Untitled Flashcards Set

Photography

Literally means writing with light.

Camera Obscura

Means 'dark room' in Latin; a box-shaped device used as an aid for drawing that lets light in through a small opening and projects a reversed and inverted image.

Daguerreotype

A one-of-a-kind photograph known for sharpness and detail; considered France’s 'gift to the world'.

Talbotype/Calotype

Invented by Talbot; produces a negative image that allows for multiple copies; characterized by soft images.

Cyanotype

A photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print.

Wet Plate Collodion

Creates sharp detailed negatives on smooth clear glass; allows for multiple prints from one negative, requiring a mobile darkroom.

Tintype

A less expensive photographic process using a blackened iron plate, commonly used during the Civil War.

Kodachrome

The first color film, introduced in 1936.

Vernacular Photography

Everyday photos taken for the enjoyment of oneself and loved ones.

Carte de Visite

Small portraits given away and collected, often placed in albums.

Stereograph

Double pictures that provide a 3D effect when viewed through binocular viewers.

Mega-Influencer

Social media users with over 1 million followers; their services can cost up to $1 million per post.

Macro-Influencer

Users with 40,000 to 1 million followers; often B-grade celebrities or successful online experts.

Micro-Influencer

Ordinary people with 1,000 to 40,000 followers known for their niche expertise.

Nano-Influencer

Individuals with fewer than 1,000 followers, often experts in specialized fields.

Ephemeral

Lasting a very short time.

Gaze

A particular perspective influencing the relationship between observer and observed.

Panopticon

A design that allows a single watchman to observe all cells, with inmates unable to know if they are being watched.

The Male Gaze

A feminist theory where men are dominant observers and women are passive subjects.

The Female Gaze

Women depict each other and themselves from their perspective.

The Oppositional Gaze

Analyzing representations of people of color, especially black women.

The Imperial/Colonizer’s Gaze

A perspective reflecting a white, western view.

Phrenology

The study of cranium shape and size as an indication of character and mental abilities.

Physiognomy

A pseudo-science believing personality can be assessed through facial features.

Eugenics

The study aimed at organizing reproduction within a population to promote desirable heritable characteristics.

Anthropometry

The science that measures the size, form, and functional capabilities of humans.

Shirley Card

A color reference card used in photography to balance skin color.

The Coded Gaze

Embedded viewpoints propagated by those in power.

Censorship

The suppression of speech, public communication, or information.

Memento Mori

A reflection on mortality, meaning 'remember you must die'.

New Topographic

Describes a group of American photographers known for a similar banal aesthetic, coined by William Jenkins in 1975.

Citizen Journalism

The collection and dissemination of news by the public, particularly through the Internet.

Commodity Culture

A term describing the culture of industrial capitalism.

Simulacrum

A copy that has no original.

Hyperreality

A representation where images appear more real than reality itself.

Meme

Culturally shared elements that are circulated and transformed via the internet.

Appropriation

Incorporating someone else's work into your own, transforming it into something new in a grey area of intellectual property.

Conceptual Art

Art that emphasizes ideas over aesthetics; the concept is more important than the finished piece.

The Decisive Moment

Henri Cartier-Bresson’s concept of capturing a fleeting, perfect moment in photography.

Scopophilia

Aesthetic pleasure derived from looking at an object or person.

Extimacy

The sharing of typically private experiences or thoughts.

Computational Photography

Using algorithms and technology to enhance or simulate photography.

Deep Fakes

Images generated through artificial intelligence that create convincing but fictional photos.

Physiognotrace

An 18th-century device for tracing silhouettes to produce affordable portraits.

Semiotics

The science of signs.

Symbol

A sign where the connection between signifier and signified is conventional and culturally specific.

Icon

A sign where the signifier resembles the signified.

Index

A sign where the signifier is caused by the signified.

Denotation

The most basic or literal meaning of a sign.

Connotation

The secondary, cultural meanings associated with signs.