Vision & Difference: Transcending the Gaze

As more and more women work behind the lens, have images of women and men evolved? Many believe the sex and sexual identity of the photographer informs the image in both style and meaning. What changes when women produce photos of themselves, others, or the landscape? This course explores these concerns in photographs created by influential women photographers who toy with gender and sexuality: Francesca Woodman, Sam Taylor-Wood, Catherine Opie, Tracey Moffatt, Mariko Mori, Daniela Rossell, Jona Frank, Amy Elkins, and others. This class encourages students to consider the “gaze” while producing their own photographs using either film or digital photography. Class discussions and critiques center on the personal and cultural reading of photographs produced in this changing time. Guest speakers include photographers Deana Lawson and Amy Stevens.