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Imperfect Pictures

Teachers
Molly Soda, Kayla Drzewicki, Will Allstetter
Date
Section 1: June 9, 2024 to August 11, 2024
Section 2: June 11, 2024 to August 13, 2024

(10 classes)
Time
Section 1: Sundays, 1-4pm ET Section 2: Tuesdays, 6-9pm ET
Location
Online (Zoom)
Cost
$1200 Scholarships available learn more...
Deadline
Applications closed on April 15, 2024

Apply Now

Description

How often do you try to take a picture of the moon only to realize it doesn’t look how you imagined? How many people are uploading their photos of the moon to the Internet at this very moment? Considering the ubiquity of screen images in everyday life, ,Imperfect Pictures, examines our approaches to them: linking, clicking, saving, discarding, editing, dumping, forgetting. Participants will slow down to consider the role of photography outside of a “hi-res” context. We will look at and create ugly pictures, spam, compressed images, screenshots, facetuned selfies, .gifs, stock photography, boring images, useless images, memes, and badly performing social photographs.

Course of Study

  • Week 1: Orientation - introductions, expectations, syllabus, office hours, group vision boarding exercise
  • Week 2: Poor Images - circulation, compression, stock images, spam, social photography
  • Week 3: Accumulation - visually similar, loving our files, making work out of existing content, digging deep into forgotten folders, obsessively downloading
  • Week 4: Memes - appropriation, .gifs, images as language, on the importance of shitposting *guest speaker
  • Week 5: Screenshots - film and video stills, receipts, interfaces, photographing online environments
  • Week 6: Plastic Images - editing tools, warping, distortion
  • Week 7: Embodied Images - performance, webcams, self portraits, posing
  • Week 8: Computer Vision - AI, mean images, renderings, is it real *guest speaker
  • Week 9: Printed Web - materiality, documentation, archives, memory
  • Week 10: Right Click Save - reflection, group documentation and showcase

Expectations

Time & Workload

What is expected of me?

  • Participants are expected to spend time out of class completing assignments. Each week will have a designated assignment. These assignments are exercises that augment our sessions. They should only feel as difficult and time consuming as you want them to be. Think of them as playful experiments or research. We will make time to present and discuss them at the end of each class.
  • All readings are optional but strongly encouraged. They will be discussed during our lectures.
  • We will create a collaborative document (printed, digital, or both) to host the work we did together in this class. Participants will work on this together throughout the course.
Materials

Each participant should be prepared to have the following:

  • A computer (or cell phone) and access to WiFi.
  • All relevant reading and viewing material will be provided.
Learning Outcomes

By taking this class, you can expect to gain the following:

  • An understanding of photography and its uses beyond a “high resolution” context.
  • Alternative ways of seeing and interfacing with visual content.
  • A better grasp on consumer-grade image making and editing tools.

Is this class for me?

This class may be for you if:

  • You are interested in thinking critically about networked image culture.
  • You have a messy desktop.
  • You aren’t afraid of making something that might not be deemed “aesthetically pleasing.”

This class may NOT be for you if:

  • You want to learn the basics of photography (composition, lighting, film cameras)
  • You prefer high resolution images

Meet the Teachers

teacher

Molly Soda

Molly Soda is an artist based in New York. Her work predominantly exists online, evolving, interacting (and decaying) within its networked ecosystems. Her interdisciplinary practice incorporates performance, video, photography, websites, and installation. Soda is an avatar, a flattened 2D version of herself entering an infinite sea of content, refreshing with each new upload. She is a file to be looked at, swiped past, downloaded, forgotten about, printed out, or discarded.

she/her · website · twitter · instagram

teacher

Kayla Drzewicki

Kayla is an artist and educator based in Queens, New York. She makes websites, screensavers, and stages performances within the desktop environment. Previously, she was a programmer and designer for QuaranTV, a 24/7 public access livestream, and has taught computer classes at the Enoch Pratt Free Library and with Code in the Schools in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a BFA in sculpture from MICA. Currently, she is program assistant at Rhizome. You can find her online at kayla.world.

she/her · website · instagram

teacher

Will Allstetter

Will Allstetter (he/him)—a writer, computer scientist, and artist based in New York City—studied English and computer science at Brown University. He looks to digital logic as a methodology for exploring, interrogating, and exposing analog social systems and structures. His art often utilizes random numbers, large language models, and found images. His work has been featured in i-D, Document Journal, Syntax Magazine, The College Hill Independent, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the RISD Museum. He has curated work from artists in various mediums for new media and digital exhibitions.

he/him · website · instagram

How do I apply?

Apply Now

Applications open until Applications closed on April 15, 2024.

You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on . Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.

How much does it cost to attend?

For 10 classes, it costs $1200 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule weekly or monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.

SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.

Applicant FAQ

For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.

Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.