Robert Capa's 'The death of a Loyalist militiaman'(1936) started it all. The man with a camera in the war zone has been received as a hero who brings out the cruelty and humanity in the hell on earth; on the other hand, the “corpses played” images had also famed these photographers and ridiculed as "angels of death". Hence, here comes our guiding question in the course: what are the ethics of a photographer? 

The course will start with the technical side in photography: the introduction of Leica 35mm roll-film camera had changed the way people photograph the world. We will trace back to late 19th century, to bring out a number of important changes of the role in photography through certain incidents in the Falkland War (1982) and Gulf War (1991). 

Alongside with the methodologies of photographing a picture story, we are going to examine the contents of the post war movements in the medium. Students will get to know with various prominent figures in the history of photography from Roger Fenton , Robert Capa , Eugene Smith to Salgado. They will be introduced to important critics of photography such as Susan Songtag and John Berger. 

Course Outline: 

1. Robert Capa at work and the day before Leica - the Ermanox 

2. Beyond war zone - Picture Story with 5 elements , from Lewis Hine to E.Smith 

3. The most and the least photographed war - Vietnam VS Falkland and Gulf 

4. 19th century and the modern day - The Aftermath 

5. Most viewed exhibition of the 20th century, ' The Family of Man' 

Date: 2010 - Aug 9, 16, 23 and 30( Monday , 4 Sessions) 
Time: 19:00 - 21:00 
Venue: 3/ F, 140 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong 
Fees: $750 
Number of participants : 8-12 

Tutor: Mr Simon WAN, BA (Hons) Documentary Photography, UWCN, Wales, Tutor, Department of Fine Art , HKU , Founder of The Photocrafters 

For course enquiry: course@thephotocrafters.com or call at 2136-3779 / 6136 5800 (The Photocrafters)