Course Description
Summary
Photography was used for scientific purposes and a tool of imperial colonization during the early years of its invention. These two things have helped shape its history of representation of the human figure. Marginal groups of individuals when they were represented in photography were often presented in a visually limiting and often stereotypical manner. The contemporary mugshot and the passport photo can trace their origins to earlier modes of visual representation such as the colonial postcard. This course will offer students an opportunity to examine this history but also to reimagine and reconstruct representation of it through both text and images.
