Spotlight on Learning - Creating a Photo Essay

Spotlight on Learning - Creating a Photo Essay

Ms. Bisgaard - Photography 11 and 12 

TEACHER REFLECTION:  Our final project culminated in the students presenting their photos to the class. It was interesting to see the variety of topics chosen, their personal styles, the technical skill, creativity, and the maturity of which they had when photographing especially sensitive topics like sexual assault and eating disorders. Their fellow classmates were respectful and curious while listening to the presentations and asked thoughtful questions about their work.

STUDENT REFLETION: Something I learned from this assignment was that the planning process is just as important as the actual photographing process. If I hadn't planned this project out carefully, it would have been stressful and not had the models and style I wanted. I also learned how to instruct my models to get what I wanted. I think part of the reason I improved on this skill is because for this assignment I needed serious faces and feelings rather than just telling someone to sit on a stool in the portrait studio and look to the side, like I had done with my previous assignments. Another thing I learned is that feedback is one of the most important parts of the artistic process, at least for me. I found it very helpful to talk things out and get criticism from my peers, specifically Reanna, because I value what she thinks. Although everything went well, in my opinion, if I were to redo this project over, something I would've done differently is check the lighting of my setting beforehand. I also would have done a little bit more research beforehand. Despite these minor aspects, I really like my work. I love how they are jam-packed with emotion and feeling. I also love the little ode to Spiderman I added to my photos with those squiggly lines. They represent the fear and shaken-up feelings the subjects have. It shows how tense they are in the photo. I also love it because it is something unique to my style and adds to the photo. I originally didn't even plan on adding it. I was just playing around while editing and sort of did it as a joke. I was a bit unsure about adding it, though, but after receiving feedback from my peers and my teacher, I decided to keep it. Overall, I love how my work turned out and believe that I deserve a good grade. This assignment went great and means a lot to me.

Read the entire News from the Nest for April 12