Publication in the Diário da República: Despacho n.º 2435/2023 de 17/02/2023
4 ECTS; 2º Ano, 1º Semestre, 30,0 T + 5,0 OT , Cód. 964571.
Lecturer
- Miguel Novais Jasmins Rodrigues (1)(2)
(1) Lead Professor
(2) Teaching Professor
Prerequisites
N/A
Objectives
1 Understand communication as a social process of knowledge production, distribution and interpretation.
2 Apply sociological concepts to analyse the uses and circulation of documentary photography.
3 Relate media and modes of presentation to the construction of meaning and the audience experience.
4 Analyse the relationships between communication networks, institutions, visibility and power.
5 Critically examine processes of social validation of photographs, considering credibility, authority, legitimation and the construction of value.
6 Recognise the role of audiences in interpreting images and the possibility of readings that differ from the intentions of their producers.
7 Develop the sociological framework for a photographic project, integrating relevant literature, field experience and decisions about representation and circulation.
8 Participate in designing and producing an exhibition, providing a rationale for decisions about editing, contextualisation and public presentation.
9 Reflect on responsibilities towards the people photographed and audiences, considering the consequences of how images are used and circulated.
Program
A Experience, document and communication
The transition from situated experience to recording, interpretation and public presentation. Knowledge, language and social representations. Photography as document, testimony and the construction of an interpretation. Relationships between individual experience, collective conventions and institutions. Introductory contributions from Durkheim and Weber: social facts, norms, social action, interpretive understanding and domination.
B Media, modes of presentation and the construction of meaning
McLuhan: relationships between medium, message and experience. Material and social conditions of photographic communication. Transformations of photography across prints, books, the press, archives, exhibitions and screens. Scale, format, reproduction, montage and relationships between image and text. Effects of modes of presentation on attention, reading and the audience experience.
C Network society and communication power
Castells: network society, information flows, communication power and counterpower. Relationships between networks, institutions and the formation of publics. Unequal access to the production and circulation of images. Visibility, selection and exclusion. Connections between local and global circuits. Digital platforms: infrastructures, economic models, distribution rules and the organisation of cultural production. Mediatisation and data extraction. Foucault: surveillance, discipline and normalisation; the organisation of visibility and the production of knowledge about individuals.
D Representation, interpretation and audiences
Stuart Hall: encoding and decoding, cultural codes, and dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings. Relationships between intention, message, context and interpretation. The construction and contestation of photographic meanings. The formation of publics and counterpublics. Ortega y Gasset: mass society, specialisation and cultural authority; critical discussion in relation to Hall and Castells. Azoulay: relationships between photographers, photographed people and spectators; citizenship, responsibility and participation in interpreting the photographic document.
E Social validation and symbolic power
Bourdieu: fields, capitals, habitus and symbolic power. Conventions, taste, recognition and legitimation. Photography and society in the work of Gisèle Freund. Baudrillard: consumer society, sign-value and social differentiation; photography, advertising and the consumption of images. Foucault: systems of classification, representation and the historical conditions of possibility of knowledge. Documentary credibility, authority and the social construction of value. The role of the press, archives, museums, galleries, schools, critics and curators. Relationships between institutional recognition and other forms of public validation.
F Exhibition and public communication of documentary work
The exhibition as a setting for the distribution, interpretation and social validation of knowledge. Relationships between a photographic project and its sociological framework. Selection, editing, sequencing and contextualisation. Relationships between photographs, titles, captions and texts. Scale, format, spatial arrangement and the visitors route. Institutional context, exhibition proposal and audiences. Designing and producing a group exhibition with identifiable individual contributions. Responsibilities associated with public presentation and reflection on the reception of the work.
Evaluation Methodology
Assessment throughout the semester comprises three components, weighted at 30%, 35% and 35%:
**Oral participation and critical discussion**
Weighting: 30% (6 points).
Assessment considers preparation of the readings, the relevance and substantiation of contributions, the ability to relate concepts to field experiences, and contributions to discussions of fellow students work.
**First assignment**
Theoretical and field exploration, in groups of 2 to 5 students.
Weighting: 35% (7 points).
Assessment considers the formulation of the research question, the integration of theoretical research and field experience, the appropriateness of methods, the interpretation of materials, and the quality of the presentation and discussion. The grade reflects both the groups work and each students individual contribution.
**Second assignment**
An individual, theoretically grounded reflection complementing and extending the exploration undertaken in the first assignment.
Weighting: 35% (7 points).
Assessment considers the clarity of the research question and conceptual rigour; critical use of the literature; connections between concepts and field materials; the ability to reflect on the research process; and the coherence of the argument and written expression.
Bibliography
- Berger, P. e Luckmann, N. (2010). Construção Social da Realidade. Lisboa: Dinalivro
- Bourdieu, P. (2011). O Poder Simbólico. Lisboa: Edições 70
- Castells, M. (2002). A Era da Informação: Economia, Sociedade e Cultura. Lisboa: Fundação C. Gulbenkian
- O Camponês e a Fotografia.(2006, 0 de junho). Revista de Sociologia e Politica, pp. 31-39.
Teaching Method
Guided group discussions supported by texts, photographs and other documents; reading and discussion of relevant literature; analysis of documentary projects, circuits of circulation and exhibitions; exercises in sociological interpretation; tutorial
Software used in class
N/A
