Lesson One

John Thomson's China – Lesson 01, part two

Constructing a Photograph

Introduction
In Lesson 1 part two, students will consider the fifth C of the Five C's analysis method—“Construction”—regarding the photograph they analyzed in Lesson 1 part one; specifically, how photos are constructed and how construction integrates point-of-view and bias into photography.

Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, students will be better able to:

Apply an image analysis tool, the Five C’s, to read and interpret visual texts—in this case photographs.

Understand photography as a constructed medium that conveys information as well as point-of-view.

Analyze the choices that photographers make in constructing an image, and the impact of such choices on the story told in the photograph.

Time Required
One class period.

Materials and preparation
Monitor/projector
Image 01
Handout 01-A: “The Five C’s”
Handout 01-B: magazine assignment
Windows “To the Cloud” commercial

Procedure
1. If you have not done so previously, review the history of the Opium Wars and the concessions to foreign nations that were included in the treaty ending the first Opium War.

2. Explain that you are going to focus on the 5th C—“Construction.” Review “Construction” on the Five C's PowerPoint or handout 01A if necessary. Explain that in looking at “Construction” you are going to be paying a lot of attention to another C—choices. In a sense, construction is about the choices that the artist/photographer makes in constructing an image.

Tell students that it is certainly easier to construct “the perfect photo” now than in the 1860s or 1870s. Show students the Windows “To the Cloud” commercial. What does the mother do to get the photo she wants? Explain that her edits are all part of photographic “construction.”

Discuss other examples of construction students will recognize. Ask students to think about the simple choices they make when taking a photo—e.g., moving the camera around, trying to cut out something unwanted in the background or a person walking through a shot.

3. Distribute copies of Image 01, “Chinese House,” to students working in pairs. If you do not have access to a high-quality printer, it may be better to send students to a computer lab so that they can view the photo in high resolution. Ask each pair to examine the photo carefully and come up with three choices that they think the photographer made in constructing the image. Students might consider:

• Elements, objects, scenery that the photographer included in the image;

• Numbers of people, placement of people;

• Facial expressions—what are their expressions? Do they reflect emotion or feeling? did they say “cheese”? How do their expressions add meaning to the photo?

• Angle of shot—where did the photographer stand and how does this affect the photo?

Ask for volunteers to share comments.

Also ask the class to consider the inverse of this question—that is, what may have been cut out of this image by the way it was framed in the viewfinder or cropped (cut) afterwards by the photographer. Where did the photographer set the borders of his image? What might be beyond the borders of the picture that the photographer chose not to show?

4. Inform students that photographers often reframe or crop a photo to produce an effect or a message. Just as often, a publisher might reconstruct a photo to create a different effect, point-of-view, or message than the photographer intended. Each pair of students will experiment with this process by cropping and reframing Image 01-B. Review the meaning or message of the photo that concluded Lesson One part one, explaining that students will return to this meaning after they have reconstructed the photo.

This assignment is restated on Handout 01-B and can be printed or projected for students. As an optional criterion, teachers may choose to assign students to groups and give each group a different magazine assignment for their cropping exercise, such as:

A magazine for English women

A National Geographic-type travel magazine of the late-19th century

An architectural magazine, and so on.

Student instructions:

John Thomson’s photo of the Chinese family and house (Image 01) has been picked up by a magazine for publication. However, the magazine has strict size limitations; the photo must be cropped to fit in a 3" x 3" square space without reducing its size. You will have to make decisions about the most important part of the photograph and what you want the photograph to convey. Use graphic editing software such as Photoshop, or, if unavailable, paste your cropped photo on a sheet of white paper. Create a caption that conveys the meaning you have attached to the new framing.

5. Have students post their images alongside the original photo. Ask for several volunteers to share the caption of their new crop and to describe their choices in reconstructing the original photo.

6. Debrief the process with students. Discuss as an entire class:

• How was the original purpose of the photograph altered?

• How many different “messages” or “meanings” became possible simply by framing the photograph in a different way?

• How “realistic” are photographs?

Allow time for students to do a gallery walk to view all images before leaving class.

7. Exit card strategy. In order to ascertain what individual students understood about the lesson, teachers may choose to use the exit card strategy. Teachers should give each student an index card. Tell the students to answer the following questions briefly on the index card.

1. What was the most important visual literacy strategy you learned today?

2. What one question do you have?

3. What would you like to know more about?

Students should complete their answers and hand the cards to the teacher before exiting.

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