In this assignment, you will create stock photos — also called photo illustrations — to represent a topic from multiple viewpoints and demonstrate Photoshop editing techniques.
Every photo created by a person has a point of view. All photos represent an act of judgment on the part of the photographer, who decides where to point the camera and what to include in the frame.
In photojournalism, staging photos or manipulating them after they’re taken is a serious ethics violation if the photo is meant to show candid truth. However, there is also value in photos that are staged or heavily edited, particularly in representing symbolic meaning. These photos are typically called stock photos in commercial photography or photo illustrations in journalism.
Resources for this assignment:
For this assignment, you are going to create four photo illustrations or stock photos to represent a concept in both a positive and negative way. You will write captions and citations for your own work, including a Creative Commons license if you want to make your work available for other people to use.
These two stock photos both depict working mothers, but one has a positive perspective while the other shows a negative perspective.
Millennials — tech-obsessed in a negative way, or tech-savvy in a positive way?
1. Think of a group that you identify with that is associated with both positive and negative stereotypes. This might have to do with your personal characteristics, appearance, ethnicity, age, religion, hometown, social affiliations, occupation, hobbies, etc. (“College students” is a good option if you’re unsure.)
2. Enlist someone to be a model in a stock photo shoot. Think about how to portray your topic in a positive light and a negative light. You will submit two positive photos and two negative photo, but you should take many photos so you can choose the best ones.
3. Edit each of your four photos in Photoshop to enhance the intended message.
Example: Toning and editing choices in Photoshop affect the overall mood or meaning of an image. In this case, the same image looks different with just a few adjustment layers.
4. In a word document, write captions and citation for each of your four photos.
For example, a photo caption and citation might look like this:
College Student with Positive Study Habits, by Jane Smith, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
My friend Taylor Nguyen, a WSU student, works on organic chemistry homework at Thomas Hammer Coffee on Saturday afternoon.
Submit the following to Canvas by uploading the files with your submission:
Demonstrated Skills: