Student Photography I Gallery

Photography 1

Lessons

At the heart of every great photographer is the desire to explore and capture the world in new and unique ways. Photography is indeed an art, and I encourage students to approach creative concepts that yield the largest variety of response. A photographer should have a great grasp on the formal qualities of photography: light, composition constructs, and framing techniques; but also there should be great emphasis on experimentation and play, and constructing self through the photographic lens. Here, I am presenting shooting assignments, Adobe Photoshop responses, and darkroom experiments, as a sampling of their great work.

Adjective Series

This digital shooting assignment is straight-forward. Students are given a list of adjectives, and they are to find an image to represent it. In the beginning, students may have an idea of what makes a great photograph. The goal of the Adjective Series is to expand their "eye-deas." That is, to look where they may not have looked before. There is a demonstration of things to consider once a subject presents itself to them. Stand above, below, or at eye level? What is in the background? Does it help or hurt the compositon? Can the subject be moved, should it be moved? How close should you be to it? Should you only see a part of, or all of it? Students are encouraged to shoot their subject multiple times in multiple ways to discover their strongest compositions.

Teeny Tiny

Flawless

Ambiguous

Teeny Tiny

1/50

Lights, Shadows, Reflections

While continuing prior conversations on how to shoot and investigate new spaces; students are now encouraged to look for, seek out, and be mindful of lights, shadows, and reflections, so that this focus becomes the star of each image. The goal is to look at the more ephemeral qualities of life, to witness mood and beauty, to find the drama in time of day with natural light, or incandescences carefully placed.

1/24

Lyric Project

After various smaller photoshop demos and instructional activities that familiarize students with all that Adobe Photoshop has to offer, students are given this assignment as a culminating experience that utilizes the main components of Photoshop: the tool box, color applications, and layering options. Students choose a song that has strong visual components and use the lyrics to guide the subject matter of their final composition. Size relationships, what eraser to use:soft or hard, how to manipulate color to create unity, how to integrate text in a meaningful way, these are all things the students will consider as they assemble their digital collage.

1/11

Versus Project

Like the other assignments presented, the overall goal is simple to understand, students are choosing opposites to bring together in a digital collage. The excitement comes from the individuality young artists have the capacity to bring to the table with their own unique concepts. Some of this is by chance as students collect their images for collage making. Juxtaposing opposites can always make for a curious or charged image, and in this case, many students saw this project as an opportunity to engage in other forms of expression: humor, creepiness, surrealism, thought provoking, etc.

Classical vs Modern Art

Old vs. Young

Smoking vs Non-smoking

Classical vs Modern Art

1/15

Hybridity Project

The Hybridity project is meant to be fun and a little silly, but the concepts and knowledge to complete the final image is very formal. Students are asked to superimpose their face on a recognizable image, as seamlessly as possible. This project utilizes the three main components of photoshop, color applications for matching purposes, the tool box for: eraser options, blur and smudging, dodge and burning; and layering options: scale, rotation, opacity, etc.