Photography Galleries

About History & Practice of Photography at UC Merced : This upper-division course offers an innovative curricular design that bridges the creative and theoretical sides of photography, traditionally taught separately, by integrating hands-on image making into the study of history. The course challenges students to develop a critical eye and mind and to interrogate our visual culture with their camera and writing. Students examine key texts on the development of photographic technologies and analyze the diverse work of photographers from around the world. Students also investigate cultural and sociopolitical issues in photographic practices, including a postcolonial reading of the so-called anthropological pictures, the use of photography as social construction in the case of W.E.B. DuBois, and photographic performances that call racial and gender stereotypes into question. Our historical survey is punctuated by a series of assignments that require students to produce photographs that correspond to the periods, styles, and photographic inventions under study. As they have to write a short passage to accompany each submission, students are encouraged to explore the nuances of image-text interplays in these visual essays. Students in the Spring 2007 class showed sustained interest in exploring issues concerning the people and their lives in Merced and the San Joaquin Valley; assignments in Spring 2008 require students to continually photograph and write about the changing cultural, economic, and sociopolitical landscape of the Central Valley region. Students will not only explore issues of aesthetics, visual perception, and social consciousness in relation to their imagery, but also dialogue with their peers and visitors via this website to create meaningful and continual interactions. Students can also integrate the course website into their online social networks, such as facebook.com and myspace.com, to reach a broader audience and solicit more diverse feedback. Towards the end of the course, students will collectively curate an online exhibition showcasing their best works and collaborate with the UC Merced Kolligian Library staff to also stage their exhibit on digital screens throughout the campus. Students will design and distribute flyers and posters to advertise the course project and invite local communities to visit the campus and participate via the website throughout the semester. The Effecting Eye will be an interdisciplinary project that encourages students to document and connect with our locality as well as explore the possibility of digital photography and the Internet as crucial tools for them to effect cultural and social changes.

About History & Practice of Photography at UC Merced

GASP 141 Student Portfolios : Students submitted their five best works from this semester. Some chose to re-shoot or improve their original photos; some submitted as they were.

GASP 141 Student Portfolios

Students submitted their five best works from this semester. Some chos ...

Updated: May 07, 2009 3:35pm PST

GASP 141 Group Exhibits Activities : These are snapshots of students curating, presenting and reviewing their group exhibitions. Students have the option to install and present their work at any location on campus that they see fit for their photographic subject matter. The class of 60 students was divided into two groups to visit each exhibit.

GASP 141 Group Exhibits Activities

Photo 1: Encounter/Self-Portrait (Spring '09) : "Who are you?" It is a simple question, but your response may not be simple at all. The challenge is: how do you photographically present your answer, which may be very complex and nuanced, in a single image? What and which aspect or trait of you (and how many of them) can you convey in a photograph? This assignment asks students to take self-portraits, in black and white and in a manner of their choice, that represent their idea(s) of who they are. *141 students: Remember to include your name to get the participation credit for your comments.

Photo 1: Encounter/Self-Portrait (Spring '09)

"Who are you?" It is a simple question, but your response may not be ...

Updated: Feb 09, 2009 10:46pm PST

Photo 2: Delicious (Spring '09) : How do you show "delicious" in a photograph? How do you make a picture "delicious"? How can an image convey a sensory response that is not visual? Students take color photographs to convey their idea(s) of, or to make their viewers think of, "delicious." However, they cannot have people as main subjects (no portraits). They are to find subjects in our surroundings, including the UCM campus, the town, or the greater Valley region. Each image needs to have contrasting elements: soft vs. rough surfaces, curvilinear vs. angular lines, organic vs. geometric shapes, etc. Students are free to extrapolate but should pay special attention to the visual elements we discussed in class: composition, camera angles, exposure, contrast, tonal values, and texture.

Photo 2: Delicious (Spring '09)

How do you show "delicious" in a photograph? How do you make a picture ...

Updated: Feb 12, 2009 8:59am PST

Photo 3: Conflict (Spring '09) : How does a picture convey conflicts? In this assignment, students are encouraged to pursue their own interpretation of the notion(s) of conflict expressed in photographic terms--particularly in relation to our recent discussions of colonial, anthropological, medical, and war pictures. The photograph should not be staged. The objective is for students to find things in everyday life that show conflict in a visually interesting way that would generate discussions, debates, or even controversies. The photograph could be abstract or representational and the subject matter does not have to include people.

Photo 3: Conflict (Spring '09)

How does a picture convey conflicts? In this assignment, students a ...

Updated: Mar 03, 2009 10:50pm PST

Photo 4: Appropriation :

Photo 4: Appropriation

Updated: Apr 21, 2009 10:36am PST

Visual Essay 1: Identity, Mediated (Spring '09) : As an elaboration on Photo 1, this assignment asks students to pair up with a partner, interview her/him and take a picture to present a photographic portrait/representation of the partner. Their portraits, in black and white, imitate but also elaborate on the style of one of the following photographers: Julia Margaret Cameron, David Octavius Hill, Oscar Gustav Rejlander, Matthew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Etienne Carjat, or Gaspard Félix Tournachon Nadar. Students provide a short essay to accompany their portraits. (The essays are posted here, unedited, as they were submitted.) *Click on the images to enlarge or to comment on a specific picture.

Visual Essay 1: Identity, Mediated (Spring '09)

As an elaboration on Photo 1, this assignment asks students to pair up ...

Updated: Mar 01, 2009 9:03pm PST

Visual Essay 2: Fictitious Verisimilitude (Spring '09) : How do we know a picture is real? And what do we mean by "real"? This assignment asks students to create images that blur the line between reality and fiction, photographically speaking.The picture is staged by the student but it should look as “natural” as a random shot. The image should also have enough “narrative potency” by itself, as it tells a complex story beyond what meets one's eyes. In other words, the objectives are to bring fiction out of the real life and present verisimilitude in a constructed image. Students are strongly encouraged to think about how a title can affect the viewer's understanding of an image. Instead of writing an essay to accompany her/his own picture, each student takes creative license to write a 100-word story inspired by one of the photographs here.

Visual Essay 2: Fictitious Verisimilitude (Spring '09)

How do we know a picture is real? And what do we mean by "real"? Th ...

Updated: Apr 13, 2009 9:47am PST

Visual Essay 3: Seduction Merced (Spring '09) : Merced and the San Joaquin Valley region have not received much positive press and the recent headline-making high rates of home foreclosure and unemployment have worsened the public perception (justified or misguided) of this area. For this assignment, students act as important members of a mock non-profit organization in charge of promoting Merced to the national audience. They are given the task of designing a poster, with one to two images and a paragraph of 200 words, to show the "seductive" side(s) of Merced. They have the freedom to choose any subject matter (with or without people) and use any visual style that they deem appropriate to produce an effective poster. There is no specified target audience, either. That is: the poster can appeal to the general public, families, business owners, developers, professionals, or young people like them. They have the following options: 1) Simply submit 1-2 images and a text passage, or 2) Design an actual poster, with the image(s) and text incorporated, and submit a PDF of the poster (this option will be considered for a higher grade). Move your mouse over the picture to select a larger view.

Visual Essay 3: Seduction Merced (Spring '09)

Merced and the San Joaquin Valley region have not received much positi ...

Updated: Apr 29, 2009 12:17pm PST

Exhibition: Signs of Our Time (Spring '09) :

Exhibition: Signs of Our Time (Spring '09)

Updated: Apr 16, 2009 9:19am PST

Exhibition: Signs of Our Time (Spring '08) :

Exhibition: Signs of Our Time (Spring '08)

Student Portfolios (Spring '08) : Students were asked to take pictures that photographically interpret the topic of their choosing under the larger theme, "Signs of Our time." They had to submit five photographs for their individual portfolios. With three or four members in each group, students worked together to curate their own exhibition that presented eight of their best images. Twelve mini-exhibits in PowerPoint and QuickTime formats were showcased in class and collectively judged. Here are students' portfolios organized in the order of their respective groups. Feel free to comment on the individual and/or overall quality of the photographs and portfolios. *Click on the pictures to rank them.

Student Portfolios (Spring '08)