| mark e. johnson photojournalism lecturer |
grady college of journalism & mass communication |
university of georgia |
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| photojournalism | photography | photo college |
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JOUR5990 :: Photo & Design Course Overview This is an introductory course in visual communication. “Communication” is the key word here as the skills you will learn are designed to help you be better communicators. This syllabus covers one half of JOUR5990. You will spend 15 continuous class sessions working on photojournalism and then move to Prof. Janice Hume’s class for the second half of the semester where you will study and practice design for journalism. Your final grade will be evenly based on the grades you receive in each section - so 50% of your grade will come from this segment and the other 50% will come from the design portion of the class. This is not an introduction to photography course. Though we will be using photography as a tool, our end goal is not to become “photographers” but “photojournalists” – professionals who tell stories through images. It’s a fine line, but one we will explore and discuss at length over the coming weeks. A photograph is an immensely powerful thing. Momentous events in history – and our lives – are noted by the photographs of those times. The street side execution of a Viet Cong soldier. A lone student stopping a line of tanks in Beijing. The break-up of the shuttle Columbia. A Cuban boy being taken from his relative’s home. The words conjure these images, the images help to tell the story of these events. Advances in technology have made some aspects of photojournalism more accessible to the ordinary person. News organizations now encourage “citizen journalists” to cover events and send in their images. The technical side of photography is easier than ever. But the hard part is still the hard part – where to point the camera, when to push the button. All the acronyms in the world slathered across the packaging of the latest and greatest the camera companies can produce won’t help with those two things. This can be a class of frustrations – there are a lot of things that can go wrong. And, to be honest, there are a lot of things that will go wrong. What separates the great photojournalists from those "citizen journalists” is their professionalism and perseverance, their desire to tell a story over time and in context. Great photojournalism isn't about making one great image and moving on, it's about understanding a community and putting events into context. Please leave your ego at the door – critiques will be constructive and strong. No one walks into this class with an A – if you knew everything already, you wouldn’t be here. You will be able to – and you should expect to – redo almost every assignment in this class. Learn to learn, that’s why you’re here. Over the next few weeks we will work towards building a technical and journalistic foundation in visual storytelling. Your goal is to understand the technical aspects of photojournalism and put it into practce. The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. Topics of Discussion We will cover a wide array of techniques, issues and ideas. This listing is by no means exhaustive, but it’s the basic framework we’ll work from.
Technicalities Deadlines are sacred in the news business. Therefore, any assignment not turned in by the assigned deadline will not be accepted. For assignments with electronic submissions, please budget your time accordingly. Grady College is a “professional” school and professionalism is expected in this class. Attendance is mandatory, for as in the real world, work is done by those who show up. Not showing up for class will greatly affect your ability to succeed. Each unexcused absence will result in a five point reduction in your final grade for this portion of the semester. Any student who does not show up for the first class will be dropped. Photojournalism takes commitment – commitment of time, commitment of mind. Nowhere is it written, or implied, that if you come to class and do the minimum amount of work, you will master the material. Every image must have a caption attached to it. The majority of your assignments will be submitted electronically and those images need to have a full, Associated Press-style caption attached to it that includes contact information for you and your subjects. Grading Grades will be based on the following guidelines:
The intent of an education is to learn, not to just earn a grade. Because of that, any assignment that is turned in on time can be redone for a different grade. The only part of your grade that is locked in from the first attempt is the caption, though you can still lose points for bad captions on redos. Redos are due one week after the graded work is returned to the class. (The final project is excepted from this policy.) Images that fit the following general guidelines will fall into these grade ranges:
Do not ever try to surprise an editor or instructor – if you have a question, ask. If you are unsure, ask. You have multiple ways of contacting me – take advantage of them. Supplies & Equipment You will have the opportunity to borrow a digital camera kit for the semester. Each student will be fully responsible for any equipment checked out from the college. We will go over the procedures and requirements in class. You will need to purchase Compact Flash memory card for use throughout the semester. Recommendations will be made in class. It is not advisable to store anything on the lab computers – they are not backed-up and they are not protected. Take everything home with you, every night. We will use the National Geographic Ultimate Field Guide to Photography for our textbook. There is a class blog that your are required to check daily as information relevent to the class will be posted there, as well as detailed descriptions of class assignments. You are also resopnsible for following the UGA Photojournalism site. As this is a shooting class, you must bring your equipment every week. In-class exercises and shooting assignments will happen. Be prepared. Assignments Due dates and assignments are tentative and may move, depending on the needs of the class. Details of each assignent will be given out in class and posted to the class blog.
University Boilerplate The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Each student is responsible for informing themselves about these standards before performing any academic work. (See http://www.uga.edu/honesty/.) The only reason readers continue to support journalists is because they believe they are credible. All work done for this course must be your own and done this semester. If you are assisted during an assignment, it is advisable to note such help in your credits. Collaboration is encouraged. Disability Services provides academic services to eligible students who have a documented physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more life activities. Learn to learn. Learn to fail. But do not fail to learn.
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| e: mejohnso@uga.edu t: 706-542-5026 | © 2005-2009 mark e. johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||