English 357, Project 1, Step 2
Looking at Portraits, Reflecting on Photographs
(check/no check) Due: 11:59 pm, Sept. 21st (revised date)
Instructions
- Carefully view these Power Point presentations:
- Fundamentals of Visual Design
- The Grammar of Photography
- Introduction to Project #1 and Food for Thought
- Read this piece on portraiture from the National Gallery of Art.
- Explore this page and its many links from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
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Carefully study and absorb the portraits in August Sanders' Face of Our Time. Look at the pics, put the book down, then look at them again. Sleep with them under your pillow. Carry them in your bookbag. Look at them again. Then again.
- Now write up a brief essay (2-3 double-spaced pages) in which you reflect on Sander's work, drawing on the the material you read and viewed above. You may comment on what you like or don't like, but keep in mind that this is not a REVIEW. You should be musing on the creative choices Sanders makes, the kinds of tensions evident in his work, and opportunities which his work suggests for your project. Support assertions you make with references to specific photos or descriptions of specific features, and try to provide at least a general thesis to bind your essay together. (Example: "The work of August Sanders is a blend of traditional as well as radical vantage points, subject matter, and framing.")* Post your finished essay in our Blackboard Discussion Board "DROP BOX" by 11:59 pm, Sept. 21st.
* I don't know if this assertion is actually true or not; it's just a sample thesis for an essay of this kind.
Purpose
Your aims in doing the tasks described above are 1) to better understand the art of portraiture; 2) to learn more about photography; and 2) to review basic principles of visual design —all of which should help you to produce a more informed and interesting self-portrait for the upcoming Step #3 of this project. You're looking at Sanders' work for inspiration, for ideas about what a portrait can be, for possible themes in your own work, for design options, and for specific photographic and design techniques. The web links should provide lots of food for thought, as should our course Power Point presentations. Studying all of these materials should make your upcoming self-portrait smarter, more imaginative, and better designed.
Evaluation Criteria
Check-plus = meets all of the criteria below exceptionally well.
Check = meets all or most of the criteria below reasonably well.
Check-minus = meets only some of the criteria below reasonably well and/or meets all of them rather weakly.
Minus = meets few of the criteria below or meets some of them, but very weakly.
Criteria:
- Your essay should have at least a general thesis, evident early on and throughout.
- Your thesis should be supported with details and examples.
- Your essay should show informed thinking about Sanders' work, drawing on the Power Point documents and websites you've viewed.
- Your essay should comment on what Sanders' work suggests for your own portrait.
- Paragraphs should be well-developed and unified, with helpful transitions.
- Sentences should be edited for stylistic and mechanical flaws.
