I am again working with an intro photography class this semester. There are 35 students in the class and there is a mix of 11th and 12th grade students. The students range in ability. I have a handful of special education students and even more gifted students. Because of the number of special education students I have a parapro helping me in the class this semester. All of the students have already taken Art I and I already have an established relationship with most of them. They are a good group. They have a lot of energy and they are a big class but overall they are good kids.
The intro photography course consists of the students working in pairs with the cameras in class. The cameras that I teach with in the course are Nikon D3000s. I have a few students who have their own DSLRs which is great and I'm getting to learn about their cameras this semester. The first half of the semester is more technical. We spend a lot of time learning about the different modes and settings on the camera and and mastering their skills. We also deal with composition a lot in the beginning. The second half of the semester is more artistic and about style.
I was really struggling with figuring out a big idea especially since the class is so technical in the beginning. There are several portrait assignments and self-portrait assignments throughout the semester and my initial thought was to for the big idea to be portraits, but Mary lead me in a better, broader direction and suggested that my big idea be Identity, which was perfect. The concepts that we will work with will be based on composition, elements of art, camera techniques and lighting. As far as images go to VTS we will of course look at mostly portraits that convey a sense of identity. I want to use an image that I used last semester by Eugene Smith of a Doctor to begin with. The studio activities will include several portrait and self-portrait photography assignments. I am thinking about a cast shadow portrait and maybe a blurred motion portrait in addition the assignments that I currently have in the curriculum.
I certainly don't have this all perfectly figured out yet. This has been a crazy semester so far but I'm looking forward to VTSing with this group of students that I have and seeing their photographs this semester.
