PHOTOGRAPHY

A tool to capture memories forever!

CAN IT BE TAUGHT? OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE LEARN WITH TRIAL- ERROR

METHODS AND PLAYING AROND WITH OUR CAMERA?

FCOA | Ar. Shriram Lele | Ar. Sanket Khokale

4th Year B.Arch Elective 2020- 21:- Photography

INTRODUCTION:
I believe that Everyone has the capacity to interpret and create images, but a good curriculum
brings out the natural creativity of the students, builds their interpretative and technical skills, and
enhances their understanding of the power of photography to communicate their perspectives of
the world.

An intro question to all: Why did you all select photography as your elective this semester?

The 4 main aspects that I will be initially focusing on are:

⚫ History
⚫ Techniques & its evolution till date
⚫ Aesthetics
⚫ Practice

Using these four ingredients of history, technique, aesthetics, and practice as if every student is a
chef, add in history when the recipe needs a little base, technique when the sauce is too thin,
aesthetics for seasoning, and lest it all burns, remind students to keep stirring, to practice, practice,
practice.

Which will be followed by essentials like:

⚫ Demonstrate an understanding of basic digital camera functions.
⚫ Photography composition principles for different genres of photography
⚫ Show sample photographs and have an interactive session with students to understand their
grasping power and interpretation skills.

Course Objective: (As per instructor’s interpretation)

1. To show students some of my favorite photographs in digital form (shared on a blog, website,
etc.) These may be personal photos or those of famous photographers.
2. To ask students to notice what makes the photos visually strong and appealing. What
techniques have the photographers used to convey emotions, ideas, or information?
Encourage students to notice the use of color, various angles, zoom functions, etc.
3. To facilitate a discussion around a unit of study your class has been completing. How would
students like to document their learning using photography? They could take photos of
projects or presentations, interview sources and take their pictures, capture photographs of
related resources (for example, a life or earth science unit might inspire some outdoor
photos taken in the community or on a field trip), or take photos to document experiments or
experiences in and of school. Encourage students to be creative! Let the class know you will
consider their ideas for documenting learning with photography and develop the project
around their suggestions.
Course Sequence: (As per instructor’s interpretation)

Session A: Instruction

◼ History of cameras, photography as an art form and expression

◼ Camera types, lenses and its various uses- Intro
◼ Introduce aesthetics and techniques by presenting and discussing relevant photographic work
◼ Familiarize students with tools and techniques by showing examples and
demonstrating or practicing use
◼ Provide instructions on the camera as a tool, lighting, or printing
◼ Various types of cameras and lenses and where they are used (Ranging from 35MM film to
point and shoot, Polaroids, digital film cams and DSLRs- In detail

Session B: Practice

◼ Allow hands-on practice in techniques

◼ Guide students as they create images, working independently, in teams, or as a group (Field
trip at this point will be helpful)
◼ Provide opportunities for photographic field trips or studio shoots
◼ A field trip nearby Pune

Session C: Reflection

◼ Display resulting images so all students can see and review them
◼ Reflect on the results through discussion, writing, or a hands-on activity
◼ Edit images independently or in teams, write an artist’s statement, or make a final slide show

Extension Activities:

To encourage students to keep a digital scrapbook of their learning throughout the year. They can
take one photo for each major unit of study or project and compile them in a digital album online.

Explorations to be conducted in class/ outside:

1. Creating images:
a) Demonstrate the steps using point and shoot film/ digital camera
b) Choose a point of view
c) Focus and press the shutter
d) Finally, let there be an interactive discussion session looking at each others photos over
projector, trying to understand everyones interpretations

Assignment 1:
2. Click 5 pictures
3. Bird’s-eye view
4. Worm’s-eye view
5. Mystery view: Pretend you’re a different animal and take a picture from that
point of view
6. Your eye view

Assignment Analysis:
Put all the pictures on tables to discuss the various viewpoints using this as an
opportunity to categorize.
Put birds and worms on separate tables.
Put the eye view, the mystery, and the surprise in a row.
Discuss the images and let the students guess what kind of animal the mystery is.
Have them share their surprise image.
Discuss how point of view affects composition.

Assignment 2: Elements of Photography

Learning Objectives:

• Students will learn the basic elements of photography.

• Students will analyze what they see in photographs.
• Students will use new vocabulary.

What’s needed for this assignment?

1. A Landscape photograph
2. A portrait Photograph
3. A wildlife still and 1 in motion photo
4. A reflection/ water photograph
5. A food photograph
6. An industrial shoot photograph
7. An architectural photograph
8. A macro photograph
9. A wide angle/ fish- eye photograph

Lesson Steps:

Explain to students that this lesson will look at the basic elements a photographer keeps in mind
when making a photograph.

• Ask students to describe what they see in the photograph.

• Tell students that question words can be used in order to analyze photographs. Introduce the
vocabulary words and additional terms by relating them to the following question words:

1. Who is the subject of the photograph? Who made the photograph?

2. What is the subject of the photograph? What part of the subject is shown? (framing)
3. When did the photographer expose the light-sensitive material? (exposure) When was the
photograph made? (time period)
4. Where was the camera positioned? (vantage point) Where was the photograph made? (location)
5. Why was the photograph made? (documentary or artistic reasons)
6. How was the photograph made? (technique)

• Write the vocabulary on the board.

Ask students to describe what they see in the photograph.

• Ask students if they can identify different forms of decorative arts in the photograph.

• Ask students to analyze the photograph, using the question words and vocabulary words.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
• Have students cut out photographs from newspapers, magazines, etc., and discuss the subject,
vantage point, framing, moment of exposure, and lighting of the pictures.
• Distribute sheets of cardboard or paper to students and ask them to cut a rectangular space in
each sheet. Using the sheets as a viewfinder, have students experiment with framing different
subjects from different vantage points under different lighting conditions.