
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has been at the forefront of photography since the days of Edward Steichen. Then, his successors John Szarkowski and Peter Galassi made their mark. Now, Sarah Meister is carrying the banner of photography at MoMA as she leads the new online photography course, Seeing Through Photography. This self-paced course will let us peek at their vaults. What a joy it must be to be able to touch and closely inspect the photographs of the masters. Not to mention listening to interviews, reading great writings on photography.
It Is Not The F-Stop
This course is a great opportunity for anyone interested in photography, not cameras, lenses, f-stops, Photoshop, but Photography. The deluge of images flooding our consciousness has a numbing effect on our perception and interferes with appreciating Photographs.
Not Every Image A Good Photograph
We do not consider every voice recording good singing, and we should be equally selective when viewing images. Not every recorded image is a good photograph, regardless of its technical merit. Indeed, the technical competence of the recorded image adds to this numbing effect, making many viewers consider such imagery as good photography. Opportunities like Seeing Through Photography will likely heal the numbed sensibilities and allow for a better appreciation of photography.
The Online Photography Course
Visit Coursera, and enroll in this course. It sounds like a great opportunity. I have already enrolled and finished the first part. Lucky me, I have several of the books mentioned and have already read the parts, I am looking forward to the next part.
Photographs, © 2016 The Museum of Modern Art. Used with special permission from MoMA.