wepod

wePOD (we Publish On Demand) surveys the practice of photo publication (book, serial and blog) and examine it as a 4th space between mass media, the screen and the gallery. We begin with an initial study of earlier couplings of photography and text (for example, 1960’s and 1970s conceptual art uses of photography in print) and will progress to examine the impact of emerging publishing technologies in this intermedial process (for example, online photo-sharing portals and networked distributing projects).

We examine print on demand (pod) and electronic publishing as independent curatorial spaces for photographic practices that pose critical questions about visuality and the role of photography in contemporary visual culture.
Throughout the semester, we develop our online research, initially publishing it in a blogging format, posting images and texts, and finally preparing the material for a publication using the print on demand model.

While the aim of the unit is to produce a printed publication using the print on demand model, it is expected that the works engage with a culture of photographic research and an expanded notion photographers as collectors of images.

2.    AIMS OF THE UNIT
To develop critical frameworks for a photographic research-based project
To introduce you to a variety of publishing methodologies for photography
To guide you through the process of researching, designing and publishing your book
To introduce you to the principles of photo-blogging and social bookmarking

3.    LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit you will be able to demonstrate:
3.1    Knowledge and Understanding
Knowledge and understanding of the impact of new technologies on visual culture and visuality and the way this is reflected on varied photo publishing practices

3.2    Intellectual Skills
The ability to analyse and evaluate different publications that place photography at the centre of their critical and aesthetic discourse

3.3    Practical Skills
An awareness of a variety of methods for researching, designing and publishing a photographic project from a blog to a print on demand service

3.4    Transferable Skills
You will have the opportunity to develop :
- photo research skills through brief-led activities
- photo publishing skills through online activity (blogging), desktop publishing (editing, designing), and print on demand activities