NARRATIVES (Yr 11)

What is NARRATIVES IN PHOTOGRAPHY?

Narratives is an old Exam question I like to focus on, as it gives students an exciting and create opportunity to explore more contextual elements of Photography. Narratives allows students allows students to create a 'story' in their work and allows them to explore both physical and digital editing techniques, as well as looking at wider influences from the artworld for inspiration.









THINGS TO think about

When looking at narratives in photography there are various things we need to consider...

These things include what artist we are looking at for influence, how we take the picture, where we take the picture, why we are taking the picture, what do we want the picture to say or show, what lighting we use, how we set the camera and many more things!

Things to consider when shooting portraits:

Studio space, Location, Colour images, Black and White images, Tone, Lighting, Shadow, Shooting Angle, Framing, Story you want to tell, Hair, ​Clothing - so much more

Single Frame NArratives

A shadow is like a photograph of ourselves, an image made by light (and the absence of it). Photographers are particularly sensitive to effects of light and so have long been interested in their own shadows. Experiment with your own Shadow Selfies, exploring a variety of effects and compositions.

Multi frame narratives

Artists like David Hockney, with his Joiners series, have experimented with the idea of multiple viewpoints to create a combination photographic work of art inspired by Cubism. As well as adding several pictures together, artists have also tried cutting through layers of pictures to reveal others underneath. Experiment with your own Cubist Selfies.

use of text to aid the narrative

Associated with the Disguised Selfie, there are several examples of photographic Selfies in which the subject's face is obscured. This effect is a special feature of photography that doesn't feature so much in painting. The camera flattens three dimensional space so that something in the foreground can appear to be on the same level as something else in the background. Of course, some of the obscuring can be done after the fact. Look at these examples and then experiment with making your own Obscured Selfies.

MESSAGE BEHIND THE NARRATIVE

Artists like David Hockney, with his Joiners series, have experimented with the idea of multiple viewpoints to create a combination photographic work of art inspired by Cubism. As well as adding several pictures together, artists have also tried cutting through layers of pictures to reveal others underneath. Experiment with your own Cubist Selfies.

Tasks:

For this project you are expected to complete the following tasks:

THEAME

  • SPIDER DIAGRAM

  • COLLAGE

ARTIST STUDY 1

  • SHOOT PLAN

  • CONTACT SHEET

  • EDITS

  • FINAL IMAGES

ARTIST STUDY 2

  • SHOOT PLAN

  • CONTACT SHEET

  • EDITS

  • FINAL IMAGES

OWN EXPERIMENTS

​FINAL SERIES

Visit our Pinterest site for more inspiration: