The cycle of studies in Photography aims at the qualified training of artists and photographers endowed with skills and critical capacity to develop the photographic discourse in its various aspects, both professional and authorial. In this sense, there is a strong practical component that enables the acquisition of technical skills and encourages experimentation and authorial development. The theoretical component aims to develop discursive and critical skills, as well as a historical and political awareness, which encourages students to have an innovative and challenging practice. In view of the rapid and successive transformations in the field of image making and, therefore, in the paradigms of photography, the course presents a wide range of curricular units that allow the transdisciplinarity between photography and areas that allow the exploration of other media and formats that are fundamental for a contemporary photographic discourse, supported by essential technical support and quality infrastructures and equipment.
| Subject | Description | Year | Semester | ECTS | Taught in english? |
|---|---|---|---|
1º YEAR | |||
| Visual Anthropology | On Visual Anthropology, we work on methodologies to approach certain social facts and how they can be represented on a visual manner.The purpose is to unveil its conceptual complexity and understand how the actors themselves interpret and problematize their practices and values. The subject has a high theoretical component; presupposes continuous fieldwork, direct contact with other people, interviews… | 1º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Photography I | In this introdutory UC students explore the camera in it’s techniical components and as a discursive tool. Along the semester students will develop a photographic portfolio in rsponse to the technical and authoral exercises proposed. | 1º year | 1º semester | 6 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Theory and History of Art | Students who complete the Theory and Art History course should be able to expand their visual culture and deepen their artistic sensibility. Students learns to value the direct encounter and the perceptive reception of works of art. The subject assists students to acquire knowledge about theories of art and artistic manifestations from Antiquity to the present. | 1º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Photography Narratives | Study of concepts, methods and theories about the construction of narratives in photography and other arts, as well as potential disciplinary crossings. Recognize authors, processes and narrative styles in photography, in their historical contexts, applications and forms of presentation. Develop an experimental practice that allows applying concepts or formulating new questions about ways to create narratives with the photographic medium. | 1º year | 2º semester | 6 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Sound and Image | Students will be challenged to use the potential of sound and the moving image as a means of expression, separately and together, taking into account the context of photography. | 1º year | 2º semester | 5 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
| Theory and Image Analysis | Students are led to develop several competences on verbal and visual literacy based on analysis of visual contemporary culture and visual semiotics. On several visual examples students will analyze the imaginary dimension of the / in the world, will Identify the characteristics and particularities of significant visual elements, will compare the dimensions of the readable and visible in images, particularly in photographs, will systematize and analyze critically contemporary strategies of verbal and visual rhetoric in the construction of the photographic object. | 1º year | 2º semester | 5 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
2º YEAR | |||
| Contemporary Photography | Students will be provided with a set of historical and aesthetic knowledge that focus on contemporary photography, through theoretical research and photographic practice. Theoretical classes, accompanied by visualization of photographic images, projection of films. Explanation and demonstration of the various topics of the program in class, in the practical execution of exercises, as well as in the reading of proposed texts, with presentation and discussion in class. Students are encouraged to participate with questions and comments. | 2º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Photography II | We promote working methods in the approach to documentary photographic projects, focusing on landscape, architecture and territory photography. We also work on the consolidation of literary and visual references, relating them to the practical projects to be developed. The practice is done with very specific analog and digital photographic equipment and we strength the design, selection, editing and post production procedures in articulation with other subjects. | 2º year | 1º semester | 6 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Career Management | Students get to know communication and positioning strategies to start their career as a professional photographer. Instruments such as portfolio review, mentoring, production support grants, etc. are analyzed. Students are encouraged to build and adapt their portfolios to the nature of their work. | 2º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Digital Laboratory | Processing and post-production of photography Photoshop for the photographic workflow. Analog to digital and scanning. It’s a “hands on” subject that works closelly with other Photography and Design subjects. | 2º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Photographic Essay | This subject allows a practical approach to the development of photographic essays consistent with the themes and respective theoretical foundation; promoting, guidance, monitoring of students, creating a critical sense of the different discursive spaces of photography. Classes have a design component and the end result focuses on the production of a photobook | 2º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Photography and Discourse | Students are led to develop several competences on building multimedia texts (or at least bimedia verbal and visual texts) in a discursive articulation between photography and verbal texts. Distinguishing textual typologies and their suitability for photographic projects should help to develop strategies for understanding the reading of various types of mixed and hybrid texts, operationalizing mechanisms of bimodal transmission of information and emotions reflecting on language, ethics and citizenship. | 2º year | 2º semester | 5 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
| Research Methodologies in Photography | Students will study and practice the potential, applicability and organisation of theoretical and/or practical research in photography, as well as develop projects based on theoretical thinking and/or experimental practice.. | 2º year | 2º semester | 4 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english, in addition to an overview at the end of each class about the contents that were addressed |
3º YEAR | |||
| Expanded Photography | Students get acquainted with photography’s place in contemporary art and its relationship with other media and artistic languages. The course unit introduces some fundamental elements for new methodologies in the creative process alongside different expository strategies by providing a theoretical background embedded in an open lab environment. The hands-on approach focuses on an experimental dialog between analog and digital technology as a means for an expanded practice of photography with practical exercises using editing tools for Augmented Reality, projection-mapped composition, and programming of interactive systems. | 3º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
| Photography III | Students will develop technical and conceptual skills for proper and competent completion of product and fashion photographs. They will understand how to use technical artifices to autonomously respond to creative and conceptual requirements, know how to choose the equipment that best adapts to the needs and conditions of the work proposals, identify the importance of pre and post-production work in the context of product and fashion photography and, hopefully understand how to adapt the creative and technical needs to the logistic and budget limitations, inherent to each work proposal. | 3º year | 1º semester | 6 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
| Digital Laboratory II | Advanced post-production of photography focused on advertisement and fashion photography. Photoshop for the photographic workflow. It’s a “hands on” UC that works closelly with other Photography subjects | 3º year | 1º semester | 5 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
| Planning and Project Managment | Students must develop and apply a work plan, applied to photographic projects; covering different topics: concept research and development, scheduling, budgeting, editing and printing. Each student’s plan is analyzed and discussed throughout the different phases of the project, from concept definition to the presentation phase. | 3º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
| Seminar II | The subject Seminários II (Seminars 2) is divided in modules of 3 or 4 classes by different lecturers and subjects around contemporary photographic practices. Although it is based primarily on the experience and personal work of each lecturer, each class may be different and unconventional, by having guests presenting work or performances or visiting exhibitions outside the school space. Simultaneously, students are stimulated to develop the writing of a paper with a subject of their choice. Writing will be supervised and asessed by the lecturers at the end of the semester. | 3º year | 1º semester | 6 ECTS | NO The professor will occasionally do small remarks in english. Invited guests will often speak in portuguese |
| Videoart and Experimental Cinema | Students will study different approach’s in video art and experimental cinema and their authors since its appearance until now. At the end of the subject, they should be able to articulate the discussed subject matters and concepts with the adjacent curricular units and conceptualize, produce and theoreticaly defend video art works. | 3º year | 1º semester | 4 ECTS | PARTIALLY |
2º SEMESTER | |||
| Final Project/Internship | To be able to take part in this subject, foreign students need to send proofs that they are able to address all the technical and narrative issues implied. In order to do so, each student should contact Prof. João Leal – joaoleal@esmad.ipp.pt | 3º year | 2º semester | 25 ECTS | PARTIALLY |