Note: this is an archive of an old assignment.

Photography is a complex set of social and technical interactions that has had a revolutionary impact on the way that people interact with one another and with the world in general; taking a picture is never a simple act of snapping the shutter.  In this assignment you are asked to reflect not only on the act of taking a picture but also on the act of taking a picture over again.  The practice of taking a picture that has already been taken is called repeat photography or simply re-photography.  Repeat photography is not only a way of thinking about photography (and photographic histories, gazes, etc.) but it can also be a powerful technique in the analysis place and its social constructions.

For this assignment you need to find an archival photograph (say earlier than 1970) of a street scene in Austin.  You will need to locate this scene and attempt to re-photograph it.

What you need to do:

1. Find an historic photograph (one that is more than twenty years old).
   1. Note where you found the photograph (keep records)
   2. Make a digital copy if it is not digitized (either re-photograph it with your camera or scan it).
2. Attempt to reproduce the photograph you have found.
3. Using Photoshop or some other image manipulation software you need to do the following
   1. Present the old image and your re-photograph of it, unaltered
   2. Present a hybrid or composite of the two images
4. You will be graded on the following:
   1. One page with the two photograph (with caption)
   2. One page with the composite photograph (with caption)
   3. One page with a written study making explicit use of Trudi Smith (2007) and other course materials (through references and quotations) situating your exploration and ‘analysis’ of the place.  This should bebetween 1000 and 1500 words.Does your photograph seem to have anything to say to these ideas?  How does it tie in to your own experience of travel and mobility, of the city, and the everyday?  References should follow the APA or MLA styles (the main thing is that you are consistent in the style that you use).  Remember to include references to archival sources as well.
5. The final assignment should be multi-paged and stapled into a standard sized folder (as you did with photo study #1).

resources:

Smith, Trudi. 2007. Repeat Photography as a Method in Visual Anthropology. Visual Anthropology 20, no. 2/3 (March): 179-200.

note: You can find this article and the journal by doing a journal search through the UT library (hint: an electronic version is available).  Believe it or not, after my SNAFU in class, I went home and immediately found the article.  So I have faith that you’ll find it too.  Here is the DOI, maybe you’ll find it helpful in your own search: 10.1080/08949460601152815

Assignment due: October 7, 2010

New due date: October 12, 2010

* Photo by Nomad Tales. Originally seen at Wired Magazine on-line.