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The Material

Lectures were given on early postmodernism (Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince) and the more recent work of Matthew Barney, Jeff Wall, and Adam Fuss. Technique, the raison dÕe^tre for many intro level and intermediate photography classes, was treated only as a means to elaborate thematically on the chosen subject matter, not as an object in and of itself. We would learn what we needed to learn to produce the exhibition. Students were given a range of technical skills and were encouraged to match images with appropriate processes. The technical options (liquid photo emulsion, poster size prints, toning, and tiling) were selected for this class based primarily on what was possible within the limits of a small darkroom with minimal equipment, and the interests of students and faculty. These processes were treated as a means of expanding the permutations of artmaking, and for elaborating on subtextual meanings of the images.