Photographic Storytelling: Italy Past & Present

The course aims to acquaint students with the history of Italy, from the unification process (1861) to the present, through photography, whose official invention (1839) is only a few years before the birth of the nation. Students will learn, through a combination of in-class lectures & presentations, field trips and visits to exhibitions, about the country's key events by analyzing iconic images, and reportages, in relation to what is produced in other countries. Emphasis is placed on analyzing images, understanding their aesthetic and historical contexts, as a means through which decipher Italian society. Complementary to the academic side of the course is the practical side, consisting in learning the basics of photographic techniques (basic camera skills, composition), functional to the work on weekly journals/projects with which students will document the traces of the past in everyday reality.

Upon successful completion of this course, students are able to:
- Acquire, through photographs/photographic projects, a An understanding of key events in the history of Italy from unification to the present day.
- Understand how to read, deconstruct, and contextualize a photographic image through written analysis.
- Develop basic photographic skills, especially how to photograph manually, edit and combine images in a coherent narrative flow.
- Learn, through weekly assignments, how to use photography as a coherent, narrative language.

***Course is pending approval from CEA CAPA's School of Record.***