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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Seeing Through Photographs by The Museum of Modern Art

4.8
stars
4,301 ratings

About the Course

Taking, sharing, and viewing photographs has become second nature for many of us. This course aims to address the gap between seeing and truly understanding photographs by introducing a diversity of ideas, approaches, and technologies that inform their making. You’ll explore the meaning of pictures and reconsider photography’s role in our visual culture. Look closely at 100 photographs from MoMA’s collection, going behind the scenes of the Museum and into artists’ studios through videos and audio interviews. Gain new perspectives on the ways photography has been used throughout the medium’s history: as a means of artistic expression, a tool for science and exploration, an instrument of documentation, a way to tell stories and record histories, and a mode of communication and critique....

Top reviews

AQ

Mar 8, 2016

Seeing Through Photographs has given me a whole new way of looking at my own and other peoples' work. So many aspects, details and points of view, the world of photography now seems even more amazing.

EE

Jun 2, 2019

It was very insightful, and a good thing is they offered quizzes and other full content, which some other free courses do not, which really helps learning. Hope to go for other courses under them. :)

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126 - 150 of 1,112 Reviews for Seeing Through Photographs

By Alison E

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Jul 1, 2020

This was a thorough and very well constructed course, I really enjoyed the variety of challenges, resources, range of photographers and approaches to seeing through photographs. I would recommend this to both those new to studying photography, and those like me, who have been studying photography for some while.

By Sabrina L B

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May 15, 2020

It was such a great pleasure to follow this course. It was my first online Photography course I attended and I learned how to look at photographs in such a different way. Even if many photographs relate to the real world, it's incredible how each viewer has a different emotion of the same image.

Sabrina Biagini

By harald w

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Jun 11, 2020

Thank you so much for everything - all the in-between information I received, especially the invitations for discussions, all the wonderful online readings (and the it was possible to copy out text for translation - as english is not my mother language, that was sometimes helpful

Great experience!

kinds Harald

By Jonathan H

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May 4, 2020

A well structured course taking the pupil from the early days of photography through to the modern day, focusing on the many and varied subjects and methods used by the leaders in this medium. Both mandatory and optional reading materials mean you can do as little or as much as you want to complete the course.

By ELLA S

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Aug 3, 2020

Very interesting and informative! I was able to complete the course alongside other studies as it's flexible and easily set out to follow progress and areas missed. Would highly recommend for anyone interested in photography or art as there are a wide variety of artists and themes within photography covered.

By Maria X

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Apr 3, 2020

Great course for reflections on photography and analysis of art. You will be provided with short interviews with artists and art professionals. You will discover photographers you didn't know and potential links among their photos. A really good option for anyone interested in photography, curating and art.

By Elizabeth C

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Feb 6, 2017

I developed a deeper understanding of the role of photography from this course. From the first lesson I was hooked. It has ample examples of all different types of photography and how they have influence society. I found the interviews with the photographers to be enlightening. Highly recommend this course.

By Theresa K C P

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Oct 31, 2020

Wonderful course! I have a PhD in Art History but I don't typically work on photography or contemporary art. This course had a lovely balance of material that made it accessible for beginners but also enough depth in the recommended readings to make it engaging for advanced students and arts professionals.

By Eric Z

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Sep 23, 2020

lots of information that went beyond what the lectures talk about. The class overall serves as an introduction to photograph examination and historical progress. I really enjoyed its content and can also say that I will use the information I learned in the future, for personal as well as academic purposes.

By Mridul K G

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Feb 27, 2016

I learned a lot from the course on how to make develop your idea & sense as an Artist/ Humanitarian. I can see the world through a viewfinder for the love of light! This course is ever well structured. Guys , 'Seeing Through Photographs' is great photographic course for Activist/Visual Art lover.

Thank You.

By William E

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May 31, 2020

As a gallery owner (GALLERY5X7) and photographer with interest in what is termed "alternative process photography," I appreciated the course starting with a view to historic photographic process and ending with questions on the ocean of images we are inundated with from social media, etc. Great course!

By Vidmantas V

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Jun 10, 2020

It was enjoyable journey through the history of photography, technical means, methods, understanding, some prominent names and less known ones. I like the structure of the course, short videos, quizzes and materials provided. Definitely there is much more of reading than minutes shows and it is good.

By Andy P

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Apr 3, 2016

An extremely well organised, informative and educational course, with excellent materials including book extracts, web links and videos. A lot of time and effort has gone into making this course and it clearly shows. 'Seeing Through Photographs' is a must for anyone who is serious about photography.

By Saida I

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May 31, 2020

I want to thank all the teachers and those supported the course, it's an amazing opportunity to sort out the knowledge and get a deep understanding of photography as art and medium. It filled the gaps in my understanding of this art form and gave me so many new ideas and inspiration! Thank you!!!!!

By Emile C

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Oct 18, 2018

This course is great if you interested in the history of photography. It looks at the past so you know why photography is the way it is today. Whether you enjoy taking pictures or just looking at photographs. This course breaks it down indepth so you can anaylize photographs on a day-to-day basis.

By Mirella C

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Jun 14, 2020

This course offers an excellent overview of the movements and styles that made the history of photography. The Readings & Additional Resources they complete each week are real treasures through which exploring and be inspired by the deep analysis of the authors. Now I love photography even more.

By Filipe C

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Jun 1, 2017

Eu achei o curso super interessante. Há 10 anos já venho estudando fotografia, desde a técnica, como sua história. Fiz mestrado na área e mesmo assim havia muitas informações novas para mim. Recomendo muito este curso, principalmente para aqueles que tem a fotografia como meio de ganhar a vida.

By Albert t H

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Oct 2, 2020

A great course. It opened my eyes for how photography works (production, circulation, reception). Many aspects of photography were part of the course, not only 'art', but also documentary and other forms of non-artistic photography.

Lots of videos to make clear what photography is all about.

By Ivy F

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Jan 9, 2018

The course offers knowledge about photography and its history, classes are carefully prepared and in order to facilitate understanding. The questions were clear, instructive and of good quality.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this course, my expectation has been reached.

By Cíntia A

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Nov 14, 2017

The course is great. I am not expert about photograph just a fan of it but with this course I learnt a lot about the history of photograph and about the artists as well. Deffinitily if I could have a chance to attend a second module of this course I would do it. Thanks MoMA and Coursera.

By Stéphane I

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Jul 3, 2020

Seeing Through Photographs is an excellently curated and presented course. The historical images assembled and the new content created for the course are all pertinent to the subject being discussed. Seeing Through Photographs helped me understand and appreciate photography even more.

By ROCIO R L

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Aug 31, 2022

Me ha parecido un curso interesantísimo, donde se aprende la historia de la fotografía y a saber mirar a través de los ojos de los grandes fotografos. La plataforma Couirsera funciona perfectamente y tiene una respuesta inmediata a las dudas que surgen durante el desarrollo del curso.

By Fernando A

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Nov 3, 2019

Gran curso, el contenido es bastante moderno en su presentaciòn. Las referencias amplias con bastantes entrevistas personalizados de los artistas nombrados a traves de cada semana. El curso tambien ofrece la posibilidad de discutir en grupo y de dar su propio trabajo al final de este.

By Shilpa S

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Dec 11, 2018

This course gave me such a valuable perspective on all that photography can be and do, to see the diverse work of some greats in the field, the constant reinvention (and innovation) in the field as the world around us changes, especially in the way we make and consume images everyday.

By Pannawat M

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May 3, 2020

Thank you for this great course. The content covers both the general public and focuses on deep content. I have just additions to the Indicates required readings and resources. The file is a ★ PDF. I would like to have the image of artist of the sample in the content as well.

best,