Making a Statement: COMPOSING A SUBJECT

ACTIVITY ONE:

Read FINDING HIS SUBJECTS, then answer in the spaces below.

Think about the community where you live. Where would you go to find a detail of nature in the following locations:

  • within walking distance from your home or school?

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  • in or near your town?

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What nature subjects would you hope to find at each location?

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If your photographs could tell people something important, what message would they tell?

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ACTIVITY TWO:

Artists use framing, angle of view, and light quality to make good pictures. Understanding these techniques will help you when you compose details of nature with a camera.
Read the definitions of framing, angle of view, and light quality on the Web page. Select one of Porter’s images in the “light quality” section that best shows each technique. In the space below each word, write the photograph’s title and describe why you chose it for that technique.

FRAMING:

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ANGLE OF VIEW:

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LIGHT QUALITY:

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Making a Statement: EXPRESSION THROUGH COLOR

ACTIVITY ONE:

STEP 1: Look at the black-and-white images on this page (these are modified Porter images). Select a photograph and write the title below. In the chart below, record what you can tell from the black-and-white image.

STEP 2: Move your cursor or pointer over the image, and it will turn to color. Go back to your chart and fill in the answers for the color version. How are your answers the same or different?

Title of image: ______________________________________

  Black and White Color
Which tells you the
time of year better?
Why do you say this? 		   
What colors do
you expect to see?
Which do you actually see?
    
How does the
mood change?

    
What else can you tell from
the color image that you
cannot tell from the black-
and-white version?
    

Making a Statement: THE PLACE NO ONE KNEW


Read about Porter's book The Place No One Knew and answer the following questions.

Look at all of Porter's images of Glen Canyon on the pages in this section. Select the one you like best and write your feelings about it. What message does the image tell you?

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Porter gathered his single images into books. This book project was meant to help save Glen Canyon from being flooded. Through a book, how can a photographer help people appreciate endangered places in the world?

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How does reading about Glen Canyon influence your thoughts about the images and about the canyon?

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Now, think of your own special place. How would you feel if it was flooded?

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What are some of the risks of showing people a beautiful place through a book or calendar and possibly attracting them to that fragile environment? (Use the back of this page if you need more room to write.)

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