Gordon Parks, American Gothic, Washington, DC, 1942. Gelatin silver print, 31.5 × 22.2 cm (12 3/8 × 8 3/4 in.). Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of The Gordon Parks Foundation.
"I believe photography is the most important invention of the 19th century. It is the basis for all film and video technology, structures our understanding of distant events, and can even produce identity through official (as well as) informal channels. Today, with social media and AI, photography impacts our understanding of the world in unprecedented ways—but then, it always has."
– Professor Monica Bravo
Taught by Professor Monica Bravo, ART 248: “Photography and the Making of the Modern World” explores key moments in the history of photography from its inventions in the early nineteenth century to its omnipresence in the twenty-first. The course will approach photography as a relational history: the product of collaborations, networks, and systems rather than select privileged makers. With attention to underrepresented groups and unknown makers, the course traces a loose chronology and examines case studies of and by practitioners on six continents. The course will culminate with students making unique contributions to a public-facing group project, enacting the individual-collective dynamic the course explores.