Historic Timeline in a Photography Class

Posted by Suzanne Hill Sep 3, 2008

Tonight I started my photography class after deciding it was a good way to get the creative juices going.

I can see that there will be a lot of [probably expensive] supplies to buy. Oh well.

Our first assignment involves a timeline of the history of photography with such timeframes as 1905 when Alfred Stieglitz opens Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in New York and 1917 when the magazine "Camera Work" ceased publication.

We need to select two different years on the timeline and find a photographic reference to the subject matter for that date. The reference must be in a book that can be displayed on the screen with the ELMO document camera or by a jpeg saved to a USB drive.

For example, in 1877 the timeline mentions that Thomas Edison demonstrates a hand cranked phonograph. This could inspire a student to bring in a photograph of Thomas Edison with the phonograph, or an image of the first phonograph, or someone else featured with the first phonograph.

So I'll peruse the timeline tomorrow . A reference to Alfred Stieglitz especially interests me. I'm fascinated with the story of Stieglitz meeting Georgia O'Keefe and appreciating her artwork and falling in love with her and fueling her art career (although I find her artwork is rather gimmicky and one-dimensional).

And at the same time, I admire Stieglitz's photographs, especially those of O'Keefe and those featured in his journal "Camera Work." I think I'll get a paperback copy of the photos from "Camera Work."