Programme

This lecture class offers an introduction to the history of photographic languages, practices, and cultures from the origins to the end of the 19th century. Lectures will focus on the "close reading" of different types of photographic texts (including individual images, series, photo-texts, books, and exhibitions) and will discuss case studies associated with the crucial moments in the medium's affirmation as an intellectual and artistic field.

Core Documentation

Study texts:
- A. Gunthert, M. Poivert, Storia della fotografia dalle origini ai giorni nostri, Electa, Milano 2009 (or. ed. 2007), pp. 10-355;
- M. Mozzo, Note sulla documentazione fotografica in Italia nella seconda metà dell’Ottocento, tra tutela, restauro e catalogazione, in Arti e storia nel Medioevo, vol. IV, E. Castelnuovo, G. Sergi (eds), Il Medioevo al passato e al presente (Turin: Einaudi, 2004), pp. 847-870.

Regular attendance is warmly suggested. A basic knowledge of Modern History and Modern Art History is required.

Attendance policy
In the exceptional circumstances of the Covid pandemic, students who cannot attend on a regular basis will have the opportunity to watch the recorded lectures at a later moment. Please contact the instructor as soon as possible in order to be registered as a “non attending student” and get access to the study materials.

UPDATE 06/2021
Beginning June 1, 2021 recorded lectures will no longer be available online. Students who are planning to take the final but could not attend the course are requested to contact the instructor in order to receive ad hoc instructions.

Type of delivery of the course

Class lectures and reading seminars.

Type of evaluation

Oral exam covering all the assigned readings and artworks, including the ones discussed in class.