Photography in New York

a syllabus

photograph © Bill Barrett

This is the plan, always subject to revision if our speakers need.
Please do look at the links, especially the people we meet. Have good questions for them.
Note the meeting place and time on Sunday.

Feedback (general opinions, problems, suggestions, etc.) on this hypersyllabus is encouraged! Bookmark this, but don't rely on printing it out. It is very likely that this page will be updated in the course of the semester.

We will spend a week (Monday through Friday of fall break) in New York City, exploring this city which really is one of the world's centers of photographic activity. After an intensive orientation to the city, we will visit museums and galleries, meet photographers and other professionals in the industry, and still have time to visit major sites and attractions in the city so that we can make photographs.

Lab fees include housing (single rooms with shared bath) at the Seafarer’s & International House just off Union Square adjacent to the Flatiron District (formerly known as the Photo District) in Manhattan, a MetroCard transit pass for all subway and bus travel, admission to all sites we visit, and some meals. Airport transfers are included if you travel with the group. Airfare, airport transfers (if you travel by yourself) and most meals are not included in the lab fees. Plan to arrive by Sunday early afternoon and leave on Saturday.

Participation in all class activities is required. Some side trips to NYC attractions will be optional

How you're graded (Assessment Criteria): Your final grade is based on your performance throughout the trip. Your attendance and active participation count for 60%; a portfolio of photos you take in NYC and present after the trip counts for 25%; a brief paper counts for 15%. Doing more than required can earn you extra credit; talk to me outside class if you're interested. This is what the grades mean...

Before you go, you might want to check out this Ten Things Not To Do in New York City, and The Unwritten Rules Of Living In NYC. The TSA has a page to make your air travel more hassle-free. And some final advice from my childhood.

Friday, 13 September, noon. Orientation class to answer as many questions as possible and talk about plane travel.

Sunday, 20 October

• 12:00 - Meet at Newark Airport (airport code EWR), Terminal C. The last flight with some of you arriving is United flight 3631 at 1:31. Students arriving into other terminals can take the free AirTrain light rail, a 5 minute ride once you're on the train. (It can be crowded, so don't wait til the last minute.) If you're coming in a day early, meet us at Seafarer's, not at the airport.
• Travel into NYC together, and get settled at the Seafarer's and International House, 123 East 15th Street (a block east of Union Square).
• 2:00 - Walking tour of the neighborhood: Union Square, East Village, Greenwich Village).
• 5:15 - leave for Pier 83, West 42nd St. and 12th Ave.
• 7-9 pm: Circle Line Harbor Lights cruise (boarding 6:30). Photo opportunity.
• Visit Times Square. Photo opportunity but let's talk about the "characters."

Monday, 21 October

• 9:00 - Orientation to the city and our class, and a New York breakfast.
• 9:20 - leave in order to arrive at 10:00 - Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave: Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now (4 or 5 train to 86th St.).
  
• Walk through Central Park: the Reservoir, Great Lawn, Delacorte Theatre & Belvedere Castle, the Rambles, the boat lake, Strawberry Fields. Photo opportunity.
• Lunch on your own in the neighborhood (there are lots of options).
• 3:00 - Les Fincher: a location scout shows you Madison Square and the Flatiron District. Les asks that you download the FilmReadyServices app so that you know what a scout is and can have good questions. Also look at the Location Managers Guild. He encourages you to click around!
• 5:30 Top of the Rock observation deck visit, entrance on 50th Street between 5th and 6th Ave. Photo opportunity.
• 8:00 - Dinner at Taj Indian restaurant, 310 E. 6th St.

Tuesday, 22 October

• 10:30 Edge Reps, 596 Broadway
• Rebecca Barr, Webster alumna on making it in NYC as a photographer, or whatever it takes.
• 3:00 Claudia Grimaldi at Getty Images,195 Broadway, 10th floor, between Fulton & Dey.
• 4:30 Visit to 911 Memorial, the World Trade Center site. (The site itself is open. The Museum is free on Tuesdays, but tickets are first come, first served, and are released at 4:30. Free Tuesday tickets are released online the Monday before at 9 am. If that link doesnt work, Google "911 Memorial free Tuesday.")
• On the way back uptowm, optional but worth a visit: Soho Photo Gallery, Rita Baunok, Neil Lawner, Joan Lemler, Ruth Raskin, Soho Photo Artists, Reception 6-8 pm, 15 White Street.
  

Wednesday, 23 October

• Leave at 8:30 for William Mebane, Jasper Productions Studio (N or R to 36th St.) 220 36th St. Brooklyn (and lunch).
• 11:00 - Terry Towery studio visit, Clemente Center, 107 Suffolk St. #501 (bet. Irvington & Delancey).
• 2:00 - Angel Franco, retired New York Times photographer, at Seafarers.
• Still hoping for confirmation from ROOT NYC, 443 W. 18 St. If that doesn't happen, we're going to a gallery.
• 5:00 - Stephen Mallon Front Room Gallery 48 Hester
• B&H and Maine Media Workshops Alumni, Faculty, and Friends Annual Party, B&H Photo Video, 420 9th Ave. (Be sure to register; remember the price of admission is a print.).
  

Thursday, 24 October

• 9:00 - Brunch together at Veselka, 144 2nd Ave.
• Photo Plus Expo at the Javits Center. (Register here if you haven't already!)

• 6:00-8:00 Evening gallery openings:
  Frederick Sommer: Visual Affinities, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, 529 W 20th St.
  Maroesjka Lavigne: Lost Lands, Robert Mann Gallery, 525 W 26th St.
  Simen Johan: Conspiracy of Ravens, Yossi Milo Gallery. 245 Tenth Ave.
  (and in the Lower East Side, a different neighborhood) Dayanita Singh, Callicoon Fine Arts, 49 Delancey St.
  

Friday, 25 October

• 8:30 leave for High Line park, 14th St. & 10th Ave. Photo opportunity
• 10:30 - A. D. Coleman and Alex Harsley at The 4th Street Photo Gallery, 67 E. 4th St.
• noon - Lunch at Katz's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side
• 2:00 - William Vazquez, travel photographer, at Seafarers.
• 3:00 - Curt von Diest, digital artist and Webster alumnus, at Seafarers.
• 7:30 Optional: Informal meeting with some NYC photographers, Old Town Bar, 45 East 18th St

Saturday, 26 October

• (Morning on your own) Visit Union Square Greenmarket. Photo opportunity.
• 10:00 Check out of Seafarers and put luggage into storage there.
• Leave Seafarers for Newark Airport on Super Shuttle van departing Seafarer's 11:00.

Friday, 22 November, noon. Final wrap up class.

Course evaluations are done online. Time will be set aside at the beginning of class to complete them. (You should have already received information about this.) The confidential site to access the online course evaluations is Webster’s MyCoursEval website . Students will use their Connections user name and password to access the course evaluation form. Please bring an appropriate electronic device with you to class (e.g. laptop, tablet or smartphone).