Through the Lens - Educational Resources

Level

Purpose

Materials

Procedure

1. Handout copies of A Guide for Looking and work through it together using one photograph as an example.

Have students choose an image they are drawn to and record their responses to questions in A Guide for Looking .
Then, ask students to put themselves into the photograph they’ve chosen – choose a point of view. Are you an object in the photograph, a person, something just outside the frame? The photographer? Be anyone/thing except yourself.
In writing, describe the scene from this new point of view. Use clues you can see in the photo to create a name and an identity for this character.
Determine who this character is: where they are from, who their friends/family are, what kind of mood they are in? What do they do for a living? What would they wish for? Use your imagination. It’s okay to invent as long as it is consistent with what’s going on in the picture.
Write a monologue or statement from your character’s point of view. It should give the audience a sense of who the character is. Research could be involved.
Prepare monologues for presentation to the class. They can be as polished or rough as time allows.
Do the monologues give the audience a new perspective on the photograph? Discuss what clues in the photograph led to specific aspects of the monologue.

Evaluation

Curriculum Connections