Preface

This proceedings journal is a record of the eighth annual American Photography Institute - National Graduate Seminar. The purpose of the National Graduate Seminar is to create a forum for the discussion of issues of current concern in the field of photography. The objective is to encourage the inclusion of the greatest number of people in the dialogue, not only seasoned professionals who have given time and thought to the issues, but also emerging professionals—graduate students. Faculties of graduate departments throughout the US nominate the Fellowship finalists. Nominees must fairly represent their institution, and be interested in making a contribution to the field. Through comments in the classroom or presentations of serious work, they must have made a contribution to their fellow students. A three-member national jury selects the twenty Fellows who are invited to participate in the Seminar. Topics and faculty participants are selected in a variety of ways including suggestions from graduate faculty members, previous Fellows and colleagues. Serious attention is given to representing a broad spectrum of ideas, positions, and personalities among faculty and student participants.

The individual projects which students undertake upon returning to their home institutions, and this proceedings journal are designed to carry the Seminar discussions into the classroom for further consideration. We hope you will find these useful. Photocopy the presentations in the journal and use them to initiate discussion in your classroom. The reading list in the back of the journal is a resource to begin an exploration of the topics, but it is not comprehensive.

There are perspectives from others who have made important contributions to the ongoing dialogue that are not included in these presentations. Invite these people to be a part of your discussion. Invite other schools to meet with your faculty and students to debate the issues raised. Students who prepared the analysis that follows each presentation have identified key points raised by the presentations and those sometimes hotly debated among themselves.

In every respect the National Graduate Seminar is a collaboration and the exchanges, papers and reports included in this volume reflect the respective contributions of the faculty and students alike. As might be expected, given the polarities and sensitivities that define contemporary discourse, you will find strong opinions exercised with enthusiasm, as well as more circumspect views. That said, we are hopeful that you will find this volume as useful as the first, to the extent that it undertakes to examine new material from different points of view.

My personal hope is that we can continue to extend this forum. Through the seminar presentations, student projects and the journal we can include as many voices as possible in the discussion. Perhaps we will be able to confront and address issues and devise new ways to consider them; each of us adding to, or refining, our understanding.

Cheryl Younger, Director
American Photography Institute