Content of Learning Activity

AA CONTENT
Description and Curriculum
This course offers a progressive introduction to digital photography in an artistic and architectural setting. It is organized around themed sessions that combine theory, practical experiments, and critical analysis of the work. Each lesson includes a visual presentation (PowerPoint), followed by exercises to be submitted at the end of the session. The skills covered are used in conjunction with the workshop projects.

Session 1: Framing and Visual Language in Architecture
• Learning the concepts of line, point, curve, depth, symmetry, and geometry.
• Reading architectural images and analyzing framing.
• On-site architectural photography exercises.

Session 2: Photography and Land Art
• Exploring the landscape as a photographic medium.
• Creating ephemeral compositions to photograph.
• Working on the link between spatial intervention and photographic narrative.

Session 3: Introduction to the Studio
• Setting up a mini-studio for objects or models.
• Controlling lighting, background, focus, and staging.
• Objective: Enhance a production or architectural detail through photography.

Session 4: Filters and Creative Editing
• Introduction to photographic filters and post-processing effects.
• Introduction to editing tools (Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop).
• Work on the aesthetic consistency of a photo series.

Continuous assessment is provided through weekly submissions. At the end of the module, students present a coherent photographic series accompanied by a short explanatory text. The course aims to awaken a personal and sensitive perspective by developing technical skills in photography and visual storytelling.

TIP FOR EACH SESSION
• Bring your equipment (camera or smartphone with enough space).
• Keep your files organized and clearly labeled. • Exercises are mandatory and assessed at each lesson.
• Think series, intention, narrative.

Required Learning Resources/Tools

Not applicable

Recommended Learning Resources/Tools

1. Photography & Land Art

› Land Art – Gilles A. Tiberghien
Éditions Carré / Hazan

An essential reference. The author traces the origins of land art and the approaches of artists (Goldsworthy, Long, Heizer, etc.), combining photographic practices and devices.

› Richard Long: Heaven and Earth
Tate Publishing

A magnificent work that shows how Richard Long documents his walks and installations through photography, in an almost meditative approach.

› Andy Goldsworthy: Time
Abrams

A sublime monograph of Goldsworthy's work. Photography as the trace of an ephemeral gesture in the landscape.

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2. Photography & Architecture

› Photography and Modern Architecture – Richard Pare
Éditions du Centre Pompidou

Traces the history of the photographic gaze on modern architecture, particularly in the avant-garde.

› Constructing Worlds: Photography and Architecture in the Modern Age
Barbican / Prestel

An exceptional exhibition book featuring the greatest names (Julius Shulman, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Iwan Baan, etc.). A must-read in the genre.

› Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered
Taschen

A superb immersion into the work of Shulman, who transformed architectural photography into an art form in its own right.

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3. Photography & Architectural Landscape

› The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure – Kelly Shannon & Marcel Smets
NAi Publishers

A hybrid reading, where plans, maps, and photographs interact to explore the contemporary built landscape.

› Topo-photo – Bas Princen
Hatje Cantz

Dutch photographer who explores the boundary between architecture, landscape, and urban planning. Striking photographs and highly graphic compositions.

› Thinking the Contemporary Landscape – Christophe Girot, Dora Imhof
Princeton Architectural Press

An anthology combining essays, photographs, and reflections on how to represent and think about landscape in the contemporary era.

Other Recommended Reading

Not applicable

Mode of delivery

• Face-to-face

Type of Teaching Activity/Activities

• Cours magistraux
• Conférences
• Exercices dirigés
• Utilisation de logiciels
• Démonstrations

Evaluations

The assessment methods of the Learning Activity (AA) are specified in the course description of the corresponding Educational Component (UE)