about

In this project you will be exploring the relationships between art, photography, the everyday and the self. You will be looking at this problematic both from an historical and theoretical perspective. This will be done through:
1- studying works generated within the historical context of surrealism, by visiting the Tate Modern exhibition Poetry and Dream, where you can also view works developed by contemporary artists and photographers working with the legacy of surrealism. This gallery-based research will be complemented by additional bibliographic research done in libraries and online;
2- reading and discussing texts that contextualise surrealism within a sociology of the everyday and a psychology of the unconscious. Cultural theory and photography theory that approach the genres of street photography and self-portraiture will be interpreted by you referring to specific photographic works as well as applied to your own work.

In addition, the practical component will be elaborated in two photographic projects. The aims are to rethink surrealist strategies in the wider context of contemporary photographic/media production, through two exercises:
1- a photographic series that explores the concept of the marvellous in the everyday (37.5 % of project marks)
2- a photographic series that reinterprets the concept of masquerade in self-portrait (37.5 % of project marks)

These will be complemented by
1-a production analysis that theorises your practice within the legacy of surrealism using cultural and photography theories (25%), delivered as a mini-presentation of your work
2- a final gallery exhibition, displaying your work in the mezzanine

unit guide here for download
unit guide photographic art