XP 2009

An exciting new XP class of 31 students has started this semester. Some are going through experimental shots of products, and others of models. Midway through the semester, they will be focusing on digitally composing and adjusting their shots to meet with their concepts, already established at the beginning of the semester.

Photo Journal/Exercise 8: SURABAYA - Street/Urban Photography

by Osel Gunarso (xp08)

by Angga Andinata (xp08)

by Yogo AP (xp08)

by Antonius Teiseran (xp08)

Try to find symbols to describe your opinion about the city of Surabaya (symbols about life in the city, and not merely symbols of the city).

Try to capture UNIQUE or seldom seen images of the city, avoid cliche images. However, it could be something often seen, but you depict it in a new or unique way.

It's subjective, and it's your personal perspective of the city. And you're allowed to manipulate/edit your images as you like them to be (such as using HDR, fake tilt-shift, color adjustments, or just natural or as is).

THIS IS OUR PART IN CELEBRATING SURABAYA'S 715th BIRTHDAY THIS COMING MAY 31st.

Pick TWO of your best pictures and print them to minimum 10R size prints, and paste them to a black hardboard/infraboard with 3 cm margins all around. TYPE the TITLE, YOUR NAME, and ID# on a label and paste it on each of your boards on the front bottom right corner.

WE'LL SELECT THE BEST ONES AND HANG THEM UP FOR A SMALL EXHIBITION ALONG THE DEPARTMENT HALL. There'll be a voting session to decide who's got the best photo, and deserves bonus points.

In general, the history of urban photography can be divided into two trends:
- depiction within a topographical approach (the distant gaze and the panoramic view)
- depiction of urban life at street level

To get you started on ideas about our city, here are some compiled terms that are often used to describe the modern city and urban life...

brave, complex, the slums, engines of change, disconnected, paradox, juxtaposition of paradox, fragments, isolation, a melting pot, spectacular, utopia, turbo-capitalism, populated, polution, opportunities, globalization, urbanization, the poor, poverty, dynamic, modern structures, skyscrapers, floods, traffic jams, colorful life, mega-malls, mall-ification, unsafe, threatening, new dimensions, continuous development, walls, migration, urban spaces, terror, fear, modern alienation, spontaneity, jazz, dense, posturban sublime, hectic, infrastructures, urban landscape, parking lots, banal, everyday, offices, construction sites, houses, metropolitan condition, the old and the new, colorful contrasts, extremes, artificiality, self-reflection, simulated, tourism, modern dream, ever-changing, the future, futuristic, separation, borders,…

HOW WOULD YOU DEPICT SURABAYA???

Digital Creative Jeffrey Sebastian Lecture

Visiting Lecturer Jeffrey Sebastian (2003 graduate of Petra's Visual Communication Design major /DKV'99), who's currently a digital creative freelancer, gave a showcase of his works yesterday in class, and revealed a recent project and case study from client Star Mild's ad agency. You can see his resume and some of his works on his site at creativetrees.com.

This will be followed later this semester by a three-day Digital Imaging seminar and workshop scheduled in the end of May. The event will bring in some of the top photographers and digital creatives from Jakarta to explain and demonstrate to us about the DI industry and also the whole process from planning to execution. The seminar will be open to the whole Visual Communication Design department. The 2-day-workshop, however, will be limited to the XP Class.

XP Class of 2007 for Epson Art Photo Award

These are the selected 10 people of XP class of 2007 to have their photos sent to the Epson Art Photo Award. Not everyone was entered into the competition even though there was a maximum of 12 students per class. These 10 people happen to have their works related stylistically to the competition. And each person’s submission of 6 photos were selected again before their shipment to Germany. So some have 5 and some have 6 photos. Here are the 10 people sorted by ID#:

1. 42404006 Fenny Limanto
2. 42404046 Heru Wibowo
3. 42404076 Henny Hendrawaty
4. 42404078 Dody Tanujaya
5. 42404088 Yohan Ariel
6. 42404098 Ronald Eka Putra
7. 42404147 Yohanes Natalukita
8. 42404174 Vicky Tanzil
9. 42404211 Sumitro
10. 42404219 Sofian

Best of luck guys. The best yet would be if we get Best Class. But hopefully at least one of you guys get in.

Welcome XP Class of 2008 Applicants

To DKVers of UKP... Welcome to the experimental photography blog.
The presentation for the introduction to the class can be downloaded here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5f3fty
Please send me your photo portfolio, either in a link to your photoblog or in a CD or printed in an album by this Wednesday 16.00 WIB.
I'll announce the selected 25-30 here and in front of my office at P.305A.
Hope to see some exciting works this semester.

THE BIRTH OF XP (Experimental Photography)

It has been two years going on three now, for the photography class that I teach. It has evolved a couple times up to now. This class was designed firstly for an elective course for the sixth semester students at the Visual Communication Design department of Petra Christian University, Surabaya, Indonesia. It was created to fill the need of a more focused and intensive course for those students who are more interested in photography, especially digital photography.

The name "experimental photography" came up because it serves a more open engagement for the course and how it is going to be taught. It brings up ideas of a more creative approach in learning photography. And it's a catchier name for students, too. So then it was shortened to "XP" which is even easier to say.

Before the 2nd half of each school year or before the elective semester starts, briefs of electives are presented and introduced to students, so they can decide which elective course to register for. The main points I always pointed out are that this class is about experiments --visual experiments mainly-- and not about creating eye-candy. And secondly, it's about concepts --photos that are well thought out conceptually.

Those are the two things that I mainly see in the students here that needs working, apart from technical skills that they are concerned mostly, because those are the things taught on Photography 1 & 2 courses. Therefore, this class (XP or Photography 3) does a lot of exercises each week to learn or relearn and strengthen visual literacy, which is still weak in most students. And then students also learn about analyzing photographs and a set of photographs, taking references from photography artists, to learn about creating a set of works with a concept, instead of just making single works with a different concept each.

I am not a professional photographer, though I've done a lot of photography, have studied it from bottom up, and have used it as an art medium. My background in art, I figured, would be beneficial in the two things I point out, and would give a broader perspective of photography for the design students here, that are mainly surrounded with wedding and commercial photography (they're popping up everywhere here!)

For the second year, after receiving feedback from students, I finally added digital imaging into the mix of the course. It's still applicable, but the class has moved from a normal seating class to a computer lab. Photoshop --can't live without it :) It is no question that going digital is the future, and capturing digitally lends itself of using the computer. So, it is an essential part of experimental photography.

XP started out as a normal class of 16 and grew to about 25 students the second year. Next year it is expected to grow more and it has to develop itself into two groups of classes with assistant profs.

This blog will help me and students, or whoever needs it, to keep and share some of the things concerning photography, including exercises, interesting subjects, references of artists, photographers, books, and sites, among other things.

Please check back often as I'm updating this regularly.
Thanks for stopping by!