Ways of Seeing
This course — part book club, part lecture seminar, and part critique space — is about photography and the ways in which it informs and influences every aspect of our lives, from how we connect with others, to how we understand art. Using John Berger’s seminal 1972 text Ways of Seeing as an anchor for discussion, we will critically consider how we see, engage with, and react to images of all kinds in the different formats we experience them in. We will also look at more contemporary artists and writers in conjunction with Berger to discuss how the ideas he presents have evolved in the over 50 years since the book’s publication and further examine photography’s role in our contemporary culture and collective memory. In addition to lectures and discussions, students will be given regular picture-taking and writing assignments related to the ideas of the course.
Kat Shannon is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and educator working in photography, text, and video, currently based between São Paulo, Brazil, and Orlando, Florida. Her work examines notions of intimacy, human connection, gender, community, and culture. She holds degrees in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA) as well as Bard College (MFA).
Kat has held teaching positions at Yeshiva University, Brookdale College, Stetson University, Middlesex College, and ICP, and previously worked for three years as the head curator at an art consultancy in New York. In 2017 Kat co-founded the collaborative artist collective Memory Foam through which she curates exhibitions, publishes and collects artists’ books and zines, and produces an artist interview series called “Artists Eat Ice Cream.”
Kat teaches Ways of Seeing, Photography as Pilgrimage, and other personal vision classes for StrudelmediaLive.