Photo Credits: Danila Grachev
TAUGHT IN ENGLISH / 1 WEEK / 14-18 JULY or 21-25 JULY 2025 / ON CAMPUS
Discovering Rome through new lenses and gazes
Today, taking photographs in the street might seem easy: all we need is a smartphone. Some events that have marked the history of recent years have been immortalized by amateur photographers who, being in the right place and at the right time, have seen their photographs distributed in media around the world. More and more often we talk about citizen journalists.
This course provides students with the key abilities to develop photography techniques to cope with urban reality and human beings in the streets. The outdoor experiences will help students to test first-hand the power of the photographic medium and the importance of good image education in ethical terms and to understand the importance of being able to observe, in order to predict what is happening around us before we photograph. Students will experience the versatility of the camera in manual mode to understand how the use of different aperture/shutter combinations allows us to predict the final result in terms of focus and movement control.
Practical experiences will enable students to understand the importance of composition, to learn about camera technology, to choose the right equipment, to develop a specific knowledge of the photographic language in order to express their creativity. Learning to produce images and thus knowing how to read them also means learning to defend oneself against them and having a freer gaze. The practical lessons include photographic shootings in some of the most representative street-art areas of Rome, to show how the world capital of archaeology is also an important centre of contemporary art on a par with other big capitals, such as London, Paris, New York and Sao Paulo.
The course is enriched by historical background on the history of photography through the viewing of digital presentations and visits to exhibitions in town.
At the end of the course, a certificate of attendance is issued to those who have attended at least 80% of the lessons, for a possible recognition of 2 ECTS.
Course type: group – in-person
Participants: Min. 8, Max. 15 | The programme is open to college, university and fine arts students, as well as adult learners across disciplines.
Attendance: From Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5pm
Duration: 14-18 or 21-25 July 2025 – 5 days
Cost: 850€ / very early bird by 31 December 2024 -15%; early bird by 31 March 2025 -10%
Requirements/supporting materials: No entry requirements. Students are asked to bring their own digital reflex camera and their laptop. Tickets for visits are provided by RUFA.
Language: English | Participants are required to be fluent in English.
Lecturer: Andrea Sabbadini
Location: RUFA – Via degli Ausoni7, Rome; RUFA – Via Giuseppe Libetta, 7 – Rome + Different locations around the city.
Certificate: At the end of the course, a certificate of attendance will be issued, based on the attendance of at least 4 of the 5 days, which corresponds to 2 ECTS.
THE NATURAL PHENOMENON OF LIGHT: The optical phenomenon of vision. The “camera obscura” and the pinhole.
THE CAMERA: Fundamental elements of control on a Reflex camera.
THE LENSES: Focal length of the lenses: wide-angle, normal and telephoto. Shooting angle or angle of view. Shooting angle and perspective. Image brightness. Diaphragm and shutter speed. Depth of field. Motion control.
MEASUREMENT OF EXPOSURE: Exposure meter. Incident and reflected light. Contrasted and diffuse light. Exposure variation with light source distance.
SHOOTING IN OUTDOOR LOCATION: San Lorenzo; Esquilino, Ostiense, Tor Marancia and other historical and popular roman districts.
RECORDING ON DIGITAL MEDIA: basic operating principles and main characteristics (pixels, dpi, tiff, jpg, RAW).
Projects finalisation and presentation.
Andrea Sabbadini was born in 1963 in Rome where he lives and works in the field of Photography.
He graduated in Psychology in 1988 at “La Sapienza” University. From 1989 to 1992 in London he attends the Photography School of Visual and Performing Arts winning the Merit award in the BIPP/FUJI Student Photographic Competition on the theme “The New Optimism”. In 1993 he won first prize with the group “Scale Dorsali” in the international competition for young artists at the Maastricht Biennial, sound installations and video art. Since 1996, he has collaborated with major national and international newspapers and magazines and is a member of the Order of Journalists. From 2005 to 2010 he teaches photography at Richimond University in Rome. In 2010 he collaborates with the International and European Forum for Immigration Research in the research group “Labour Migration Governance in Contemporary Europe”
From 2010 to 2014 he is the press office photographer for the National Forensic Council. In 2012 he works on a photojournalistic survey of the socioeconomic reality in Italy and Europe in the years of the crisis collaborating closely with journalist Angelo Mastrandrea. From 2013 to 2019 he teaches photojournalism at the Rome University of Fine Arts.
In 2019 he produces with photographer Alessandro Parente and artist Libre Vagabund “Water Box” a project with indigenous communities of the Pacific coast of Mexico on behalf of Bainbridge Island Museum of Art , WA. He is currently a stringer for Polaris Images agency and a staff member of Buenavista photo, a network of Italian freelance photographers.
His personal documentation work is developed through the photography of places and people, starting from the chronicle of daily life to investigate social issues and customs.
Students and Alumni Winter-Summer Courses RUFA – 10%
Students and Alumni RUFA: 50%
University students: 5% (upon presentation of the university registration)
Very early bird by 31 December 2024 -15%; Early bird by 31 March 2025 -10%
Course package/groups/family: please contact corsibrevi@unirufa.it
If the student, after having attended the workshop, enrolls in a BA or MA programme at RUFA, a 10% reduction will be applied to the annual tuition fee for the first year.
RUFA has entered into several agreements with facilities that provide housing services. For further information please contact corsibrevi@unirufa.it
For information about the course please fill in the form and we will contact you