Learn What Makes a Photograph 'Art' with The MoMA's New Photography Course

Don’t understand why Ansel Adam’s monochromatic landscapes are considered “art?” New York’s Museum of Modern Art ( MoMA) can get you up to speed. According to PetaPixel, the iconic museum recently launched a free online photography appreciation class that’s open to the general public.

The six-session course, called “Seeing Through Photographs," teaches students to look at various works in the MoMA's collection and understand the techniques, technology, and thought processes that went into the final product.

Thanks to smartphones and inexpensive digital cameras, most people snap photos and look at them on a regular basis but that does "not necessarily make us visually literate,” the class description says. “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.”

Sarah Meister, curator of the MoMA’s department of photography, will lead the course. Along the way, she’ll explain photography’s purpose throughout history, and the many ways the medium has served artists, scientists, historians, explorers, and storytellers. Students will also be treated to video interviews with photography experts, and read assigned works by MoMA’s chief curator of photography, Quentin Bajac, among other authors.

One warning for slacker students: You’ll have to pass all graded assignments to complete the course. It also culminates in a final project.

If you're ready to go back to school and do your homework, you can check out the class on Coursera. The next six-week session begins on April 18. Enrollment ends on April 23.

Banner image courtesy of iStock.