This is a course all photo majors should take to help launch their careers, whatever the specialty-fine art, fashion, commercial, editorial. Classes will include lectures and instruction by the professor and outside experts, covering the breadth of issues professional photographers face, such as building their portfolio, promoting their work, finding jobs, keeping financial records, and legal issues, such as copyright, and model releases. The core of the class involves virtual field trips to visit artists and other photography professionals in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Those visited include many RISD photo graduates who have gone on to make careers in photography, and others who have something to teach about the many issues facing contemporary photographers.

Elective

This course is an ongoing discussion of individual work with special reference to current issues and concerns in contemporary art. Each student will be required to show and discuss work. Grades by participation.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

Advanced Darkroom Printing:  Artists who long for more hands on time with their materials are turning to the B&W darkroom. The advanced darkroom printing course is for students who have previous darkroom experience and who want to take their BW printing skills to the next level. In this course students participate in group printing labs where they will learn advanced darkroom printing techniques. Material also covered in include;  film exposure and film development, Pyro film developers, custom print developers, print flashing, bleaching, and toning.  Students will also learn un - sharp negative masking, print retouching and enlarged digital negatives for contact printing. Grading will be base 60% on weekly assignments and 40% on the final portfolio and presentation of 10 perfect prints.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Elective

This course is designed for art students looking to transition into the creative economy. As the worlds of art and commerce increasingly co-mingle, we will explore how a RISD education and skill set is marketable for business, academia, non-profits, and the gallery world. This hands-on course will include making a business plan, building a brand, finding and dealing with clients, and managing estimates, invoices, taxes, and insurance. Through practical in class exercises, guest lecturers, readings and assignment work, we will address the risks and rewards of making a living as an artist /entrepreneur.

Elective

This class will explore the countless means of representation that exist in photographic portraiture or pictures of people. Through a close examination of the historical and contemporary uses of the camera, students will make portraits that are informed by the complexity of meaning, intention, and ethical considerations, coupled with the formal, technical, and experimental ways to create portrait photographs. Students will gain experience utilizing traditional photographic tools together with current print production technologies, as well as develop a deeper photographic literacy.

This course combines an overview of the history, theory, political influences, trends of expression and a survey of past and contemporary artists working in the field, with the opportunity for students to put theoretical study into practice through assignments that aid in the development of one's own project. In weekly critiques of student documentary work including journals that record one's process and self reflection, we will explore the process, grapple with ideological issues that arise, and challenge each other to push our understanding and the development of a documentary language further.

Elective

This course is an ongoing discussion of individual work with special reference to current issues and concerns in contemporary art. Each student will be required to show and discuss work. Grades by participation.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

The Undergraduate Seminar works in complement with Senior Studio to provide a forum in which students assemble in discussion, analysis and reflection around a set of ideas, practices and histories that are of substantial relevance to photography, its history and its contemporary forms. The content of the seminar will vary from year to year, but students will be expected to read, research, discuss, write about and/or present on the material addressed in class. The seminar will interact with the department's Visiting Artist lecture series, with the SEI Lecture Series, and with MCM events at Brown. Attendance at those lectures is highly encouraged.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Photography Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Photography

This course is an ongoing discussion of individual work with special reference to current issues and concerns in contemporary art. Each student will be required to show and discuss work. Grades by participation.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

This course is an ongoing discussion of individual work with special reference to current issues and concerns in contemporary art. Each student will be required to show and discuss work. Grades by participation.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

This course supports students in the initial stages of the graduate thesis process. Working closely with a faculty advisor, students refine their research topic and develop a formal thesis proposal or research plan.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

This six-credit course is designed to provide the necessary production time for the realization of the Degree Project, culminating in a well-organized and installed public exhibition of a project or body of work in the department's Red Eye Gallery. The Degree Project must be approved by photography faculty and accompanied by a written Degree Project Thesis. Attendance at all departmental visiting artist lectures is required.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Photography Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Photography

In this continuation of the graduate thesis sequence, students complete the research and writing outlined in their approved thesis proposal. Under faculty supervision, they analyze findings, draft and revise chapters, and prepare the final thesis for submission and defense.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

This period is dedicated to the development and presentation of a body of work supported by a written thesis in consultation with the student's Thesis Committee. The final exhibition and written thesis will be evaluated by the Thesis Committee which will submit a final grade to the Graduate Coordinator.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

The Graduate Seminar works in complement with Graduate Critique to provide a forum in which students assemble in discussion, analysis and reflection around a set of ideas, practices and histories that are of substantial relevance to photography, its history and its contemporary forms. The content of the seminar will vary from year to year, but students will be expected to read, research, discuss, write about and/or present on the material addressed in class. The seminar will interact with the department's Visiting Artist lecture series, with the SEI Lecture Series, and with MCM events at Brown. Attendance at those lectures is highly recommended.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Photography Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Photography

Throughout history, artists have used symbols as stand-ins to represent stories, communicate ideas, or allude to hidden meanings. Imagery such as birds, flowers, and insects carry specific connotations that add layers of meaning to artwork. This course will delve into the use of such symbols in art, and explore how personal experiences as well as historical or cultural context can inform meaning.

Using photo and aluminum plate lithography, students will develop their own symbology and exercise their critical thinking skills during the printmaking process. Classes will include brief introductions of historical examples of symbolism in art to serve as inspiration, followed by demonstrations of technical aspects of the lithographic printmaking process. Over the span of the course, students will be expected to complete two studio projects based on each lithographic process, as well as a final assignment synthesizing technique and concept. Individual and group critiques will be used to help develop each student’s ideas and technical skills.

By the end of the course students will be able to transfer and print both hand-drawn and photographic imagery using photoplate and aluminum plate lithography techniques. They will also have developed their own visual language and symbol vocabulary, be able to articulate their ideas clearly, and have gained a deeper understanding of symbolism in art.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Elective

This course offers an introduction to intaglio printmaking techniques and explores the medium of storytelling as a narrative art form. Students will develop both technical and conceptual skills as they learn traditional intaglio processes, including Drypoint, Etching, and Aquatint, to build a cohesive body of work rooted in personal or collective narratives.

Through lectures, demonstrations, studio practice, and critiques, students will gain hands-on experience in preparing plates, inking, printing editions, and signing prints. The course culminates in a collaborative Print Exchange Project, where each student contributes to a class portfolio—highlighting their individual growth and creative vision while working in a communal artistic setting.

In addition to technical instruction, the course emphasizes storytelling as a tool for expression, cultural reflection, and communication. Students will be encouraged to draw from diverse experiences and cultural influences to craft meaningful and inclusive visual narratives.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $175.00

Elective

Expanding on the fundamentals of Intaglio, this course will explore the Mezzotint technique that was developed in the mid- seventeenth century. This technique is unique because it achieves tonality by roughening a metal plate with thousands of little dots made by a metal tool with small teeth, called a "rocker". The plate will print with a strong and even velvety black. At this point, the burs created by the rocker are then scraped and burnished away to create arrange of tonality. Students will learn how to rock a plate, develop their drawings, transfer their designs on a copper plate, use a rocker, sharpen a rocker and printing methods. Mixed Media etching methods with mezzotint images will be explored as additional mark making possibilities and color layering. Emphasis will be placed on sound technical execution, image making, and the development of students’ personal artistic language.  Technical demonstrations, individual and group critiques will be used throughout the semester to encourage students’ artistic practice. Let’s “Rock” and “Roll”!

Estimated Cost of Materials: $120.00

Elective

This course explores queerness as material, method, and lens for making art. Together, we will look at how queer printed media and art movements have challenged dominant traditions, positioning queerness as a source of resistance, joy, community, and transformation. Students will experiment with techniques and methods such as papier-mâché, Screen Printing, Riso Graphs/Zine making and temporary tattoos, engaging them through queer theory and lived experience. Making becomes a way to ask: how does queerness take shape in our lives and practices?

Readings will include José Esteban Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia, and Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology. We will also study artists such as Allyson Mitchell, Deirdre Logue, Jim Hodges, Juliana Huxtable, and Jesse Harrod, along with films like Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Grey Gardens. Students are encouraged to take risks, embrace failure, and push the boundaries of printed media and performance. Projects will include individual works as well as collaborative sculptures, zines and performances, drawing inspiration from the collective nature of a print studio as a metaphor for queer collectivity.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

Ceramics and printmaking have a shared ethos in the production of multiples and process-driven technical methods. This is reflected in industry but is not often explored in an academic context. This course would be the first at RISD to explore the rich resources of the Ceramics and Printmaking Departments to promote research into innovative ways to combine the disciplines. For almost three centuries ceramics have been enhanced by printed elements. The combination of ceramic and print technologies have tremendous potential for new applications in functional and sculptural approaches to ceramic multiples and printed editions. RISD has all the facilities in ceramics and printmaking required to pursue research in this field. Students will learn ceramic techniques such as hand-building and slip casting to create forms to hold screen printed, intaglio, relief, and digital images. Historical techniques will be presented and new methods and combinations will be developed.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Elective