Project 12: Photographer Research Project



Kōzō Miyoshi (Japanese, b. 1947)
Seligman, Arizona, 1993
© Kōzō Miyosh


DESCRIPTION

This project is a little different than some of the others we have been working on. In a concerted way, you are going to research a significant photographer and present your research to the class. By learning about the work of other photographers we find inspiration for our own work and see how our visual sense has been influenced by the work of others.

This is a self-paced research project with a PowerPoint as the largest part of this assignment. You are going to pick a photographer from a list and then begin the process of finding out all the information about him or her you can. There are some basic requirements for the project:

REQUIREMENTS

Slide 1: A title slide

Slide 2: A biography of your photographer which must include:
  • Where and when they were born
  • Education
  • Where his/her work appears (publications/newspaper/magazines/museums)

Slide 3: What style of photography he/she is known? Explain what that style is about.
  • Early influences on the photographer-where do they get their inspiration?
  • Any Unusual or interesting facts about the photographer

Slides 4-10: Six (6) different images (one picture per slide) made by your photographer Each photo must include a title, where it was taken, and the year. Answer the following question for each photograph on the same slide:
  • What ELEMENTS of ART (line, color, shape, form, value, space, texture) are predominate in each photo? Describe them.
  • What PRINCIPLES of ART (balance, harmony, pattern/rhythm, unity, contrast, proportion, variety, movement) are predominate in each of the photos?
  • What is the main subject of the photograph? How can you tell?
  • Explain HOW the composition works to make the photo so striking? Think lines, lighting, rules of thirds, texture, etc.
  • What is the photographer trying to communicate in the photograph? Is there a story?
  • Why did you select this photograph as opposed to any other?
Slide 11: You must include a slide containing citations for both the photos you used and the research you completed. You must give credit to the sources you used. I’ll share the format for this BIBLIOGRAPHY slide in a later post.
 

PHOTOGRAPHER LIST

Gordon Parks 
Danny Clinch 
Edward Weston 
Ansel Adams
Cindy Sherman 
Diane Arbus 
David Lachappelle
Imogen Cunningham
Eliot Porter 
Alfred Eisenstadt 
Linda McCartney 
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Robert Frank 
Mary Ellen Mark 
Dorthea Lange 
Arnold Newman
Steve McCurry
Joe McNally 
Tristian Savatier 
Robert Capa
Paul Strand 
Richard Avedon 
Irving Penn 
Weegee
Nigel Barker 
Dawoud Bey 
Man Ray 
Kozo Myioshi
Alfred Stieglitz 
W. Eugene Smith 
Sebastiao Salgado