Exposure

Read the Sally Mann article on Blackboard and comment on the relationship between Mann's intention in her photographs of her children and the public's perception of what she represented in them. Would you self-censor your work, not photographing something or someone in a certain way because of what your viewer might think? If you are familiar with Robert Mapplethorpe's graphic sexual images, you might comment on those as well.

Remix

Read the article titled "Teju Cole article #2" on Blackboard. What is the most significant question raised for you as a photographer by this article?

Looking at art

Of all the art that you saw on our trip to New York, what are you still thinking about? Why? How does what interests you about this work relate to your own work? What non-art aspect of the trip interested or intrigued you the most?

Objects have the longest memories of all...

Read the article, "Objects have the longest memories of all," by Teju Cole on Blackboard and comment on it. How do objects and their conditions/situation speak to what has occurred there? Is this an effective way to represent violent conflict? Why/why not?

Getting started

How do you start a big new project? If there is no prompt to work from, what methods/tricks do you use to get new ideas going? What has worked and what has not worked for you in the past? This question is obviously geared towards your major projects, but you should also be thinking about how you will generate new work on your own after you graduate.

What should be seen?

Do you think the additional photographs from Abu Ghraib should be released? Would you look at them if they were available? Why or why not?

Photographing the "Other"

What are the photographer's responsibilities in photographing people from cultures, subcultures, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, political viewpoints etc. other than his/her own? Is it necessary to be part of the group you are photographing? to learn about them? to engage with them? Or is it OK to photograph as an outsider? There are no right answers here, and each of you may have a different idea about what is ethical and what is not, what has value and what does not. The point is to give some thought to your own point of view and to write about that.