Abstract Portraits

Abstract Portraits

The Bauhaus - from the Metropolitan Museum

Portrait of the Beloved - Peter

1.8 Advanced Students will be able to create an abstract portrait or self-portrait.
(Analyze the works of a well-known artist as to the art media selected and the effect of that selection on the artist's style.)

Your Portrait - A Picture of You

Is this my photograph? Is this my portrait? If one of my students had not given me permission to post this photograph, would I have been allowed to use it? 

When is it OK to plagiarize? Was Robin Hood a thief? Are pirates thieves? Are teachers pirates? Are pirates good or bad?

How similar are these three images? Does it matter? If I take one person's photo and I edit the image slightly, does the image become my image? Who owns the pirate image in the background?

Cartier-Bresson encouraged photographers to have their subject forget about the camera. Unfortunately, there is a disadvantage to his success. People believe that taking portraits is easy. Writers believe that taking pictures is easy. So what to writers do with pictures?

Writers will take your pictures and they will accuse you of plagiarism if you take their words. (Farleyism)

The Photo 1 students are taking their first portraits at the same time that the Advanced Photo students are photographing students from other groups. All my photo students are exploring Cartier-Bresson's apparently simple advice to portrait photographers. I helped the Photo 1 students. The Advanced Photo students chose location and subjects.

You will post five of your favorite photos. Share the blog link with the people you photograph. Comment on their post about your experience being photographed. DISCUSS HOW IT FELT BEING PHOTOGRAPHED AND PHOTOGRAPHING.

If you have completed your assignment, begin studying Walter Peterhans Portrait of the Beloved. Your next assignment will be similar.

4.5 Employ the conventions of art criticism in writing and speaking about works of art. 
5.2 Create a work of art that communicates a cross-cultural or universal theme taken from literature or history.

Post Script

After we took these photographs, I went to Washington, D.C. for the National Epilepsy Walk. While in D.C., I visited the National Portrait Gallery. Yesterday, Lens published a story about the new exhibit "American Cool." 

Sharing and Commenting

Sharing your work is an important part of being an artist.

Engaging in discourse with other artists is an important part of being an artist.

You will use the blogger comment section, to comment and ask questions of artists in other groups as well as the artists in your group.

For the first assignment, ask question about The Beatles/Eppridge project. Find one group in this class and ask questions. When you receive a question, reply.

For the second assignment, discuss with the other groups, The Unity Project.

For the third, find two groups in the other Advanced photo glass, and discuss The Beatles/Eppridge project.

For the fourth assignment, ask the remaining groups in the other Advanced Photo class and discuss The Unity project.

Group leaders, please share your link in the comment section so that other groups can contact you. Are you period 2 or 3?

I will also provide a bonus blog post from my personal blog so that students can create extra work for me and learn about my process. Here is the post. (Note: the post was created on March 11, 2014. This blog post was edited on March 12, 2014.)

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