This introductory photography course invites students to explore, reflect on, and be inspired by the color blue. Through the historical process of cyanotype, a low-cost photographic printing method from over a century ago now echoed in contemporary aesthetics such as Instagram filters, students will create their own blue-toned images and artworks. Co-taught with the department's Holt Visiting Artist, the course uses these "blueprints" as a foundation to examine blue as a physical, natural, artistic, and spiritual phenomenon. Students will engage with themes of site specificity, ecological memory, migration, and transformation, while also learning research-based practices that consider the histories of California and of students themselves, and explore how these histories intersect with broader global narratives. Field trips will offer opportunities for on-site research, and the course will culminate in the creation of a large-scale installation in the Coulter Art Gallery. Students will use their own cell phone cameras, and all necessary software and materials will be provided.
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-CE
This introductory photography course invites students to explore, reflect on, and be inspired by the color blue. Through the historical process of cyanotype, a low-cost photographic printing method from over a century ago now echoed in contemporary aesthetics such as Instagram filters, students will create their own blue-toned images and artworks. Co-taught with the department's Holt Visiting Artist, the course uses these "blueprints" as a foundation to examine blue as a physical, natural, artistic, and spiritual phenomenon. Students will engage with themes of site specificity, ecological memory, migration, and transformation, while also learning research-based practices that consider the histories of California and of students themselves, and explore how these histories intersect with broader global narratives. Field trips will offer opportunities for on-site research, and the course will culminate in the creation of a large-scale installation in the Coulter Art Gallery. Students will use their own cell phone cameras, and all necessary software and materials will be provided.
Offered in Autumn 2025 at Stanford University.