northwest Washington D.C. Artists and directors from all over the US, England, Italy, and Bermuda were screened at the festival including her video created in collaboration with her husband, Jim West, titled "Heartbeats". Directors with many different levels of experience in film entered their pieces into the Fiander Film Festival.
Melanie has worked as a photography professor at The Art Institutes, Sessions College, Southern Maine Community College, and McIntosh College.