Thoughts on Graphic Arts & Photography (Part I)

Photography is indeed an art that takes a fair amount of skill and practice. I recently read through the article "How to Make Great Photographs" and am going to focus on some of the points I agree with. I do not have a high tech digital camera, but with the right angles I am still able to capture some decent shots. I use my camera for many reasons. For example, in the last grad course that I took, I happened to capture several photographs of my students working through various learning tasks in language arts. I did this as a way to document my course work, but this is not the type of photography I prefer. 

I enjoy taking photographs when I travel or visit new places. I stop in front of anything different that I see that interests me. I agree with the point that photography is abstract and not every person thinks of, or views images in the same way. An example that reinforces this point is the work that was completed for the first Facebook discussion. Each individual shared a different perspective which was unique to their background knowledge of the select image. The article stated that "Art is the expression of imagination, not the reproduction of reality". In relation to photography this means that you must think outside the box and dare to take risks in your work. Even then, there is no guarantee that anyone else will be captivated by your photograph. This is an art that can be very personal to the author.

I do not focus on taking pictures of people, but I love to take pictures of my Molly!

I am also thinking about how I can apply this information gained to my own teaching in the classroom. I will admit that I use images and photos each day as a way to support my English Language Learners. Many of my students have limited background knowledge, especially when it comes to the difficult terms in our reading selections. As a way to differentiate, I have asked select students to look up unknown words and then create collages of images to relate to new vocabulary words learned. In addition, I have photos posted on my word wall for future reference of unfamiliar terms. This is a work in progress!

I have taken the time to read through the majority of the articles on photography because this is something that interests me. My next challenge will be to thoughtfully chose a subject for my project. With so many options, making this choice is the most difficult part for me. Once I have chosen a subject I will capture several images in various ways. I plan to examine my work carefully. From there I will try different techniques I have learned in an attempt to manipulate my image in order to make it more compelling in nature.