When the word photographer comes to mind, for many people it is a given that they are thinking of a record-keeper of sorts – a photographer documents things, life, people. Very few seem to understand that a photographer can also be an artist in the purest sense of the word. A photograph is not always taken; at the hands of some, an image is created. Such an image is not so much seen as read, interpreted and appreciated like a painting, a poem, a sculpture.
It is in this spirit that these photography courses are devised: not just photographic skills – how to use a camera, but also how to work with what you see in the viewfinder. Photography not just as a medium but as an art and how it “interacts with” and uses other aspects of the universe, such as architecture, writing, form, nature, people’s faces.
Course Ref: JGPCSOK
Length: 24+ Hours
Structure: 10 Lectures, 1 Day Shoot, 1 Night Shoot, 1 Workshop
Lecture Duration: 1.5 Hours
Course Fee: €260
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Course Description
This photography course introduces prospective students to the study and practice of photography, whilst most importantly, producing an artistic output. Students will learn how to think creatively and visualise in order to obtain well thought out and composed images. Digital editing will be touched upon very briefly, to further teach students how to finalise digital images for printing and the web.
Topics Covered
- Fundamentals of Photography – What is Photography? What makes a good image?
- Brief History of Photography – We go through the important stages of photography throughout the years from the first image ever produced in 1826 till today.
- Cameras & Lenses – We examine the different types of cameras and lenses, how they work and discuss their uses.
- Light – Natural, Available & Artificial – We explore the different forms of light and the impact they have on our images.
- Use of the Camera – Learn how to use the features of your camera to obtain the image you want. We experiment with depth of field, long exposures, panning, blurring and freezing to create moods.
- Exposure – We master the techniques and the settings which will allow us to create a properly exposed image.
- Use of Filters – UV, Polarising, ND and Special Effects filters.
- Studio Photography – A studio session where we will set up studio lighting, understand how to use artificial light, and explore studio techniques.
- Master Photographers – Works of photographers like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, Sebastiao Salgado, Josef Koudelka and many others will be discussed.
- Developing your Eye – Start seeing things in a way you have never seen them before.
- Digital Darkroom (Photo-editing techniques) – Use of computer editing software to acquire post-processing techniques to make desired adjustments to our images.
This course will run between November & April and will be limited to groups of a maximum of 4-6 students. This will guarantee individual attention and give space for healthy discussions. Lectures will be on a weekly basis. Students attending this course will be expected to produce a body of work throughout the course. Careful analysis of technique and aesthetics of the images created by the students will be regular and consistent.
Course Ref: JGPCF
Length: 30+ Hours
Structure: 14 Lectures, 2 Day Shoots, 1 Night Shoot
Lecture Duration: 1.5 Hours
Course Fee: €300
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Course Description
This photography course introduces prospective participants to the study and practice of photography. The course focuses mainly on the artistic development of the participant whilst learning to come to grips with the technical aspect of the craft. The study will require the students to research and familiarize themselves with the various elements and genres of photography through both historical and contemporary analysis. The course will consist of specific project briefs supported by technical sessions and workshops. Students will learn how to think creatively and visualise in order to obtain well thought out and composed images. It will enable students to look at photography within the area of contemporary art and achieve a sound knowledge to be able to engage in critical debates from an informed personal position.
Topics Covered
- Fundamentals of Photography – What is Photography? What makes a good image?
- Brief History of Photography – We go through the important stages of photography throughout the years from the first image ever produced in 1826 till today.
- Photography as an Art Form – We probe the creative process in producing an image. What makes photography an art?
- Relationship between Film & Digital – Exploring film to understand digital.
- Developing your Eye – Start seeing things in a way you have never seen them before.
- Cameras & Lenses – We examine the different types of cameras and lenses, how they work and discuss their uses.
- Light – Natural, Available & Artificial – We explore the different forms of light and the impact they have on our images.
- Use of the Camera – Learn how to use the features of your camera to obtain the image you want. We experiment with depth of field, long exposures, panning, blurring and freezing to create moods.
- Exposure – We master the techniques and the settings which will allow us to create a properly exposed image.
- Use of Filters – UV, Polarising, ND and Special Effects filters.
- Projects & Shoots – We tackle different genres and themes; documentary, urban, staged image, representation and abstraction, vernacular.
- Studio Photography – A studio session where we will set up studio lighting, understand how to use artificial light, and explore studio techniques.
- Master Photographers – Works of photographers like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, Sebastiao Salgado, Josef Koudelka and many others will be discussed.
This course will run between October & June and will be limited to groups of a maximum of 4 participants. This will guarantee individual attention and give space for healthy discussions. Lectures will be on a weekly basis. Participants will progressively produce a body of work throughout the entire course. Careful analysis of technique and aesthetics of the images created by the students will be regular and consistent.
Course Ref: JGPCPS
Length: 12+ Hours
Structure: 6 Lectures
Lecture Duration: 12 Hours
Course Fee: €150
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Topics covered
- Digital Darkroom (Photo-editing techniques) – Use of computer editing software (Photoshop) to perform post-processing techniques to make desired adjustments to our images
- Workflow – Naming and archiving files, etc
- Selecting images – Your editing starts here
- Photoshop & Bridge – An introduction
- Using RAW files
- Selections – Different ways of selecting objects for different purposes
- Working with layers – Non-destructive editing
- Adjustments – Levels, Hue, Brightness, Contrast, Filters, etc
- Masking
- Airbrushing
- And much more…..
This course will run all year round between the months of October & June.
Course Ref: JGPCARPH (NEW)
Length: 12+ Hours
Structure: 4 Lectures, 2 Location Shoots
Lecture Duration: 1.5 Hours
Course Fee: €200
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Course Description
- Has photography changed the way we think about architecture?
- Have photographers shaped public perceptions of architecture?
- Has the relation between architects and photographers influenced both the way architecture is disseminated and also the way architects view their work? Does photography aid architects’ visualisation when they are working on a project?
- How are artists responding to architecture in their photographic practice to help us perceive how we live “around” these structures and how these structures shape the way we live today?
- Are there defined boundaries between architecture, fine art, and photography? If there are boundaries, are they still relevant?
- Can we, through photography, be able to get hold of architecture? And by this I mean, or perhaps the cultural critic Walter Benjamin meant, that while a physical building is owned and used, a photograph of it is able to isolate, define, interpret, exaggerate or even invent a cultural value for it. We might even go so far as to say that the cultural value of buildings is what we call ‘architecture’ and that it is inseparable from photography.
Whilst debating, rather than providing answers to the above concepts, participants of this photography course will learn particular techniques in architectural photography and acquire the skills to read a building before photographing it. Professional architects will be giving the students their take on the above concepts and on their vision of a building from its inception to its completion.
This course will run between January & April and lectures will be on 2-weekly basis.
Course Ref: JGPCPHWW (NEW)
Length: 6+ Hours
Structure: 4 Lectures
Lecture Duration: 1.5 Hours
Course Fee: €100
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Course Description
Since a photograph is an instance of self-expression, it is little wonder that in many different contexts we often see this medium used in conjunction with that of words. The questions that one may ask, and rightly so, are many. Why is this image accompanied by a caption? Why that particular word/sentence? Can the photo stand on its own? If not, is that caption serving as a crutch? Is the caption adding something new to an already excellent image (if excellent it is)?
These and many other questions will be debated – rather than providing answers, it is hoped these questions will encourage students to launch themselves in a trajectory of exploration. Students will be given exercises in which they will produce photos to go with specific texts, and, why not, write their own captions for specific images. In this way, this will hopefully help students to think about the photos that they will be taking in new, insightful ways.
This course will run between January & April and lectures will be on 2-weekly basis.
Course Ref: JGPCAP (NEW)
Length: 18+ Hours
Structure: 8 Lectures, 2 Location Shoots
Lecture Duration: 1.5 Hours
Course Fee: €250
Registration: Click register button below or send an email for more information
Course Description
This photography course is intended for participants who have already followed an introductory course in photography or who have a good grasp of the basics of photography. The course is an integration of the courses Architecture and Photography (JGPCARPH) and Photography and the Written Word (JGPCPHWW).
This course will run between January & April and lectures will be on a weekly basis.