A lot of people fall into taking digital photographs of the same things over and over. They form a pattern of subject matter and it makes for boring artwork. I understand that working with novice photographers (elementary students) will require some extra “point and shoot” projects to acclimate them with their digital cameras, but directive driven assignments will help break those patterns.
We are currently taking an online class that has us taking photographs of things most of us would never have taken the time to observe. So far, we have looked for “hidden” images in wood grain. We blew up areas, making the real item hard to distinguish and we made fun of an everyday item. These ideas make a photographer look outside their lens before taking the ordinary pictures.
I like to take perspective photographs. By using something in the foreground that may lead in to the main subject, I am creating a visual image that draws the viewer’s eye to that subject. This would be one way I could use to break patterns of landscape or portrait photography. Another way would be to have my students “be” an animal, or insect. They would have to walk around and take photographs “through the eyes of…” whatever they wish they could be. What would it be like to be that fly on the wall? What does it see? Or, the butterfly that just landed on the tip of a flower?
Digital photography can be a lot of fun. After the initial costs of getting the cameras and programs, it is something that can be used over and over. The pictures can be manipulated, cropped and even deleted. This creates an endless supply of lesson ideas and those ideas will prevent patterns from being forged.
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