Geared toward students without background in photography, this course will study a variety of urban phenomena in Tokyo through the lens of the digital camera as an analytical device. Starting with a preliminary study of theoretical approaches to photographic and visual representations of the city and cultures, the course will alternate between photo-shooting sessions, student presentations, classroom discussions of weekly readings, and written assignments. The goal of this class is not to produce "beautiful" photographs; rather, the students will be asked to complete projects that fully reflect an intelligent criticism of the assigned readings and class discussions. The semester will culminate in a final exhibition at the university and/or a booklet showcasing student works. All assignments and projects must be uploaded in a digital format to the class website—more details to follow. (3 credits)
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Evaluate the cultural significance and context of the city through personal observation
Analyze the urban fabric of Tokyo through visiting sites chosen in relation to the weekly readings
Demonstrate the ability to use primary sources (i.e., the urban environment) and visual techniques (i.e., photography) to construct an intelligent argument about a given urban setting
Speak publically through required in-class presentations and discussions
Provide constructive criticism of works and ideas by fellow classmates
Method of presentation:
Lecture and discussion. The methodology is interdisciplinary in approach, and largely references academic writings in the fields of photography, Japanese studies, and urban studies. The first half focuses on the development of photography as a medium of analysis (e.g., Rose and Sontag), and their political implications in the context of Japanese history, Japanese culture (e.g., Dower and Kinoshita), and the positionality of American exchange students in it (e.g., Urry). Building on the knowledge and strategies learned in the first half, the second half focuses on analyzing Japanese cities in three scales: the city (e.g., Lynch), the buildings (e.g., Reynolds), and the domestic spaces (e.g., Shelton and Tanizaki).
Required work and form of assessment:
REQUIRED WORK AND FORM OF ASSESSMENT:
Weekly homework 40% of Total
Class participation 10% of Total
Midterm project 20% of Total
Final project 30% of Total
ABOUT THE HOMEWORK:
Each week, students will be asked to make a single/multiple-page photo spread with an accompanying text (usually a couple of paragraphs) integrated into the spread. The text is a response paper that the students write after doing the weekly assigned readings. The photographic portion of each assignment asks the students to visually represent their findings or criticism of the readings using Gimp or Photoshop. The locations of the three fieldtrips are carefully chosen to accompany the themes discussed in class to facilitate the students' fieldwork.
The semester will begin with a single-page spread (8.5 inch x 8.5 inch, CMYK, at 300 dpi), which will gradually increased as students pick up on photo editing and taking skills. The assignments will be submitted in a digital format (.TIFF or .PDF) and uploaded onto Moodle. Each assignment will critiqued by the instructor and the fellow classmates as "pin-ups" in class using a projector in the classroom.
Ultimately, the students will produce a 5-page spread for the midterm project and a 10-page spread for the final project. The final project is also accompanied by a 2000-word essay that references the class discussions and the assigned readings.
Required Learning Aids:
A digital camera (point-and-shoot is fine) and a memory device
A computer with access to the Internet and the following free software installed: Primo PDF, Gimp (an open-source photo editing software), and Open Office (or Microsoft Office).
A good pair of walking shoes and an inquisitive mind
content:
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION
Everyone is welcome to this class! No art or photography background is necessary as long as you have a digital camera and are passionate about studying Tokyo from a new angle. For people with a photography background, this class would be a good opportunity to learn representation skills in an interdisciplinary context and build your portfolio. Since everyone comes with different backgrounds, the grading will be based largely on your effort, progress, and the ability to think through a project. In other words, fancy Photoshopping or $3,000 cameras alone won't get you very far in this class.
Also, please note that we will not go through a step-by-step process of mastering the technical aspects of the digital camera. We will not do an encyclopedic survey of the history of photography, nor cover all the visual theories to analyze it. Instead, we will focus our energy and attention on weekly themes that are carefully chosen to analyze a particular urban phenomenon in Tokyo through producing an intelligent set of digital photographs. A successful completion of these exercises is contingent upon a thorough reflection on the weekly readings, participation in class discussions, and building on previous feedback.
Housekeeping
You will need Internet access to complete the course requirements. Nevertheless, you don't need a sophisticated computing system to use any of the required sites/software listed below, all of which are operable on Windows and Macintosh. (Note: Cell phones and PDAs such as iPhones and iPads will not suffice).
Install the following software. These are free and required. Don't worry if you have Adobe Suite (Acrobat and Photoshop) and Microsoft Office.
All homework assignments must be uploaded to the class Moodle page. If you have trouble, please email them to me directly.
Class Structure and Basic Rules
Six classes: PowerPoint lectures, discussion sessions on the readings, and small pin-ups.
Weekly photography assignments. These must be uploaded to Moodle by 11:59 p.m. on the day (usually Thursday) before class.
Three field trips: Each site's urban context allows you to draw on the assigned readings for that day and take photos in a critical way.
Midterm and final projects: Slideshow presentations of research-based photography projects accompanied by an analytical essay (4000 words). These must be submitted separately in a PDF format using the instructor's template for binding (TBA).
Plagiarism is absolutely forbidden (this applies to both textual and visual sources). Any discovery will result in an automatic F.
Required Readings:
Please complete all weekly readings and come to class prepared for discussion.
Recommended Readings:
While studying abroad, it is sometimes challenging to consult proper academic sources. To make things a bit easier for IES students, I chose the following readings based on both their relevancy to weekly themes and availability at IES Tokyo and within Japan. They will be updated as individual students narrow down their interests throughout the semester.
■Indicates that the reading is available via EBSCO or at the IES library (if not right away, at some point during the semester pending approval). They may also be available at local libraries or on Amazon.co.jp. As the last resort, the instructor can lend many of these readings as required by individual projects (subject to change as per IES policy).
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: What is Photography? : The Camera as an Analytical Device in Modern Society
Due: HW 1. Discussion leaders (#1 and #2).
Required readings:
Dower, John. "Ways of Seeing, Ways of Remembering." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 3-20.
"Researching Visual Materials." Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies. London: Sage Publications, 2007. 5-32.
"In Plato's Cave." Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books, 1973. 1-38.
Recommended Readings:
■Barthes, Roland. "Extracts from Camera Lucida." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 19-30.
■Benjamin, Walter. "A Short History of Photography." Ed. Alan Trachtenberg. Classic Essays on Photography. New Haven: Leete's Island Books, 1980. 199-216.
■ ----. "Extracts from The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 42-52.
■Dower, John. "A Bibliographical Note on the Visual Record for Modern Japan." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 367-271.
■Szarkowski, John. "Introduction to the Photographer's Eye." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 97-103.
Week 3: Politics of Photography I: Photographing Japan in the 19th Century
Due: HW 2.
Required reading:
Kinoshita, Naoyuki. "The Early Years of Japanese Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 14-99.
Morse, Anne Nishimura. "Souvenirs of 'Old Japan': Meiji-era Photography and the Meisho Tradition." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 41-50.
Recommended Readings:
Bennett, Terry. Photography in Japan, 1853-1912. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2006.
Crombie, Isobel. Shashin: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Studio Photography. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2005.
Dobson, Sebastian. "Yokohama Shashin." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 15-39.
Hirayama, Mikiko, and Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, eds. Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Shock of the Real: Early Photography in Japan." Hara, Toshio, Iizawa, Kohtaro, Singer, Robert, and Stearns, Robert. Photography and Beyond in Japan: Space, Time and Memory. Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995. 37-48.
Winkel, Margarita. Souveniers from Japan: Japanee Photography at the Turn of the Century. London: Bamboo Publications, 1991.
Week 4: Politics of Photography II: Tourist Photography and the Tourist Gaze
Fieldtrip to Shin Okubo: A mini tourist guide project
Due: HW 3. Discussion leaders (#3 and #4). Midterm project proposal due.
Required readings:
"The Tourist Gaze" and "Seeing and Theming." Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: Sage, 2002. 1-15 and 124-140.
Lutz, Catherine, and Collins, Jane. "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2002. 354-374.
Selections from typical travel guides on Tokyo and Japan and how-to's on travel photography.
Recommended Readings:
■"Locating Landscapes: Geographies of Leisure and Tourism." Aitchison, Cara, MacLeod, Nicola E., and Shaw, Stephen J. Leisure and Tourism Landscapes: Social and Cultural Geographies. London: Routledge, 2001. 7-28.
Schwartz, Joan M., and Ryan, James R. Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2003.
Toyota, Mika. "Consuming Images: Young Female Japanese Tourists in Bali, Indonesia." Eds. Anderson, Alison, Meethan, Kevin, and Miles, Steve. Tourism Consumption and Representation: Narratives of Place and Self. Oxford: CAB International, 2006. 158-177.
Week 6: Politics of Photography III: Photography in Postwar Japan
Due: HW 5. Discussion leaders (#5 and #6).
Required readings:
Dower, John. "Contested Ground: Shōmei Tōmatsu and the Search for Identity in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 58-77.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Evolution of Postwar Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 208-259.
Recommended Readings:
Holborn, Mark. Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, Roots and Innovation in Japanese Photography. New York: Aperture, 1996.
Japan Photographers Association, ed. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981.
Phillips, Sandra S. "Currents in Photography in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 42-57.
Tomatsu, Shomei. "The Man Who Said 'I Saw It! I Saw It!' And Passed It By" and "Toward a Chaotic Sea." Vartanian, Ivan. Setting Sun. New York: Goliga Books, 2006. 28-33.
Week 7: Midterm Presentations
Week 8: Photographing the City I: Mapping the City
Due: HW 6. Discussion leaders (#9 and #10).
Required readings:
"The City Image and Its Elements." Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960. 46-90.
"Aspects of Form: Street and Related Scenes." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 65-150.
Recommended Readings:
Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960.
Perceptual Form of the City: Gyorgy Kepes & Kevin Lynch. MIT Libraries. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. 30 August 2011. <http:// http://libraries.mit.edu/digital/lynch/index.html>.
Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011.
Week 9: Photographing the City II: Critiquing Buildings Through Photography
Fieldtrip to Nishi Shinjuku: An exercise in architectural photography
Due: HW 7. Final project proposal due.
Required readings:
Reynolds, Jonathan M. "Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition." Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316-341.
"Tange Kenzo's Tokyo Monuments." Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996. 251-277.
Recommended Readings:
■Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996.
■Colomina, Beatriz. "Le Corbusier and Photography." Assemblage 4 (1987): 7-23.
Robinson, Cervin, and Herschman, Joel. Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Week 10: Photographing the City III: Indexing Intimate Spaces
Due: HW 8. Discussion leaders (#11 and #12).
Required readings:
"Areas and Lines: From Written City Texts." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 19-64.
Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro. In Praise of Shadows. Stony Creek: Leete's Island Books, 1977.
Selected photographs from Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
Recommended Readings:
■Nishi, Kazuo, and Hozumi, Kazuo, eds. What Is Japanese Architecture? Tokyo: Kodansha America, 1985.
■Daniel, Thomas. After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan. New York: Princeton University Press, 2008.
■Kaijima, Momoyo, Kuroda, Junzo, and Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu. Made in Tokyo. Tokyo: Kashima Shuppan, 2001.
■Morse, Edward S. Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 1973.
■Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
Week 11: Individual Meetings
Due: HW 9. A dry run of the final project. Be prepared to have the rough draft of the PowerPoint and the PDF to discuss with the instructor.
Week 12: Final Student Presentations
Due: Final presentations. PDF of the final presentation with a required essay laid out onto the instructor's template, distributed in advance. Everyone's PDFs will be compiled into a booklet.
Required readings:
"Areas and Lines: From Written City Texts." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 19-64.
"Aspects of Form: Street and Related Scenes." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 65-150.
"Tange Kenzo's Tokyo Monuments." Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996. 251-277.
Dower, John. "Ways of Seeing, Ways of Remembering." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 3-20.
-----. "Contested Ground: Shōmei Tōmatsu and the Search for Identity in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 58-77.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Evolution of Postwar Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 208-259.
Kinoshita, Naoyuki. "The Early Years of Japanese Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 14-99.
Lutz, Catherine, and Collins, Jane. "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2002. 354-374.
"The City Image and Its Elements." Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960. 46-90.
Morse, Anne Nishimura. "Souvenirs of 'Old Japan': Meiji-era Photography and the Meisho tradition." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 41-50.
Reynolds, Jonathan M. "Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition." Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316-341.
"Researching Visual Materials." Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies. London: Sage Publications, 2007. 5-32. "In Plato's Cave." Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books, 1973. 1-38.
Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro. In Praise of Shadows. Stony Creek: Leete's Island Books, 1977.
Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
"The Tourist Gaze" and "Seeing and Theming." Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: Sage, 2002. 1-15 and 124-140.
Recommended readings:
"Locating Landscapes: Geographies of Leisure and Tourism." Aitchison, Cara, MacLeod, Nicola E., and Shaw, Stephen J. Leisure and Tourism Landscapes: Social and Cultural Geographies. London: Routledge, 2001. 7-28.
Barthes, Roland. "Extracts from Camera Lucida." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 19-30.
Benjamin, Walter. "A Short History of Photography." Ed. Alan Trachtenberg. Classic Essays on Photography. New Haven: Leete's Island Books, 1980. 199-216.
----. "Extracts from The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 42-52.
Bennett, Terry. Photography in Japan, 1853-1912. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2006.
Colomina, Beatriz. "Le Corbusier and Photography." Assemblage 4 (1987): 7-23.
Crombie, Isobel. Shashin: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Studio Photography. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2005.
Daniel, Thomas. After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan. New York: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Dower, John. "A Bibliographical Note on the Visual Record for Modern Japan." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 367-271.
Dobson, Sebastian. "Yokohama Shashin." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 15-39.
Hirayama, Mikiko, and Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, eds. Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004.
Holborn, Mark. Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, Roots and Innovation in Japanese Photography. New York: Aperture, 1996.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Shock of the Real: Early Photography in Japan." Hara, Toshio, Iizawa, Kohtaro, Singer, Robert, and Stearns, Robert. Photography and Beyond in Japan: Space, Time and Memory. Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995. 37-48.
Kaijima, Momoyo, Kuroda, Junzo, and Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu. Made in Tokyo. Tokyo: Kashima Shuppan, 2001.
Morse, Edward S. Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 1973.
Nishi, Kazuo, and Hozumi, Kazuo, eds. What Is Japanese Architecture? Tokyo: Kodansha America, 1985.
Phillips, Sandra S. "Currents in Photography in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 42-57.
Robinson, Cervin, and Herschman, Joel. Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Szarkowski, John. "Introduction to the Photographer's Eye." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 97-103.
Tomatsu, Shomei. "The Man Who Said 'I Saw It! I Saw It!' And Passed It By" and "Toward a Chaotic Sea." Vartanian, Ivan. Setting Sun. New York: Goliga Books, 2006. 28-33.
Toyota, Mika. "Consuming Images: Young Female Japanese Tourists in Bali, Indonesia." Eds. Anderson, Alison, Meethan, Kevin, and Miles, Steve. Tourism Consumption and Representation: Narratives of Place and Self. Oxford: CAB International, 2006. 158-177.
Winkel, Margarita. Souveniers from Japan: Japanee Photography at the Turn of the Century. London: Bamboo Publications, 1991.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Mieko Okamoto earned a terminal M.Arch degree in architecture from Yale University School of Architecture and a B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University. She has taught at IES Abroad Tokyo and Kanazawa Institute of Technology, in addition to working as a teaching fellow at Yale University. Her current interests include the effects of aging on architectural design and planning, urban regeneration, and photographic representations of the urban environment and foreign cultures.
Geared toward students without background in photography, this course will study a variety of urban phenomena in Tokyo through the lens of the digital camera as an analytical device. Starting with a preliminary study of theoretical approaches to photographic and visual representations of the city and cultures, the course will alternate between photo-shooting sessions, student presentations, classroom discussions of weekly readings, and written assignments. The goal of this class is not to produce "beautiful" photographs; rather, the students will be asked to complete projects that fully reflect an intelligent criticism of the assigned readings and class discussions. The semester will culminate in a final exhibition at the university and/or a booklet showcasing student works. All assignments and projects must be uploaded in a digital format to the class website—more details to follow. (3 credits)
None
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Lecture and discussion. The methodology is interdisciplinary in approach, and largely references academic writings in the fields of photography, Japanese studies, and urban studies. The first half focuses on the development of photography as a medium of analysis (e.g., Rose and Sontag), and their political implications in the context of Japanese history, Japanese culture (e.g., Dower and Kinoshita), and the positionality of American exchange students in it (e.g., Urry). Building on the knowledge and strategies learned in the first half, the second half focuses on analyzing Japanese cities in three scales: the city (e.g., Lynch), the buildings (e.g., Reynolds), and the domestic spaces (e.g., Shelton and Tanizaki).
REQUIRED WORK AND FORM OF ASSESSMENT:
Weekly homework 40% of Total
Class participation 10% of Total
Midterm project 20% of Total
Final project 30% of Total
ABOUT THE HOMEWORK:
Each week, students will be asked to make a single/multiple-page photo spread with an accompanying text (usually a couple of paragraphs) integrated into the spread. The text is a response paper that the students write after doing the weekly assigned readings. The photographic portion of each assignment asks the students to visually represent their findings or criticism of the readings using Gimp or Photoshop. The locations of the three fieldtrips are carefully chosen to accompany the themes discussed in class to facilitate the students' fieldwork.
The semester will begin with a single-page spread (8.5 inch x 8.5 inch, CMYK, at 300 dpi), which will gradually increased as students pick up on photo editing and taking skills. The assignments will be submitted in a digital format (.TIFF or .PDF) and uploaded onto Moodle. Each assignment will critiqued by the instructor and the fellow classmates as "pin-ups" in class using a projector in the classroom.
Ultimately, the students will produce a 5-page spread for the midterm project and a 10-page spread for the final project. The final project is also accompanied by a 2000-word essay that references the class discussions and the assigned readings.
Required Learning Aids:
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION
Everyone is welcome to this class! No art or photography background is necessary as long as you have a digital camera and are passionate about studying Tokyo from a new angle. For people with a photography background, this class would be a good opportunity to learn representation skills in an interdisciplinary context and build your portfolio. Since everyone comes with different backgrounds, the grading will be based largely on your effort, progress, and the ability to think through a project. In other words, fancy Photoshopping or $3,000 cameras alone won't get you very far in this class.
Also, please note that we will not go through a step-by-step process of mastering the technical aspects of the digital camera. We will not do an encyclopedic survey of the history of photography, nor cover all the visual theories to analyze it. Instead, we will focus our energy and attention on weekly themes that are carefully chosen to analyze a particular urban phenomenon in Tokyo through producing an intelligent set of digital photographs. A successful completion of these exercises is contingent upon a thorough reflection on the weekly readings, participation in class discussions, and building on previous feedback.
Housekeeping
You will need Internet access to complete the course requirements. Nevertheless, you don't need a sophisticated computing system to use any of the required sites/software listed below, all of which are operable on Windows and Macintosh. (Note: Cell phones and PDAs such as iPhones and iPads will not suffice).
Class Structure and Basic Rules
Required Readings:
Please complete all weekly readings and come to class prepared for discussion.
Recommended Readings:
While studying abroad, it is sometimes challenging to consult proper academic sources. To make things a bit easier for IES students, I chose the following readings based on both their relevancy to weekly themes and availability at IES Tokyo and within Japan. They will be updated as individual students narrow down their interests throughout the semester.
■Indicates that the reading is available via EBSCO or at the IES library (if not right away, at some point during the semester pending approval). They may also be available at local libraries or on Amazon.co.jp. As the last resort, the instructor can lend many of these readings as required by individual projects (subject to change as per IES policy).
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: What is Photography? : The Camera as an Analytical Device in Modern Society
Due: HW 1. Discussion leaders (#1 and #2).
Required readings:
Dower, John. "Ways of Seeing, Ways of Remembering." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 3-20.
"Researching Visual Materials." Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies. London: Sage Publications, 2007. 5-32.
"In Plato's Cave." Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books, 1973. 1-38.
Recommended Readings:
■Barthes, Roland. "Extracts from Camera Lucida." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 19-30.
■Benjamin, Walter. "A Short History of Photography." Ed. Alan Trachtenberg. Classic Essays on Photography. New Haven: Leete's Island Books, 1980. 199-216.
■ ----. "Extracts from The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 42-52.
■Dower, John. "A Bibliographical Note on the Visual Record for Modern Japan." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 367-271.
■Szarkowski, John. "Introduction to the Photographer's Eye." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 97-103.
Week 3: Politics of Photography I: Photographing Japan in the 19th Century
Due: HW 2.
Required reading:
Kinoshita, Naoyuki. "The Early Years of Japanese Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 14-99.
Morse, Anne Nishimura. "Souvenirs of 'Old Japan': Meiji-era Photography and the Meisho Tradition." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 41-50.
Recommended Readings:
Bennett, Terry. Photography in Japan, 1853-1912. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2006.
Crombie, Isobel. Shashin: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Studio Photography. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2005.
Dobson, Sebastian. "Yokohama Shashin." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 15-39.
Hirayama, Mikiko, and Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, eds. Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Shock of the Real: Early Photography in Japan." Hara, Toshio, Iizawa, Kohtaro, Singer, Robert, and Stearns, Robert. Photography and Beyond in Japan: Space, Time and Memory. Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995. 37-48.
Winkel, Margarita. Souveniers from Japan: Japanee Photography at the Turn of the Century. London: Bamboo Publications, 1991.
Week 4: Politics of Photography II: Tourist Photography and the Tourist Gaze
Fieldtrip to Shin Okubo: A mini tourist guide project
Due: HW 3. Discussion leaders (#3 and #4). Midterm project proposal due.
Required readings:
"The Tourist Gaze" and "Seeing and Theming." Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: Sage, 2002. 1-15 and 124-140.
Lutz, Catherine, and Collins, Jane. "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2002. 354-374.
Selections from typical travel guides on Tokyo and Japan and how-to's on travel photography.
Recommended Readings:
■"Locating Landscapes: Geographies of Leisure and Tourism." Aitchison, Cara, MacLeod, Nicola E., and Shaw, Stephen J. Leisure and Tourism Landscapes: Social and Cultural Geographies. London: Routledge, 2001. 7-28.
Schwartz, Joan M., and Ryan, James R. Picturing Place: Photography and the Geographical Imagination. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2003.
Toyota, Mika. "Consuming Images: Young Female Japanese Tourists in Bali, Indonesia." Eds. Anderson, Alison, Meethan, Kevin, and Miles, Steve. Tourism Consumption and Representation: Narratives of Place and Self. Oxford: CAB International, 2006. 158-177.
Week 6: Politics of Photography III: Photography in Postwar Japan
Due: HW 5. Discussion leaders (#5 and #6).
Required readings:
Dower, John. "Contested Ground: Shōmei Tōmatsu and the Search for Identity in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 58-77.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Evolution of Postwar Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 208-259.
Recommended Readings:
Holborn, Mark. Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, Roots and Innovation in Japanese Photography. New York: Aperture, 1996.
Japan Photographers Association, ed. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981.
Phillips, Sandra S. "Currents in Photography in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 42-57.
Tomatsu, Shomei. "The Man Who Said 'I Saw It! I Saw It!' And Passed It By" and "Toward a Chaotic Sea." Vartanian, Ivan. Setting Sun. New York: Goliga Books, 2006. 28-33.
Week 7: Midterm Presentations
Week 8: Photographing the City I: Mapping the City
Due: HW 6. Discussion leaders (#9 and #10).
Required readings:
"The City Image and Its Elements." Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960. 46-90.
"Aspects of Form: Street and Related Scenes." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 65-150.
Recommended Readings:
Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960.
Perceptual Form of the City: Gyorgy Kepes & Kevin Lynch. MIT Libraries. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. 30 August 2011. <http:// http://libraries.mit.edu/digital/lynch/index.html>.
Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011.
Week 9: Photographing the City II: Critiquing Buildings Through Photography
Fieldtrip to Nishi Shinjuku: An exercise in architectural photography
Due: HW 7. Final project proposal due.
Required readings:
Reynolds, Jonathan M. "Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition." Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316-341.
"Tange Kenzo's Tokyo Monuments." Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996. 251-277.
Recommended Readings:
■Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996.
■Colomina, Beatriz. "Le Corbusier and Photography." Assemblage 4 (1987): 7-23.
Robinson, Cervin, and Herschman, Joel. Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Week 10: Photographing the City III: Indexing Intimate Spaces
Due: HW 8. Discussion leaders (#11 and #12).
Required readings:
"Areas and Lines: From Written City Texts." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 19-64.
Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro. In Praise of Shadows. Stony Creek: Leete's Island Books, 1977.
Selected photographs from Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
Recommended Readings:
■Nishi, Kazuo, and Hozumi, Kazuo, eds. What Is Japanese Architecture? Tokyo: Kodansha America, 1985.
■Daniel, Thomas. After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan. New York: Princeton University Press, 2008.
■Kaijima, Momoyo, Kuroda, Junzo, and Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu. Made in Tokyo. Tokyo: Kashima Shuppan, 2001.
■Morse, Edward S. Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 1973.
■Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
Week 11: Individual Meetings
Due: HW 9. A dry run of the final project. Be prepared to have the rough draft of the PowerPoint and the PDF to discuss with the instructor.
Week 12: Final Student Presentations
Due: Final presentations. PDF of the final presentation with a required essay laid out onto the instructor's template, distributed in advance. Everyone's PDFs will be compiled into a booklet.
"Areas and Lines: From Written City Texts." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 19-64.
"Aspects of Form: Street and Related Scenes." Shelton, Barron. Learning from the Japanese City. London: Routledge, 2011. 65-150.
"Tange Kenzo's Tokyo Monuments." Coaldrake, William. Architecture and Authority in Japan. London: Routledge, 1996. 251-277.
Dower, John. "Ways of Seeing, Ways of Remembering." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 3-20.
-----. "Contested Ground: Shōmei Tōmatsu and the Search for Identity in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 58-77.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Evolution of Postwar Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 208-259.
Kinoshita, Naoyuki. "The Early Years of Japanese Photography." Eds. Friis-Hansen, Dana, Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Tucker, Anne Wilkes. History of Japanese Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 14-99.
Lutz, Catherine, and Collins, Jane. "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2002. 354-374.
"The City Image and Its Elements." Lynch, Kevin. Image of the City. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960. 46-90.
Morse, Anne Nishimura. "Souvenirs of 'Old Japan': Meiji-era Photography and the Meisho tradition." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 41-50.
Reynolds, Jonathan M. "Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition." Art Bulletin 83.2 (2001): 316-341.
"Researching Visual Materials." Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies. London: Sage Publications, 2007. 5-32. "In Plato's Cave." Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books, 1973. 1-38.
Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro. In Praise of Shadows. Stony Creek: Leete's Island Books, 1977.
Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo Style. Tokyo: Chikuma Bunko, 1995.
"The Tourist Gaze" and "Seeing and Theming." Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze. London: Sage, 2002. 1-15 and 124-140.
"Locating Landscapes: Geographies of Leisure and Tourism." Aitchison, Cara, MacLeod, Nicola E., and Shaw, Stephen J. Leisure and Tourism Landscapes: Social and Cultural Geographies. London: Routledge, 2001. 7-28.
Barthes, Roland. "Extracts from Camera Lucida." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 19-30.
Benjamin, Walter. "A Short History of Photography." Ed. Alan Trachtenberg. Classic Essays on Photography. New Haven: Leete's Island Books, 1980. 199-216.
----. "Extracts from The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 42-52.
Bennett, Terry. Photography in Japan, 1853-1912. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2006.
Colomina, Beatriz. "Le Corbusier and Photography." Assemblage 4 (1987): 7-23.
Crombie, Isobel. Shashin: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Studio Photography. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2005.
Daniel, Thomas. After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan. New York: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Dower, John. "A Bibliographical Note on the Visual Record for Modern Japan." Ed. Japan Photographers Association. A Century of Japanese Photography. New York: Pantheon, 1981. 367-271.
Dobson, Sebastian. "Yokohama Shashin." Dobson, Sebastian, Morse, Anne Nishimura, and Sharf, Frederic A. Art and Artifice: Japanese Photographs of the Meiji Era. Boston: MFA Publications, 2004. 15-39.
Hirayama, Mikiko, and Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge, eds. Reflecting Truth: Japanese Photography in the Nineteenth Century. Amsterdam: Hotei, 2004.
Holborn, Mark. Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, Roots and Innovation in Japanese Photography. New York: Aperture, 1996.
Iizawa, Kotaro. "The Shock of the Real: Early Photography in Japan." Hara, Toshio, Iizawa, Kohtaro, Singer, Robert, and Stearns, Robert. Photography and Beyond in Japan: Space, Time and Memory. Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995. 37-48.
Kaijima, Momoyo, Kuroda, Junzo, and Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu. Made in Tokyo. Tokyo: Kashima Shuppan, 2001.
Perceptual Form of the City: Gyorgy Kepes & Kevin Lynch. MIT Libraries. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 30 August 2011. <http:// http://libraries.mit.edu/digital/lynch/index.html>.
Morse, Edward S. Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 1973.
Nishi, Kazuo, and Hozumi, Kazuo, eds. What Is Japanese Architecture? Tokyo: Kodansha America, 1985.
Phillips, Sandra S. "Currents in Photography in Postwar Japan." Eds. Leo Rubinfein and Sandra Phillips. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. 42-57.
Robinson, Cervin, and Herschman, Joel. Architecture Transformed: A History of the Photography of Buildings from 1839 to the Present. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Szarkowski, John. "Introduction to the Photographer's Eye." Ed. Liz Wells. The Photography Reader. London: Routledge, 2003. 97-103.
Tomatsu, Shomei. "The Man Who Said 'I Saw It! I Saw It!' And Passed It By" and "Toward a Chaotic Sea." Vartanian, Ivan. Setting Sun. New York: Goliga Books, 2006. 28-33.
Toyota, Mika. "Consuming Images: Young Female Japanese Tourists in Bali, Indonesia." Eds. Anderson, Alison, Meethan, Kevin, and Miles, Steve. Tourism Consumption and Representation: Narratives of Place and Self. Oxford: CAB International, 2006. 158-177.
Winkel, Margarita. Souveniers from Japan: Japanee Photography at the Turn of the Century. London: Bamboo Publications, 1991.
Mieko Okamoto earned a terminal M.Arch degree in architecture from Yale University School of Architecture and a B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University. She has taught at IES Abroad Tokyo and Kanazawa Institute of Technology, in addition to working as a teaching fellow at Yale University. Her current interests include the effects of aging on architectural design and planning, urban regeneration, and photographic representations of the urban environment and foreign cultures.