Courses:

When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more.

Two texts are required for the class:

Spirn, Anne Whiston. The Language of Landscape. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1998. ISBN: 0300082940.

MacLean, Alex S. Designs on the Land: Exploring America from the Air. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, 2003. ISBN: 0500284148.

Further Recommended Readings (PDF)

Other readings are specified below:

Course readings.

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Reading and Telling Landscape	Required Texts Spirn. The Language of Landscape. pp. 3-81. MacLean, Alex S. "Overview: The Houston Photographs of Alex S. MacLean," and "Eyes in the Sky: Alex S. MacLean and the Tradition of Aerial Imagery." Cite 48 (Summer 2000): 14-39. Meyerowitz, Joel. Nature of Cities. (Foreword) Further Readings Meinig, D. W., ed. The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes. Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1979. Potteiger, Matthew, and Jamie Purinton. Landscape Narratives. New York, NY: Wiley, 1998. Watts, May. Reading the Landscape of America. Rochester, NY: Nature Study Guild, 1999. ISBN: 9780912550237. Cronon, William. "A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative." Journal of American History 78, no. 4 (March 1992). Elkins, James. How to Use Your Eyes. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000. Cosgrove, Denis, and Stephen Daniels, eds. The Iconography of Landscape. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Tuan, Yi-Fu. Topophilia. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall, 1974. ———. Space and Place. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1977. Clay, Grady. Close Up: How to Read the American City. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1973. Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. Another Way of Telling. New York, NY: Pantheon, 1982. Collier, John, Jr., and Malcolm Collier. Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1986. Lange, Dorothea. American Country Woman. Fort Worth, TX: Amon Carter Museum, 1967. Lange, Dorothea, and Paul S. Taylor. American Exodus. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1969. Adams, Robert. Beauty in Photography. New York, NY: Aperture, 1981.
2	Light I	Required Texts Rowell, Galen. Mountain Light. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club, 1986, pp. 4-9, 38-43, 58-67, and 73-94. ISBN: 0871563673. Joel Meyerowitz: PDN Legends Online: Joel Meyerowitz and the exhibit section of Joel Meyerowitz: Images from Ground Zero. Further Readings Lynch, David K., and William Livingston. Color and Light in Nature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1995. Minnaert, M. G. J. Light and Color in the Outdoors. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1974. Rossing, Thomas, and Christopher Chiaverina. Light Science: Physics and the Visual Arts. New York, NY: Springer, 1999. Swirnoff, Lois. Color of Cities. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Freeman, Michael. Light. New York, NY: Amphoto, 1988. Meyerowitz, Joel. Cape Light. Boston, MA: Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. ———. St. Louis and the Arch. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1980. Misrach, Richard. The Sky Book. Sante Fe, NM: Arena, 2000. White, Minor. Light7: Photographs from an Exhibition on a Theme. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1968. ISBN: 0262730197. Adcock, Craig, and James Turrell. The Art of Light and Space. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1990.
3	Site Selection
4	Light II	Required Texts Rowell, Galen. Mountain Light. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club, 1986, pp. 182-219. ISBN: 0871563673. Callahan, Harry. New Color: Photographs 1978-1987. New York, NY: Hallmark, 1988. ISBN: 0875296254. Further Readings Albers, Josef. Interaction of Color. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1963. Itten, Johannes. The Elements of Color. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1970. Gage, John. Color and Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993. ———. Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999. Lynch, David K., and William Livingston. Color and Light in Nature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1995. Minnaert, M. G. J. Light and Color in the Outdoors. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1974. Swirnoff, Lois. Color of Cities. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Meyerowitz, Joel. Cape Light. Boston, MA: Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. ———. St. Louis and the Arch. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1980. Adcock, Craig, and James Turrell. The Art of Light and Space. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1990.
5	The Context of Place	Required Texts Spirn. The Language of Landscape. pp. 133-188. MacLean, Alex S. "Overview: The Houston Photographs of Alex S. MacLean," and "Eyes in the Sky: Alex S. MacLean and the Tradition of Aerial Imagery." Cite 48 (Summer 2000): 14-39. Tice, George. Paterson. Camden, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972. ISBN: 0813507197. Further Readings Heaney, Seamus. "The Sense of Place." In Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968-1978. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1980. Hoskins, W. G. The Making of the English Landscape. New York, NY: Penguin, 1970. Lynch, Kevin. What Time Is This Place? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1976. ISBN: 0262620324. Morrison, Philip, Phylis Morrison, and the Office of Charles and Ray Eames. Powers of Ten. New York, NY: Scientific American, 1982. Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. Another Way of Telling. New York, NY: Pantheon. Corner, James, and Alex S. MacLean. Taking Measures Across the American Landscape. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1996. Ward, Alan. American Designed Landscapes. Easthampton, MA: Spacemaker Press, 1998. Meyerowitz, Joel. St. Louis and the Arch. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1985. Caponigro, Paul. Paul Caponigro. New York: NY: Aperture, 1967. ———. Landscape. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1975. Morris, Wright. The Inhabitants. New York, NY: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1946. Adams, Robert. From the Missouri West. New York, NY: Aperture, 1980. Evans, Terry. Prairie: Images of Ground and Sky. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1986. Jackson, J. B. The Essential Landscape: The New Mexico Photographic Survey. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1985. Klett, Mark. Revealing Territory: Photographs of the Southwest. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. Lambert, Phyllis, ed. Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. ISBN: 0262621169. Trager, Philip. Villas of Palladio. Text by Vincent Scully. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1986. Kenna, Michael. Le Notre's Gardens. Santa Monica, CA: RAM Publications, 1997. Siskind, Aaron. Harlem Photographs 1932-1940. Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1990. Vergara, Camilo Jose. The New American Ghetto. Camden, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995. Balmori, Diana, and Margaret Morton. Transitory Gardens, Uprooted Lives. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1993. Hood, Walter. Urban Diaries. Easthampton, MA: Spacemaker Press, 1997.
6	Significant Detail I	Required Texts Mead, Margaret, and Gregory Bateson. Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis. New York, NY: New York Academy of Sciences, 1942. Collier, John, Jr., and Malcolm Collier. Visual Anthropology. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1986, pp. 29-42. ISBN: 0826308996. Levi-Strauss, Claude. Saudades do Brasil: A Photographic Memoir. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1995. ISBN: 0295975660. Further Readings Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1973. Clay, Grady. Close Up: How to Read the American City. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1973. Thomas, Ann, ed. Beauty of Another Order: Photography in Science. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1997. Lange, Dorothea, and Paul S. Taylor. American Exodus. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1969. Welty, Eudora. One Time One Place: Mississippi in the Depression. Oxford, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Agee, James, and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 1941. Vanderbilt, Paul. Between the Landscape and Its Other. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1993. Cartier-Bresson, Henri. City and Landscapes. New York, NY: Bullfinch, 2001. ———. The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photographs and Photographers. New York, NY: Aperture, 1999. Adams, Ansel. Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1983. Meyerowitz, Joel. La natura delle città . Milan, Italy: Federico Motta Editore, 1994. Strand, Paul. Paul Strand. New York, NY: Aperture, 1971.
7	Significant Detail II	Required Texts Szarkowski, John. Atget. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 2000, pp. 29-42. ISBN: 0870700944. Mead, Margaret, and Gregory Bateson. Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis. New York, NY: New York Academy of Sciences, 1942. ISBN: 0890727805. Further Readings Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1973. Clay, Grady. Close Up: How to Read the American City. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1973. Thomas, Ann, ed. Beauty of Another Order: Photography in Science. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1997. Lange, Dorothea, and Paul S. Taylor. American Exodus. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1969. Welty, Eudora. One Time One Place: Mississippi in the Depression. Oxford, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Agee, James, and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 1941. Vanderbilt, Paul. Between the Landscape and Its Other. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1993. Cartier-Bresson, Henri. City and Landscapes. New York, NY: Bullfinch, 2001. ———. The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photographs and Photographers. New York, NY: Aperture, 1999. Adams, Ansel. Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1983. Meyerowitz, Joel. La natura delle città . Milan, Italy: Federico Motta Editore, 1994. Strand, Paul. Paul Strand. New York, NY: Aperture, 1971. Levi-Strauss, Claude. Saudades do Brasil: A Photographic Memoir. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1995. Collier, John, Jr., and Malcolm Collier. Visual Anthropology. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.
8	Storytelling	Required Texts Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. Another Way of Telling. New York, NY: Vintage Press, 1982. ISBN: 0679737243. Vienne, Veronique. Page One: A Conversation with Philip Gefter, Picture Editor of The New York Times' Front Page. New York, NY: Aperture 162 (Winter 2001). (Speakers' Web sites)
9	Landscape Poetics I	Required Texts Spirn. The Language of Landscape. pp. 216-239. Heaney, Seamus. "The Sense of Place." In Preoccupations. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980, pp. 131-149. ISBN: 0374516502. Caponigro, Paul. Landscape. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1975. ISBN: 0070097801. Further Readings Dewey, John. Art as Experience. Santa Barbara, CA: Capricorn, 1958. Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1980. Bourassa, Steven. Aesthetics of Landscape. New York, NY: Belhaven, 1991. Fowles, John, and Frank Horvath. The Tree. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1979. Bye, A. E. Art into Landscape; Landscape into Art. New York, NY: PDA Publishing, 1983. Vanderbilt, Paul. Between the Landscape and Its Other. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1993. Jussim, Estelle, and Elizabeth Lindquist-Cock. Landscape as Photograph. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1985. Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1973. White, Minor. Mirrors Messages Manifestation. New York, NY: Aperture, 1969.
10	Field Visit to Landslides	Required Texts MacLean, Alex S. "Overview: The Houston Photographs of Alex S. MacLean," and "Eyes in the Sky: Alex S. MacLean and the Tradition of Aerial Imagery." Cite 48 (Summer 2000): 14-39. (Under discussion) ———. Designs on the Land: Exploring America from the Air. London, UK: Thames and Hudson, 2003. ISBN: 0500284148. (Aerial Photography) (Landslides Aerial Photography) Further Readings Corner, James, and Alex S. MacLean. Taking Measures Across the American Landscape. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. Gerster, Georg. Below from Above. New York, NY: Abbeville, 1986. Jackson, J. B. A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994. Hiss, Tony. The Experience of Place. New York, NY: Knopf, 1990.
11	Landscape Poetics II
12	Landscape Narratives	Required Texts Spirn. The Language of Landscape. pp. 240-265. Lange, Dorothea, and Paul S. Taylor. American Exodus. (Compare two editions: Reynal & Hitchcock 1939 and Yale 1969) Vergara, Camilo. Invincible Cities. Further Readings Morrison, Philip, Phylis Morrison, and the Office of Charles and Ray Eames. Powers of Ten. New York, NY: Scientific American, 1982. Potteiger, Matthew, and Jamie Purinton. Landscape Narratives. New York, NY: Wiley, 1998. Hayden, Dolores. The Power of Place: Urban Landscape as Public History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995. ISBN: 0262082373. Watts, May. Reading the Landscape of America. New York, NY: Collier, 1975. Lange, Dorothea. American Country Woman. Fort Worth, TX: Amon Carter Museum, 1967. Cronon, William. "A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative." Journal of American History 78, no. 4 (March 1992). Vanderbilt, Paul. Between the Landscape and Its Other. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 1993. Morris, Wright. Time Pieces: Photographs, Writing, and Memory. New York, NY: Aperture, 1989. Smith, Kevin. Structure of the Visual Book. Visual Studies Workshop, 1984. White, Minor. Mirrors Messages Manifestation. New York, NY: Aperture, 1969. Lyons, Nathan. Notations in Passing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1974. ISBN: 0262620286.
13	"Deciphering Landscape: Three Perspectives." Exhibit Opening and Lecture. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Oxford Street.
14	Individual Meetings With Students
15	Images and Words	Required Texts Lange, Dorothea, and Pirkle Jones. Death of a Valley. New York, NY: Aperture, 1960. Morris, Wright. The Inhabitants. New York, NY: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1946. Further Readings Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. Another Way of Telling. New York, NY: Pantheon, 1982. Welty, Eudora. One Time One Place: Mississippi in the Depression. Oxford, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1996. Morris, Wright. Time Pieces: Photographs, Writing, and Memory. New York, NY: Aperture, 1989. Caponigro, Paul. Landscape. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1975. Sommer, Frederick. Words and Images. New York, NY: Center for Creative Photography, 1984. Fowles, John, and Frank Horvath. The Tree. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1979. Agee, James, and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 1941.
16	Photo Essay Due in Online gallery
17	Review of Photo Essays in Online Galleries with Instructor
18	Review of Photo Essays in Class