In this assignment, you will create stock photos — also called photo illustrations — to represent a topic from multiple viewpoints and demonstrate Photoshop editing techniques.
Photo Illustrations
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.
- Since these are stock photos, you are allowed to stage these photos or set up scenes. You have full control, so carefully consider your backgrounds and lighting.
- A person must be included in all four photos. But you can use creative framing or lighting to omit faces if your model has concerns about being identifiable in the photographs.
- Think about light, composition and focus for high-quality images. Use different angles, both vertical and horizontal shots, close and far, etc.
- Consider how both the subject of the photo and the way it’s taken can make a photo have a more positive or negative perspective. The distinction can be subtle, but should be a noticeable contrast.
3. Edit each of your four photos in Photoshop to enhance the intended message.
- You must use adjustment layers to improve the exposure of your images.
- You should use adjustment layer techniques to enhance your message, such as using more vivid Saturation for a positive photo or a darker, high-contrast effect for a negative photo.
- Optionally, you can use other Photoshopping manipulation techniques that are not allowed in photojournalism, such as removing or adding elements.
- Resize: Save a copy of each of your photos in .jpg format, sized to 1500px on the longest edge.
- Rename: The file name should include the keyword or topic that you’re representing.
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 each photo, write a title that describes the intended idea you are representing and a one-sentence caption that factually describes the date, location and subject.
- The citations should be formatted as [Title], by [Author], [License] as in previous assignments, though in this case you are the author and you get to choose the license. You can choose a specific type of Creative Commons license or you can use “All Rights Reserved” for a standard copyright. You can choose a different license for each photo if you’d like.
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.
Submitting Your Work
Submit the following to Canvas by uploading the files with your submission:
- Your Photoshop .psd files showing your editing process with layers
- Your four photo illustrations in .jpg format (1500px on the longest side)
- Your text document with captions and citations
Demonstrated Skills:
- Understand and apply visual symbolism and stereotypes to represent an abstract concept
- Take staged photos that demonstrate planning and intentional use of light and composition
- Successful improvement of photo exposure and color in Photoshop and use of adjustment layer techniques for more expressive purposes
- Apply copyright licensing concepts to your own work as a photographer/content creator