Study Guide

Learning outcomes

The student is able to
- discuss about the possibilities and limitations of the concept of documentary photography
- choose working methods which suit the chosen topic
- produce an expressively and technically cohesive work for an exhibition
- analytically and critically evaluate their own and their peers’ work and discuss the underlying principles
- research the topic of documentary photography
- write analytically about documentary photography and their own work.

Implementation and methods of teaching

Students' own artistic work, lectures, discussions, reflections, visits, one-to-one mentoring

Timing and attendance

80% presence. 



Students must complete make-up assignments for absences. The teacher does not provide replacement assignments for absences - the students are accountable for making up missed absences independently. They must inform the teacher of any absences and propose a plan for covering missed content. For frequent absences, the completion of the course must be renegotiated with the teacher.

Learning material and recommended literature

Literature to be assigned separately

Learning environment

Campus, visits, Zoom

Contents

The course focuses on making: during the course, students will work on a long time photographic project, which will culminate in an exhibition. The thematic starting points for the projects undertaken during the course will vary according to the students' own interests, but the course will focus on a process-oriented, active and methodologically structured approach. The idea is also to encourage students to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of their chosen techniques and methods, and how expressive choices affect meanings.

The course provides an in-depth look at the many nuances of documentary and prepares students for independent, sustained photographic practice. The course takes documentary as its starting point, which is also approached theoretically. The course encourages students to develop critical evaluation skills and to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of documentation in the context of art.

The course culminates in an external exhibition project - Utopias Lahti 2025. Towards the end of the course, there will be teaching in exhibition architecture under the guidance of a part-time teacher. An open call for the student exhibition at the festival will be organized at the end of the course. Participation in the festival is application-based, voluntary, and takes place outside the course in 2025. Students can earn credits based on the scope of their involvement in the project.

Assessment criteria

The assessment will be based on the completed visual work (50%), participation (25%) and reflective skills (25%), and will be graded on a scale of 1-5. 

The emphasis on visual work is 50 percent.

Assessment scale

1-5

Failed (0)

The student has been absent for more than the 80% attendance allowed. Assignments have not been returned.

Assessment criteria: level 1 (assessment scale 1–5)

The student's participation in classes and the returned assignments indicate that the student has mastered the course content. The student has completed a photographic based project, but the final result is scarce and would require further work. The student has completed the given written assignments, but they are scarce in content.

Assessment criteria: level 3 (assessment scale 1–5)

The active participation of the student in the lessons and the assignments they have completed show that they are engaged in their own work and in the content of the lessons. The student has been able to choose methodological solutions appropriate to the subject matter and to complete the work as an exhibition. The student has been able to choose images and texts as a basis for his/her own writing. The texts are complete and reflect the student's own thinking and interpretation.

Assessment criteria: level 5 (assessment scale 1–5)

The active participation of the student in the lessons and the assignments they have completed indicate a particular commitment to their own work and to the content of the lessons. The student has been able to choose methodological solutions appropriate to the subject matter and to complete the work as an exhibition, which is an original and finished work. The student has shown an insightful ability to choose images and texts as a basis for his/her own writing. The texts are publishable entities in which the student's own thinking and interpretation bring out original perspectives on the subject.