ARTS 105

NON-TRADITIONAL SELF-PORTRAIT ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

OVERVIEW
As a way to engage both the historical and current trends of photography, students will explore
the concept of the self–portrait in a contemporary manner. Traditionally, a self–portrait is
defined as a portrait of an artist produced or created by that artist. In today’s culture, our society
has become fascinated with “selfie” portraits. For this assignment, we will explore the idea of the
self–portrait in a non–traditional manner.
INSTRUCTIONS
You will create a series consisting of four photographs that depict and portray who you are as an
individual without photographing your face. This can be achieved by photographing places,
activities, people, objects, or anything else that represents who you are as an individual. For
example, I make art, am married and have 2 children, live in Virginia, and have a dog. If I were
to take a picture of each example, this would be a non–traditional self–portrait photographic
series of my life.
Required Materials: Digital Camera
1. Read: Turn to the section titled, “Photography and Art”.
2. Brainstorm: Think about your life and how you could represent yourself in a photograph
without actually photographing yourself. You might want your photographs to be in color,
black and white, or a combination of the two.
3. Compose: Using your digital camera, take four separate photographs of your chosen
imagery.
4. Write: Write a short paragraph that explains your non-traditional self-portrait series and how
your photographs represent you.
5. Upload: Upload your four photographs and written statement to Canvas under the
appropriate area for this assignment.
Neatness and Craftsmanship: Your work should be neat and clean. Be sure that your photographs
are in focus, straight, and cropped perfectly around all edges.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.