Anirban Baishya: Online Academic Portfolio Main Menu Bio Research Statement Syllabus: The Culture of the Selfie Course Description Video Essay/ Digital Argument Keep Talking: A Mediation on Technology and Communication

Mandatory Assignments-I

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Image Exercise

This week you read Walter Benjamin’s "Little History of Photography" and Jerry Saltz’s “Art at Arm’s Length: A History of the Selfie” (2015). Benjamin’s essay was written in 1931, several years before the advent of digital photography. Making a photograph in those days was a laborious and time consuming process; but that, as Benjamin points out was already beginning to change. Notice, for instance how he nostalgically writes about the “early” years of photography when long exposure durations allowed subjects to grow “into the picture” which he contrasts to the idea of the snapshot. 

For this assignment, click a selfie. How does your selfie compare to Benjamin’s idea of the snapshot. Using the image, describe how your selfie is, or, is not “a snapshot.” 

Do you feel the selfie that allows you to express something about yourself that you could not do with words alone? Use your personal reflections to draw connections to, or contrast cellphone images with earlier, analog forms of photography or portraiture. Do you agree with Jerry Saltz’s observation that the selfie harks back to the “Greek theatrical idea of methexis—a group sharing wherein the speaker addresses the audience directly”? 

You are free to use any range of photographic techniques (close-ups, filters etc.) and upload to any platform of your choice (or not). In each case, your choice must be accompanied by your rationale. 

For this assignment we will be using Padlet. You can type in your responses (or copy paste from your word processor) by clicking on the padlet wall and starting up a note. You can attach your images to the note, and also connect your post to another classmate’s post if you think you share similar viewpoints. The idea is to start an online conversation that we can pick up during our discussion in the next class. Remember, this assignment does not require the ability to take “artistic” pictures, but needs you to critically reflect on your own digital image-making practices.


 

Made with Padlet
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