Documentary Photography Planning

Documentary Photography Planning

UWC, Dover - Grade 8 unit 3! 1

"Eye Through A Lens"Summative TaskYou are a documentary photographer and have been hired by EyeLens Magazine to create a photo essay. They trust your talented vision and have decided to give you artistic freedom in the subject you choose to document. Their only requirement is that you have a minimum of 9 photos for their magazine feature. What will be your story to tell? A photographic essay is a series of photographs which attempt to do one or more of the following: reveal, inform, entertain, persuade, or compare and contrast. Your photo essay should have a structure. When telling your story, include the following:

•A wide establishing shot•Close ups of activity•A decisive event or moment / candid shots

•Portraits (head-shots)•A concluding image

Planning SheetFor your photographic essay, potential subjects can be endless. You may be thinking, “Where do I begin?” You should select a topic that interests you, something you know well and something that is readily available to you. Think of your interests to identify potential projects.

Step 2: Select 3 concepts from above that interest you the most and brainstorm possible projects to investigate for that topic. For example, if you wrote down “people,” think about what types of people interest you: skaters, businessmen, street cleaners etc. If you wrote down “family,” think about what aspect interests you. You may wish to do a compare and contrast between your parents, a day in the life of someone, an activity or process. If you wrote down a locale, write some specifics such as food court/customers, types of businesses/products etc.

Concept 1: Concept 2: Concept 3:

Step 1: Think about broad areas of interest that intrigue you. This may be broad topics such as people, wealth, poverty, city life, family, friends, music or a locale. Write as many down as possible.

Name/Tutor:



Step 3: Now select three possible projects that you feel passionate about. These might be visually stimulating projects or emotionally engaging etc.

Step 4: Now daydream about these three topics and begin to visualise what your images might look like. Write down the visuals that come to mind. If you find that you are unable to visualise images for the subject, it may indicate that you need more time to explore the subject. We already know what things look like. The challenge is to reveal something beyond the obvious. This may include something like a wife tying a husband’s tie as he gets ready for work.

Project 1:What do you see?

Where are you?

Who is with you?

What actions define the moment?

How does the setting impact you?

Are there any specifics, objects, articles, clothing, colours, customs etc. that could be appealing to photograph? Is there anything that could connect to the senses?


Where are you?

Who is with you?







Where are you?

Who is with you?




As you go through this process, it should help you identify the breadth and depth of access you need. How can you also consider the following at this stage?

Project 1:•A wide establishing shot

•Close ups of activity

•A decisive event or moment / candid shots

•Portraits (head-shots)

•A concluding image











Name/Tutor:

FINAL PROJECT IDEA:



Decide on a final project. Remember, you need a minimum of 9 photos. Try to grasp an idea of possible photos you can take again, but also try to consider certain camera work you could include. Of course, depending on when you photograph and the opportunity available, all of this could change. What do you wish to communicate?

•A wide establishing shot


•Close ups of activity•A decisive event or moment / candid shots•Portraits (head-shots)







What story will you tell?

(Don’t forget about composition, balance, focal point,cropping,

framing etc.)

Documents

Documentary Photography Planning