Principles of Art in Photography

Principles of Art in Photography

Objective: Students will come to know and understand the basic principles and elements of art through the medium of photography.
Measurable Outcomes:

Materials Needed: 1 Digital Camera per/two students, Photoshop or other editing program, computer for each student, a networked color printer and a portfolio for each student .
Time Frame: One quarter
Measurable Outcome: Students will display their assignments in a portfolio to visually show that they understand the concepts taught.

Lesson Plans: (Note: each session may take up to two weeks as needed and time dictates)
First session: Start out the semester by giving students the following class syllabus:
Class Syllabus
1. Use of line in Photography
2. Looking for shapes, form and space in photography
3. Photographing texture
4. Defining and photographing balance
5. What is the rule of thirds?
6. Movement and Rhythm

Explain that the class will come to study the elements and principles of art through photography. Teach students how to use the digital cameras including deleting unwanted images, shutter speed, various settings, zoom etc.

Second Session:
Introduce the idea of line in a picture. Talk about what a line is, angles of a line, thickness and thinness and emotions demonstrated by various lines.
Have students take a hike/walk around the campus and photograph images that illustrate the use of line. Have them find a line that illustrates, anger, sadness, hope, joy, power, weakness and softness. Have them down load their images onto the computer and then manipulate them to reemphasize the emotion. Have them label each emotion and print the image. Save the images in their portfolio.

Third Session: Show examples of images that use shapes, form and space. Talk about rests in music and how necessary the rests and timing are in order to make the music. Transfer this idea into art and talk about how important negative and positive space is. Have students photograph 5 examples of shape and 5 examples of form. Each must have space included as an important part of the picture. Download and enhance the images as necessary with Photoshop. Print the best 4.

Forth session: Pass around a paper bag that contains various objects of different texture. Have students write down what the items in the bag are without looking in the bag. They may only feel them. Show examples of images that display various textures. Have students talk about how texture is important in their life. How does food texture make a difference? How does fabric texture affect them? How does the texture of their clothing affect them? Have them photograph 10 different textures. Review how to focus in on close up images. Down load the images onto the computer and have students use the “layer” effect on Photoshop to combine two or more images together to make the feeling of various textures.

Fifth Session: Discuss the use of a teeter-totter. Explain that in order for the teeter-totter to work it has to have “balance”. Talk about how the same principle applies in art. How pictures need to have objects that balance them out. Talk about the difference between symmetrical and unsymmetrical pictures. Have students photograph 5 pictures that are symmetrical and 5 that are unsymmetrical. Have them down load the images onto the computer and then change one that is symmetrical to one that is unsymmetrical.


Sixth Session: Talk about the rule of thirds. Use the example of a family as a means for explaining this rule. Explain that just like the father who is usually the largest person in the family, a picture should have one section that takes up the larges portion of the picture. This might be the foreground, the sky a tree etc. Then explain that the next section is like the mom. Not a large but a bit smaller. The last or remaining section should be like a baby in the family. (The smallest section.) Have students photograph 10 examples of the rule of thirds. Download them and then insert a part of a previous picture onto one of their pictures in enhance it in some way.

Seventh Session: Talk about movement and rhythm in a picture. Show examples of movement in a picture. Talk about the difference between still-life and action. Talk about the difference between random movement and rhythm. Listen to various types of music that exhibit movement and rhythm. Have students photograph in groups of 4 some kind of movement and some kind of rhythm.

Final Session: Look back at the seven elements of art that have been covered in class thus far and have students create a photograph that combines 3 elements of art into one picture.