Contemporary Urban Photography as a Subject of Study of the Discipline «Art of Photography» (Based on the Example of ICITD IAPM)

The purpose of the article is to analyze samples of photographs of 2020–2025 of an urban nature created by students in the process of mastering the discipline «Art of Photography». Research methods. The article uses a comprehensive approach that includes traditional general scientific – analytical, historiographical, comparative, as well as art history and cultural methods, special – figurative-stylistic and compositional analysis. A comprehensive research approach allows us to determine the main iconographic and iconological features of photographs created in the conditions of urban expeditions, as well as to analyze in detail the genre of urban photography, which allows us to clarify the creative approaches of the young student audience to its creation. Research results. The analysis shows that photographs of an urban nature created by students have a fairly wide range of content areas, various compositional and figurative solutions. Some of them focus on architectural motifs, others on scenes of urban life, on fragments of everyday events of the ordinary course of life. Different interpretations of the theme of urban photography are a manifestation of the students' individual perception of both the educational task and the surrounding world. In this sequence, the young person's desire for independent creativity as an awareness of himself as an individual, a member of the community, and Ukrainian society as a whole is traced. Stylistically, student photographs of 2020–2025 demonstrate a connection with the repertoire of screen arts. Conclusions. Based on the analyzed photographic works of student youth, it has been proven that the interpretation of images in photographs is closely related to the creative understanding and disclosure of the theme of the city in its socio-historical progress. The results obtained contribute to the further study of this genre of photographs, including the analysis of the sources of their origin and the specifics that distinguish them from photographs of other genres.