Photographic essays
"A photo is a small voice, at best, but sometimes - just sometimes - one photograph or a group of them
can lure our senses into awareness. Much depends upon the viewer; in some, photographs can summon
enough emotion to be a catalyst to thought." – W. Eugene Smith
1) Go through these photo essay examples.
PHOTO ESSAY EXAMPLES:
• Nurse Midwife (W. Eugene Smith)
• New York City Coffeehouse (Dima Gavrysh / The New York Times - Lens)
• Gun Nation (Zed Nelson)
• What the World Eats (Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio / Time)
• Last Supper (2004; Celia A. Shapiro/Mother Jones)
• Magic in the Nearly Forgotten Mailbox (Kristoffer Tripplaar / The New York Times)
2) Briefly summarize the intention(s) behind the artists’ photographic works.
3) Use the examples you just saw to give a definition of a photographic essay.
4) In the list, choose a photo essay you want to focus on. What types of shots can you find in
this photo essay? Try to list and describe them.
In a photo essay, variety is key. The first few images are especially important and often include a
combination of different types of shots.
5)Final task
You are going to create a photo essay.
It can be a:
• ‘Day-in-the-life-of’ photo essay • ‘Behind-the-scenes’ photo essay
• ‘Local life’ photo essay • ‘Local event’ photo essay
o Your aim is to tell a story with your photographs (minimum 5 – maximum 8).
o Follow your instinct and be as creative as you want.
o You will need to use a variety of types of images (angles, shots, lighting, composition).
o Each photo must have a smart and relevant title and a consistent caption that will support
your visual narrative. Your caption should follow the rules of “how to write a good caption”
and should, if it is relevant, point at the type of angle/shot/lighting/composition you chose.
o You will also give your photo essay a global title.
à due May 6th
Skills Assessment
o Very good pro7iciency
Writing: vocabulary command / grammatical structures / syntax / spelling
o Good pro7iciency
o Average pro7iciency
à I can use tools to write, correct and modify one's writing.
o Weak pro7iciency
Task performance:
• I can create a photo essay following the methodology.
• I can tell a story with photos. o Very good pro7iciency
• I can write complete captions in the correct format. o Good pro7iciency
• I can give relevant titles to my photos and photo essay. o Average pro7iciency
o Weak pro7iciency
à I can rephrase a message, report, tell, describe, explain, argue.
à I can apply cultural knowledge to describe real or imaginary characters and tell
stories.
Methods, tools and creation:
• I can take a variety of photos with various shots, angles, lights, compositions,
etc. o Very good pro7iciency
• I can be creative and use what I learnt in class to produce an ef7icient photo o Good pro7iciency
essay. o Average pro7iciency
à I can use digital tools to create a production (scientiCic, artistic, experimental,
o Weak pro7iciency
multimedia document, etc.).
à I can practice various artistic languages in connection with the knowledge of
works and the processes of creation.
