Courses

BFO-133-01 Politics of Representation (German)
ECTS points: 3
Prof. Dr. Fromm

BFO-133-02 Politics of Representation
ECTS points: 3
Prof. Dr. Fromm

Qualification goals: Students will be able to situate their own practical activities in the context of visual culture. You know the central questions of current discourses in the field of representation criticism and visual and cultural studies.

Course Content: The seminar reflects on the field of visual culture and the practices of representation. Questions from visual practice and discourses from image and photo theory, as well as visual and cultural studies, are brought into a dialogue. Sample student investigation topics include:

— Documentary Practices/The Documentary as a ‘Mobile Concept
— The tension between journalism, documentation, and art
— Fact/Fiction
— Varieties of gaze
— Othering/Critical Whiteness
— Stereotypes
— Woman as image
— Images of horror
— Making the invisible visible
— Image migration
— High/Low

Courses

BFO-127-01 Foto und Text (German)
ECTS points: 6
Prof. Bauernschmitt

BFO-127-02 Online-Magazin Red./ Entwicklung (German)
ECTS points: 6
Prof. Hauri

BFO-127-03 Online Magazine Text & Social Media (German)
ECTS points: 6
External lecturer

BFO-127-04 Documentary Photography
ECTS points: 6
External lecturer

Qualification Objectives: In the Workshop I module, various practical production and publishing techniques are explored. In the courses ‘Foto and Text’ and ‘Documentary Photography’ students learn specific knowledge for the realization of concrete visual projects through practical projects. The focus is on image-text relations and the development of visual narratives in the tension between classical documentary photographic narrative forms and current positioning in this field. In the field of digital publishing, students gain a basic understanding of processes in an online newsroom. They learn to classify topics according to parameters such as topicality, exclusivity and relevance for specific target groups and to plan their implementation in a team. In addition to developing user-oriented formats and the channel-specific preparation of posts with visual and multimedia elements, they are enabled to analyse and optimize published posts.

Course content:
— Image and text: Conception of formats for conveying content through combining image and text.
— Seriality/photo essay/picture story
— Fact/Fiction
— Gaze, varieties of the gaze
— Implications of subjectivity
— Reception/diversity of dissemination platforms
— Development of transmedia thematic plans
— Working with personas
— Planning and moderation of editorial conferences
— Working with content management systems and project management tools
— Basics of search engine optimization—development of different formats
— Development of visual openers
— Audio and moving image content production
— Coordination of different teams of authors
— Working with monitoring tools for quality assurance

Courses

BFO-128-01 Data Visualization
ECTS points: 3
Prof. Hauri

BFO-128-02 Studiopraxis (German)
ECTS points: 3
External lecturer

BFO-128-03 Journalist. Schreiben (German)
ECTS points: 3
External lecturer/LI

BFO-128-04 Fine Art Printing
ECTS points: 3
External lecturer

Qualification Objectives: The Qualification III module provides a range of different creative and technical skills in the field of visual journalism and documentary photography. It thereby points beyond the boundaries of individual media and narrative forms with a view to current discourses and developments in journalistic and visual storytelling. The course ‘Data Visualization’ enables students to present information and data in simple visualizations. It enables students to produce visible contributions in the border area between photography and infographics, to show them in interactive formats. The ‘Studiopraxis’ course provides an in-depth study of photographic staging techniques in the studio, while ‘Fine Art Printing’ provides a comprehensive know-how of various printing techniques for creating high-quality prints. In the ‘Journalistisches Schreiben’ workshop, students learn how to create different text forms (reportage, essay, interview).

Course content:
— Imparting knowledge of data sources and formats
— Overview of possibilities, methods, and tools of data visualization as well as their basic rules (diagram types, elements, colours, design, grids)
— Imparting knowledge of chart types and chart elements
— Information visualization through photography, experimental formats
— Imparting knowledge of geovisualization and cartography
— Trying out static and interactive visualization
— Teaching the participants how to use camera systems and light shapers in the studio
— Production of individual photographic projects in the studio
— Reflection and development of different forms of staging
— Learning different printing techniques
— Create high-quality exhibition prints
— Mediation of different text forms
— Writing own texts with special consideration of image-text relations

Courses

BFO-129-01 Photo Project
ECTS points: 12
Prof. Bangert

BFO-129-02 Photo Project (German)
ECTS points: 12
Prof. Trippel

BFO-129-03 Short Documentary
ECTS points: 12
Prof. Hauri

Qualification goals: Students will work on either a photographic or cinematic project for the Project III module. For the seminar ‘Photo Project’ the students can produce a given or self-imposed topic over the period of one semester. Have the ability to plan, produce and complete a photographic project over an extended period of time. They can establish content-related and aesthetic references and make targeted use of narrative design devices. They develop the ability to critically assess their actions and place them in a social context. In the seminar ‘Short Documentary’, students gain an overview of the various currents of international documentary filmmaking and expand their expertise on current developments in digital shooting and editing techniques. You will develop a feel for the specifics of short films and series formats on the web. You will be able to develop your own visual style and work in a team to create a documentary short film.

Course content: Students’ photographic term papers will be presented, discussed and edited in the seminar. Finding the appropriate visual language, the use of photographic means, logistics, and organization will be addressed during the semester. Through constructive feedback in the learning group, strengths, and weaknesses of the content and design implementation of the topic are identified. Topic identification, research, image selection and image sequence are discussed in the group and worked out together. Students give presentations on current and historical photographic positions that serve to classify their own media strategies. In the design project ‘Short Documentary’, design concepts and styles of documentary camera work as well as dramaturgical characteristics of narrative forms of presentation are taught and tested. Additional course content includes: – Finding and evaluating topics and news stories—Research, treatment and storyboarding.

Courses

BFO-130-01 Elective Course 1
ECTS points: 3
Lecturers in interdisciplinary teaching, external lecturers

BUE-130-02 Wahlfach 1 (German)
ECTS points: 3
Lecturers in interdisciplinary teaching, external lecturers

Qualification Objectives: Students will have acquired advanced skills and professional specializations in various artistic, design, methodological and theoretical areas of art and design practice. They understand how to develop diverse two- and multidimensional solutions practically and experimentally based on diverse artistic-creative questions and techniques. They have learned to develop and expand areas of specialization according to their individual inclinations, or to consciously develop an entirely new field of study as a supplement and extension of their field of study.

Course content: Teaching and individual consolidation of a wide variety of artistic and design methods in theory and practice in a subject of free choice within the range of electives. Artistic choices range from drawing, printmaking techniques, painting, sculpture, and objects to animation, video, video installation, site-specific work, staging, and performance. The elective offerings in the design programs provide the opportunity to further qualify in areas of fashion, photography, media design, interior design, scenography/costume, product design, and visual communication (depending on the offerings).