Sophie Schwartz

Critic

Sophie Schwartz (b. 1995 Cleveland, OH) is an artist living and working between New York and Cleveland, OH. Their research positions collaboration as an entry point to investigate grief, memory and queerness. At the core of their practice are interpersonal relationships and the dance of making images with other people. They use photographs to capture how people can see one another within the frame and beyond it, revealing the tension between the performance and authentic, the past and present, and the photographer and model. Using a view camera and black-and-white film roots their practice in early photographic history while disrupting the traditional process with the contemporary queer subject.

Schwartz received an MFA from Yale School of Art in 2023 and a BA in Modern Culture + Media from Brown University in 2017. They were awarded the Richard Benson Prize and Harvey Geiger Travel Fellowship from Yale University and were a finalist for the Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Critical Mass and the Palm Photo Prize. Their work has been exhibited at LaMama Galleria, François Ghebaly, AMANITA, Penumbra Foundation, Cleveland Print Room and Silver Eye Center for Photography, among others. They’ve worked with publications including VICE, Vogue, BOOOOOOOM, WÜL Magazine, PIQUE and Architectural Digest. They were an artist-in-residence at Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Haystack and Cleveland Foundation Creative Fusion Residency, with upcoming residencies at Penumbra Foundation and Visual Studies Workshop. Their first book was published by Tall Poppy Press in 2023.
 

Courses

Wintersession 2024 Courses

PHOTO 5233-103 - INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE
Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

PHOTO 5233-103

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICE

Level Undergraduate
Unit Photography
Subject Photography
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-01-04 to 2024-02-07
Times: WTHF | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/31/2024 - 02/02/2024; THF | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/25/2024 - 01/26/2024; WTHF | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/17/2024 - 01/19/2024; THF | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/11/2024 - 01/12/2024; THF | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/04/2024 - 01/05/2024 Instructor(s): Sophie Schwartz Location(s): Design Center, Room 308 Enrolled / Capacity: 18 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This class serves as an introduction to photographic methods and ideas. Through this, we will be exploring the creative possibilities of both traditional and digital photographic technologies. First and foremost, this course is about creative exploration in photography. Technical skills mean nothing if not paired with imagination, and this course will aim to develop both. Throughout the semester, the instructor will consistently be pushing towards an integration of these new technical skills with the interests and ideas that are important to you as an individual. Using film cameras and complimentary digital tools, students will address the essential technical, conceptual, and artistic problems that have been associated with photography since its birth, as well as some of the new issues that have arisen with the advent of digital imaging. Through a combination of assignments and critiques, in-class exercises, and artists' talks, students will question what they know about the medium and its potential. At a time when photography's popularity and ubiquity has challenged its relevance as a fine art form, this course will explore the photographic image as a powerful and versatile tool for contemporary artistic self-expression.

Elective