PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography inspires students as they pursue advanced research practices, strictly in the photography medium or in combination with other disciplines such as book arts, typography, printmaking, installation, video, or web-based work. The courses provide a supportive atmosphere for artistic development in traditional darkrooms and in digital photo labs. Advanced students fold alternative processes and large-scale printing into their bodies of work. Photography classes, at the graduate level, have a high teacher to student ratio in order to promote an atmosphere of personal growth.

The photography labs include facilities for black-and-white photography, digital photography, alternative processes, with large scale black/white and digital printing.

Digital Printing

Intermediate and advanced-level digital photography classes provide students with the opportunity to transform their digital images into physical photographic prints. Through this act, students learn to correct color and size when transitioning from digital screens to pigments on paper. There is an emphasis on proper color printing, how scale can affect an image, and how a printed photograph can be finalized for viewing. The facilities include five medium-format digital printers, two large-format printers, and three scanners.

Courses

Art 176: Introduction to Digital Photography for Non-Art Majors
Art 476: Intermediate Photography (Digital)
Art 576: Advanced Photography (All Types)

Faculty

Tom Jones
Tomiko Jones
Darcy Padilla

A student pulls a digital photography print from the printer in the Photography class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Photography pieces on display in the hallway of the Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
A student at work in the darkroom at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
A row of multiple light enlargers available to the Darkroom Photography students to complete their work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Darkroom

The darkroom course is an introduction to analog photography where students learn to load film, use a 35mm film camera, develop film, and use darkroom enlargers to make silver gelatin prints utilizing light and chemistry. The facilities include multiple light enlargers, tools for developing film and prints, and a variety of 35mm, medium format, and 4×5 cameras.

Courses

Art 376: Photography (Black and White Film/Darkroom)

Faculty

Tom Jones
Tomiko Jones
Darcy Padilla

Lighting Studio

Students in intermediate- and advanced-level digital photography classes have access to the lighting studio, where they can use a variety of colored backdrops ranging from 53” to 107” in width, professional studio lights, and multiple light-control accessories. The lighting studio allows students to learn how to direct light for portraiture and still-life images.

Courses

Art 476: Intermediate Photography (Digital)
Art 576: Advanced Photography (All Types)

Faculty

Tom Jones
Tomiko Jones
Darcy Padilla

A person poses against a blank backdrop as a student photographs them in the Lighting Studio at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
A student adjusts the lighting for a photo shoot in the Lighting Studio at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.