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Course Outline

DES204 Photographic Narratives

Course Coordinator:Tricia King (tking2@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries

2024Semester 1

UniSC Sunshine Coast

 Blended learning Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online.

Online

 Online You can do this course without coming onto campus.

Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.

What is this course about?

Description

This course will build on your technical skills to further your photographic literacies and engagement with contemporary practices and ideas,  Focusing on both theoretical and practical approaches to photography, you will explore critical theories which underpin the ways in which we create and engage with photographs and draw these ideas into the production of your own work.  The emphasis will be on developing narrative throughout your work whilst working ethically, professionally, and with social conscience as you consider ideas around collaboration, representation and post-truth dialogues.

How will this course be delivered?

Activity Hours Beginning Week Frequency
Blended learning
Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. 1hr Week 1 12 times
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled face to face workshops. 2hrs Week 1 10 times
Seminar – Scheduled face to face seminars. 2hrs Week 5 2 times
Online
Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. 1hr Week 1 12 times
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled online workshops (Recorded). 2hrs Week 1 10 times
Seminar – Scheduled online seminars (Recorded). 2hrs Week 5 2 times

Course Topics

Visual literacy; reading images; documentary genres; ethics; portraiture; photo essay; narrative photography; studio lighting; contemporary photographic practices

What level is this course?

200 Level (Developing)

Building on and expanding the scope of introductory knowledge and skills, developing breadth or depth and applying knowledge and skills in a new context. May require pre-requisites where discipline specific introductory knowledge or skills is necessary. Normally, undertaken in the second or third full-time year of an undergraduate programs.

What is the unit value of this course?

12 units

How does this course contribute to my learning?

Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming...
1 Understand the ethical and professional implications of photography and its relationship to image making, including the ways in which photographs can be used to help address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Knowledgeable
Ethical
2 Analyse the role of images within the broader framework of contemporary society and apply this to your photographic practice. Knowledgeable
Ethical
3 Develop the capacity to see and create good image making opportunities. Creative and critical thinker
Empowered
4 Apply critical theoretical principals to comprehend varying functions of creating and disseminating photographs including understanding diverse technical situation and post-production processes and software. Knowledgeable
5 Evaluate, explain and communicate clearly the processes, problems and successes of your photography. Knowledgeable
Empowered

Am I eligible to enrol in this course?

Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.

Pre-requisites

Not applicable

Co-requisites

Not applicable

Anti-requisites

Not applicable

Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)

Not applicable

How am I going to be assessed?

Grading Scale

Standard Grading (GRD)

High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL).

Details of early feedback on progress

Formative reviews will be ongoing each week as part of the weekly sharing and critique sessions.  This will start in week three.

Assessment tasks

Delivery mode Task No. Assessment Product Individual or Group Weighting % What is the duration / length? When should I submit? Where should I submit it?
All 1 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 30% 
Provide 6 digital images and written reflective journal.
 Week 5 Online Submission
All 2 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 35% 
10 digital images, artist statement and written process journal
 Week 9 Online Submission
All 3 Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece Individual 35% 
6 digital images and written reflective journal
 Week 13 Online Submission
All - Assessment Task 1:The Transformative Power of Photography and Text
Goal: 
Language is a powerful tool and its use in combination with visual imagery in art has a long history. This assignment will explore different ways in which adding text can support your images and allow you to use textual elements to draw in new ideas, alternative perspectives or quite simply reiterate the message your image is communicating.

Across all our Creative Industries undergraduate programs, we are collecting data for assurance of learning purposes. This task is being used for measurement towards our School's Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. 

The following Program Competency will be assessed: PC 2 - Critical and creative thinkers and practitioners.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Format: 
Using a diverse range of approaches, create 6 images which explore the use of text (within and/or outside the image) to create a strong unified narrative. 

Create a reflective journal to accompany the images which will show documentation of the creative and technical approaches. Submit your images and your journal with via the Learning Management System.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Understand the ethical and professional implications of photography and its relationship to image making.
 1
2 
Understand how to develop the capacity to see and capture good image making opportunities.
 3
3 
Apply critical photographic principals to comprehend varying functions of capture and output including understanding diverse technical situation and post-production processes and software.
 4
4 
Evaluate, explain and communicate clearly the processes, problems and successes of your photography.
 5
5 
Create informed responses to the challenge of incorporating textual elements in your work, recognising their context in the broader framework of society and photographic practices.
 1 2 3
All - Assessment Task 2:Photo narratives- telling the story
Goal: 
To use photo documentary techniques to document an authentic industry, social, or cultural event to communicate a narrative story.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Format: 
Create a narrative of an authentic industry/social/cultural experience, or document a community organisation, a plight or affirmative action within a local community, or an event occurrence of your choosing. You must produce a work which is documentary, not conceptual or fictionalised.

Choose 10  images from your shoot that best depicts the strongest narrative to communicate your story.

Create a PDF which shows the order and layout of the images to tell the story

Create a reflective journal to accompany the images which will show documentation of the creative and technical approaches and outline the role of each of the images. Submit your images and your journal via Canvas.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Understand the ethical and professional implications of photography and its relationship to image making.
 1
2 
Understand how to develop the capacity to see and capture good image making opportunities.
 3
3 
Apply critical photographic principals to comprehend varying functions of capture and output including understanding diverse technical situation and post-production processes and software.
 4
4 
Evaluate, explain and communicate clearly the processes, problems and successes of your photography.
 5
5 
Understand the role of images within the broader framework of contemporary society and apply this to your photographic practice.
 2
6 
Be able to communicate to others, organise, offer direction, and create the desired aesthetic outcome for photography.
 5
All - Assessment Task 3:Beyond Face Value - Creative Portraiture
Goal: 
Examine photographic representation through portraiture by comparing and contrasting different ways of representing the same person. Compare the difference between taking a portrait with natural light to showcase your model's inherent character/personality and then creating a constructed character/personality using props and studio settings.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece
Format: 
This assessment allows you to explore different ways of representing your subject. You will use both studio and natural lighting to achieve 6 different portraits (3 natural, 3 studio) and create a scholarly and reflective journal which articulates your process.

You will use the same model for your studio and natural lighting portraits however the aim is to show radically different sides of their characters.

Create a reflective journal to accompany the images which will show documentation of the creative and technical approaches. Submit your images and your journal with via the Learning Management System.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Understand the ethical and professional implications of photography and its relationship to image making.
 1
2 
Apply critical photographic principals to comprehend varying functions of capture and output including understanding diverse technical situation and post-production processes and software.
 4
3 
Evaluate, explain and communicate clearly the processes, problems and successes of your photography.
 5
4 
Understand the role of images within the broader framework of contemporary society and apply this to your photographic practice.
 2
5 
Be able to communicate to others, organise, offer direction, and create the desired aesthetic outcome for photography.
 3 5

Directed study hours

A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.

What resources do I need to undertake this course?

Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.

Prescribed text(s) or course reader

There are no required/recommended resources for this course.

Specific requirements

Student must have access to DSLR/mirrorless camera and lenses (hire available for on campus students).
This course requires some commercial software or hardware which is provided at UniSC campuses for student use. If you elect to do this course online, you may either; attend a campus at which it is available, discuss alternative open source solutions with your course coordinator that would enable you to demonstrate the learning outcomes, or if you prefer you may acquire this software and / or hardware at your own expense.

How are risks managed in this course?

Health and safety risks for this course have been assessed as low. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the health and safety risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.

What administrative information is relevant to this course?

Assessment: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation.  It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline.  This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.

Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person.  You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.

In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin.  This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.

Assessment: Additional Requirements

Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:

The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%
The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.

Assessment: Submission penalties

Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: 
- 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. 
- 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. 
- A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.

SafeUniSC

UniSC is committed to a culture of respect and providing a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community. For immediate assistance on campus contact SafeUniSC by phone: 07 5430 1168 or using the SafeZone app. For general enquires contact the SafeUniSC team by phone 07 5456 3864 or email safe@usc.edu.au.

The SafeUniSC Specialist Service is a Student Wellbeing service that provides free and confidential support to students who may have experienced or observed behaviour that could cause fear, offence or trauma. To contact the service call 07 5430 1226 or email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au.

Study help

For help with course-specific advice, for example what information to include in your assessment, you should first contact your tutor, then your course coordinator, if needed.

If you require additional assistance, the Learning Advisers are trained professionals who are ready to help you develop a wide range of academic skills. Visit the Learning Advisers web page for more information, or contact Student Central for further assistance: +61 7 5430 2890 or studentcentral@usc.edu.au.

Wellbeing Services

Student Wellbeing provide free and confidential counselling on a wide range of personal, academic, social and psychological matters, to foster positive mental health and wellbeing for your academic success.

To book a confidential appointment go to Student Hub, email studentwellbeing@usc.edu.au or call 07 5430 1226.

AccessAbility Services

Ability Advisers ensure equal access to all aspects of university life. If your studies are affected by a disability, learning disorder mental health issue, injury or illness, or you are a primary carer for someone with a disability or who is considered frail and aged, AccessAbility Services can provide access to appropriate reasonable adjustments and practical advice about the support and facilities available to you throughout the University.

To book a confidential appointment go to Student Hub, email AccessAbility@usc.edu.au or call 07 5430 2890.

Links to relevant University policy and procedures

For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:

  • Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
  • Review of Assessment and Final Grades
  • Supplementary Assessment
  • Central Examinations
  • Deferred Examinations
  • Student Conduct
  • Students with a Disability

For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching

Student Charter

UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.

General Enquiries

  • In person:
    • UniSC Sunshine Coast - Student Central, Ground Floor, Building C, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
    • UniSC Moreton Bay - Service Centre, Ground Floor, Foundation Building, Gympie Road, Petrie
    • UniSC SouthBank - Student Central, Building A4 (SW1), 52 Merivale Street, South Brisbane
    • UniSC Gympie - Student Central, 71 Cartwright Road, Gympie
    • UniSC Fraser Coast - Student Central, Student Central, Building A, 161 Old Maryborough Rd, Hervey Bay
    • UniSC Caboolture - Student Central, Level 1 Building J, Cnr Manley and Tallon Street, Caboolture
  • Tel:+61 7 5430 2890
  • Email:studentcentral@usc.edu.au
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