Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Thoughts From An Unapologetically Honest Introvert, Amy Michelle Wilson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

My thesis exhibition, titled Thoughts From An Unapologetically Honest Introvert, highlighted our extrovert-centered society and provided introverts with new communication tools to change the social expectation.

Reflections Of Oppression, Fatemeh Semiari

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is an investigation into the lives of women living in Iran. I develop a critical framework for understanding it. It is now my understanding that women suffer greatly from the restrictions they are subjected to. I discuss what some of these restrictions are, and how these pressures create turmoil and confusion within some women. The artwork created for my thesis project is a reflection upon the relationship between social proscription and a woman’s desire to express her individuality publicly. The women I portray in my thesis project exhibit a range of emotions such as anger, depression, despair, defeat, …

Gilded Age Visual Media As The Impetus For Social Change: Jacob Riis's Reform Photography And The Antecedents Of Documentary Film, Denitsa Yotova

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines the birth and evolution of the social documentary genre in visual media. It proposes that a mixture of ideology, technology, and social awareness are necessary for a successful social reform. Its review and study of related primary and secondary sources determines that despite the limitations of technology during the nineteenth century, social documentaries were produced long before they were part of the genres of photography and film. By focusing on the work of Danish photographer Jacob Riis and tracing the emergence of the film medium through time, this thesis demonstrates a strong connection between documentary film and …

Preservationist Aesthetics: Memory, Trauma And The New Global Enclosures, Kate Lawless

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My dissertation is a comparative study of the role of memory in four intersecting spheres of contemporary cultural production: (memory) art, (war) photography, (trauma) literature and the (memory) museum. It argues that the sites of memory in this study—including museums of memory and human rights, the famous Sonderkommando photographs and experimental works in conceptual art and literature—are characterized by a preservationist aesthetic, which names the principle of preservation at the heart of new practices of cultural resistance and new forms of enclosure through which social, political and economic exploitation are reframed, as aesthetic problems, in terms of loss and erasure. …

Straight Record And The Paper Trail: From Depression Reporters To Foreign Correspondents, Magdalena Bogacka-Rode

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Straight Record and the Paper Trail: From Depression Reporters to Foreign Correspondents engages with Martha Gellhorn's The Face of War (1959), Virginia Cowles' Looking for Trouble (1941) and Josephine Herbst's The Starched Blue Sky of Spain and Other Memoirs (1991) as documentaries of struggle. Documentary as a mode of writing and image making reveals dissonance, contradictions and varied perspectives which undermine the official historical record. The three writers, I argue, by republishing their Spanish Civil War (SCW) journalism in book form intended to set their record straight. This was motivated by their commitment to the 1930s struggle and the need …

A Photographer Develops: Reading Robinson, Rejlander, And Cameron, Jonathan R. Fardy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examines the historical emergence of the photographer by turning to the writings of three important photographers of the nineteenth century: Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901), Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813-1875), and Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879). The photographic works of each of these photographers has been the subject of much historical and interpretive analysis, but their writings have yet to receive significant scholarly attention. It is the claim of this study that this archive opens a new set of questions: What did it mean to claim: “I am a photographer” at photography’s advent? How did these individuals come to identify themselves …

Turning To See Otherwise, Jennifer L. Martin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis dossier, in combination with an exhibition at the McIntosh Gallery, considers whether an archival collection can generate an alternative narrative other than that which may already exist in the original film and photographic documents. Rather than represent a singular truth, I seek to articulate the transformative realities of collective memory by re-orienting the material for broader viewer identification. I have mined photographic and filmic materials from a personal family archive to focus fragments that specifically record the gesture of the turning face—the turning towards the observer. This “turn” then includes both the turn towards the initial film-maker embedded …

The Things We Know But Cannot Explain: An Inquiry Into The Nature And Significance Of Artistic Knowledge As A Subset Of The Larger Category Of Tacit Knowledge, David Kemp

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation is an inquiry into the nature and significance of artistic knowledge, as a subset of the larger category of tacit knowledge. Art, both in its production and reception, encompasses many diverse forms of knowledge, so by artistic knowledge I am referring to the intangible components of art that do not conform to traditional notions of codified, propositional or explicit knowledge.

Such forms of qualitative and subjective knowledge are undervalued within our current Western context, which is dominated by a rational, objective and scientific mode of thought. This is primarily due to the impossibility of quantifying such intangible knowledge, …

A Photographic Ontology: Being Haunted Within The Blue Hour And Expanding Field, Colin E. Miner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

What are the current boundaries of the photographic and how can an ontology of photography take form as a material and conceptual program of research? Responding to the difficulty inherent in any definitive attempt to grasp photography, this dissertation places emphasis on the less determined act of evoking as a model of dialogue, and engagement, with the photographic. This dissertation is composed of two parts that engage both the question “What is photography?” and the ontological anxiety that shadows it. These lines of questioning are pursued in two ways: directly through considering the qualities of the photographic as elucidated by …

Anatomies Of Melancholy, Lindsy Caitlin Barquist

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The works presented in "Anatomies of Melancholy" explore the residual affects of pain and trauma through photography. By combining personal stories with documentary photography this body of work conveys a tension between the (in)visibility of pain and the need to speak*. Through the process of spending time with individuals and discussing their personal trauma while making photographs, I hope to acknowledge and even conserve the pain of others. Though the images do not include a narrative of the subjects' pain, they are able to communicate and begin a visual discourse. The raw and emotive images become a platform for the …

Observance: A Record Of Experiments, Olivia L. Mosley

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Thesis writing on the work of Olivia Mosley, Bachelor of Fine Arts candidate in Printmaking at Washington University in St. Louis. Engaging with a diverse history of photography and observation through the theoretical writings of Barthes, Berger, Didi-Huberman and others, Mosley conducts a series of visual experiments as part of her art practice in an attempt to expand her visual knowledge. Exploring the concepts of visualization, observation and the role technology plays in both of the aforementioned activities, Mosley’s work is discussed alongside the visual contributions of scientists, artists and hobbyists experimenting with the photographic medium throughout history, including, Wilhelm …

The Value Of Everything Is Nothing, Jason Dawes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Photography was my introduction into art. I gravitated toward portrait photography fairly quickly. I found the interaction between subject and photographer to be an intense moment in time. I began to push that intensity - through various non-traditional approaches, such as placing ads in the personals. It did not take long before I turned the camera on myself, creating self-portraits in the domestic setting. I began to play for the camera. I created various personas that placed myself in some gray area between masculinity and femininity. Shortly there after, I began working with collage. I found the formulas and rigidity …

The Origins And Evolution Of Corporate Sponsored Film, Clara Boesch

Honors Theses

Though possibly one of the most extensive genres in cinematic history, corporate sponsored films have been largely untouched by both historians and film critics. This thesis explores the origins and evolution of corporate-sponsored film resulting from the technological and economic climate of the nation from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. It references the works of a few specialists in the field such as Rick Prelinger and Walter Klein, among others, as well as contemporary publications such as the trade journal Business Screen. In addition, it critically analyzes corporate-sponsored films from the pre-and post‐war periods to identify the …

Something Gained: Translation As Process, Amanda V. Rothschild

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

This statement examines translation as a way to explore the act of painting. Drawing from theories of literary translation as discussed by Walter Benjamin, this essay looks at the ways in which the process of translating an image from a photograph into a painting echoes many ideas that come from the approach of translating between languages. The theme of translation is discussed first through an examination of the role of the photograph in determining the content of the paintings, using Gerhard Richter as a reference. The role of material and the physicality of paint in the translation of a space …

Tried It With Glasses Off Too; Sometimes., Nolan John Fedorow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

I use a small wedge of wood as a tool to pick out food scraps that find themselves lodged between my teeth. I also use a small wedge of wood as a tool to keep a straight door from swinging freely on a crooked house. The small wedge of wood I stuff in between the floor and door as a tool is a controlling apparatus, much like landowners who use fencing to keep people from walking repeatedly through their land and inadvertently creating a path where they shouldn’t. A wooden door stopper will come to adorn a perpendicular-patterned patina across …

Familial Dialects, Amanda King

MFA in Photography and Integrated Media Theses

Using the framework of scientific investigation, ‘Familial Dialects’ explores the languages – systems of signs and codification of those signs - of individual members of my family, and the metaphors that arise from their interaction with pieces of the natural world. Each of the pieces combine an inherent form and an organizing action as a means of representing an individual’s form of expression. These familial dialects are created and translated using the methodologies of a naturalist - collection, dissection, observation, and classification. The pieces draw meaning from the connotative associations built from familial connections as well as from broader cultural …

Awful/Awful: An Archive Of Light Embarrassments, Teysha Vinson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The difficulty of representing intangible religious ideas is at the core of Awful/Awful: An Archive of Light Embarrassments. Through an interest in how light is discussed in the Bible as a symbol for God and his fellowship, I make imagery that both repulses me and intrigues me but never do I get to the point where I feel the work encapsulates any answers. Instead, the photographs are questions, archived, unable to represent this light of God on their own without being trite or obtuse. The arranged work on the walls consists of these photographs plus a few ephemera from my …

The Clearly Fuzzy Line: The Aesthetics Of Photo Documentation, Schuyler Miller

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

From its conception, the purpose of photography has been to record. At first, only the most stationary objects could be photographed, even walking pedestrians would appear invisible!on film, but technology would quickly catch up to imagination with faster shutters, more sensitive film and smaller cameras. Now, recording a moving world and all the things that move in it is possible and from this potential the profession of the documentary photographer was created. While the advancement in technology made photographic reporting possible, there was the debate on photography’s consideration as art.

Long-Term Multi-Dimensional Interactive Time-Lapse Photography Using Microsoft Kinect, Daniel Mccoy

All Theses

In this thesis, a method is presented for the capture and interactive presentation of long-term multi-dimensional time-lapse photography. Time-lapse capture is commonly used for the observation based study of relatively long term phenomena such as plant growth and weather patterns. In terms of filmic devices, the visual time compression effect is complementary to slow motion and is nearly as prevalent. In this project, commonly available camera and computer equipment is used to capture images autonomously with minimal system supervision. A set of images is established, using long term, short interval continuous capture at a fixed position. Results are presented demonstrating …

Isolation Nation: Representations Of The United States In The Photographs Of Rémi Noël, Pascal Aimar, Yves Marchand And Romain Meffre, Mary Elizabeth Downing

Masters Theses

Visions of America vary greatly. There is an extensive variety found in foreign and domestic portrayals of the United States and these representations are affected by both pro and anti-American ideologies. Such juxtapositions can be found in contemporary French photography. In analyzing the works of photographers, Rémi Noël, Pascal Aimar, as well as the collaborative works of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, I will argue that their vision of America is influenced by their own perceptions and their viewpoint as French artists. These photographers seek to picture their versions of Texas, Detroit, and New York in ways that reveal aspects …

Technefication: The Art And Craft Of Utilizing Technology In Spiritual Practices, Patrick J. Sehl Jr.

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation claims there is an underutilization of technology in the church resulting in the bifurcation of the sacred and secular and asserts that the church needs to leverage the power of mobile devices to integrate spiritual practices and everyday life. Section 1 enters the discussion of technophobia and its effect on relationships with God and with others. Section 2 names a few ways the church has attempted to help people integrate spiritual practices into their daily lives through hiring a Spiritual Formation Pastor, encouraging involvement in small groups, and developing Bible apps. These attempts have taken great steps forward; …

A Psychoanalytic Exploration Into The Memory And Aesthetics Of Everyday Life: Photographs, Recollections, And Encounters With Loss, Dimitrios Mellos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The project at hand explores some of the psychological functions of photography as both an everyday and an artistic cultural practice from a psychoanalytic perspective. It is proposed that, contrary to commonsensical opinion, photographs are not accurate depositories of memory, but rather function as a functional equivalent of screen memories, thus channeling the subject's memory in ways that are objectively distorted and distorting, but psychologically meaningful and important; moreover, they are a special kind of screen memory in that they are often created pre-emptively and are physically instantiated.

Additionally, it is suggested that, by dint of their materiality, photographs achieve …

Doubting Thomas: The Testaments, Ivan Riascos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will discuss the creation of my artwork, which has been inspired by my experiences and understandings of Catholicism and its icons. I will consider how iconography works in art, its influence, and how and why I have created this artwork dealing with my beliefs. I will also refer to the works of contemporary artists Duane Michals and Michael Wesely to help explain my exhibition, which I have titled "Doubting Thomas: The Testaments."

Projected Surfaces, Jason Flynn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I will address the philosophies of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes and Thomas Ruff by considering the object, materials and processes of photography as my primary motivator to create art. I will examine the contrast between photographic imagery, as an illusion of the past, and sculpture, as a physical manifestation of the present, when creating works that ask, "What else can photography be?"

Coming Home, Rose Arline Panke

Senior Projects Spring 2014

Born and raised in Saugerties, my choice to go to Bard meant that I would be attending college only a short drive from my family, friends, and the familiarity of my hometown. Though in some ways I've deprived myself of the new experiences that come with going away for school, this has also allowed me to continue to explore and appreciate the Hudson Valley, the place I’ve called home my entire life. However, the loss of my father in my freshman year, coupled with being in a college environment unlike anything I had experienced before, threw my sense of being …

Garry Winogrand: The Art Of Street Photography, Micayla Beuley

Honors Projects

This exhibition proposal, designed for the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery located in the Fine Arts Center at Bowling Green State University, is designed to enhance gallery patrons’ understanding of and appreciation for street photography through a biographical analysis of the works of Garry Winogrand. In addition to presenting 30 photographs by this esteemed photographer, patrons are invited to actively participate in the creation of street photographs and provides a unique opportunity to display them alongside that of a professional in a gallery setting. This exhibition proposal includes a curator’s statement, formal exhibition catalog essay, list of works proposed, detailed floor …

Artist And Teacher; The Photographic Instruction Of Carlotta M. Corpron, Alison D. Stauver

Dissertations and Theses

"From 1935 to 1968 abstract photographer Carlotta M. Corpron (1901-1988) taught several courses including art history, design, advertising design, photography, and creative photography at Texas State College for Women (TSCW) in Denton, Texas.1 Corpron pursued her photographic work through a series of progressively abstract experimentations which she called: “Nature Studies,” “Light Drawings,” “Light Patterns,” “Light Follows Form,” “Space Compositions,” and “Fluid Light Designs.” (Fig. 1) As she developed her own abstract style of photography, Corpron simultaneously shared her experiments with her students, and encouraged their own individuality. Corpron’s teaching was directly influenced by her own education, both formal and informal. …

Different Times In Different Places, Wesley Oates Taylor

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Wes earned a B.F.A. in photography at Utah State University and worked as a commercial/industrial photographer for a more than a decade in the photogenic state of Utah. He received a master's degree in instructional design and technology and was an IT director/manager for over 23 years. While working in IT he kept his photography alive both professionally and personally. He currently enjoys teaching art at South Central College, Mankato, MN. His photography has been published worldwide. Wes' most memorable photography moment was in 1984 when he received the best in show/purchase award from Ruth Bernhard at the Annual Utah …

Memory, Truth And Justice: A Contextualisation Of The Uses Of Photographs Of The Victims Of State Terrorism In Argentina, 1972-2012: Communicating An Intersection Of Art, Politics And History, Richard Askam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Photographs of the victims of Argentine state terrorism from 1972 to 1983, and most prominently those of the detained-disappeared victims of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional dictatorship (1976-1983), have had a significant role in elucidating the demands of human rights activists since the aftermath of the Trelew Massacre in 1972. In this thesis I examine the role of photographs of victims of state terrorism in the construction of unofficial, or counter, narratives critical of those produced by two dictatorships and by elected democratic administrations in the demand for truth and justice, and in the construction of social memory. I discuss …

Cultures Of Practice Within Design: An Exploration Of The Differences And Similarities Between Photography And Painting As Representational Practices, Alun John Price

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Contemporary designers and photographers face many challenges as the profession rapidly develops. This is especially the case in in the Western Australian context. A review into the recent history of the Western Australian design profession is evidence that designers and photographers are consistently shifting between commercial and self-expressive practice. However, the urge to keep up with technological advancement has masked conscious development of this shift, which is a key to self-realisation and improvement for a designer and photographer. This lack of conscious questioning limits holistic development in design practice. This research reflects on myself as a designer developing a response …