Service and Photography

In this lesson, you will explore how advocacy fits into the larger landscape of service to the community and others.

Key questions in this lesson include:

• What are the different but related forms of service?
• Where does photography fit in?
• When and how is photography advocacy?
• Can photography be service without necessarily being advocacy? And ultimately, what is your place in that picture?

Look at the photograph shown here. Or, download the image in the Resources section.

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you notice first about this image?
• What compositional and photographic elements do you notice, and why?
  • How is the photo framed?
  • How are the subjects positioned?
  • What do we notice in the foreground? Or the background?
  • Where might this have been taken?
• Who do you think the artist is portraying?
• Does the title, “My Support,” give us any clues? Do you think it refers to a subject in the photo, or to the things she has with her?
• If you think one of the subjects is a guidance counselor, what do you think the artist thinks or feels about her? What feelings or experiences does it call up for you? Do you think guidance counselors provide a social service?

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About the Photographer and Subject

Grecia Carey Ortega began taking photos in middle school with her dad’s camera and credits her time in the Getty Unshuttered Program as an opportunity to learn more of the technical skills. “I tend to focus on telling stories, whether it’s my own or others', about love, trust, forgiveness, and other themes. I use a lot of symbolism or the materials I have around me that have influenced me or reflect what I want to showcase in my photos.”

Now that you’ve looked at an example in which a student photographer communicates about helpers in a community, look at another example from the Getty collection. As you consider these images, think about how photographers use their work as an act of service in their communities.

Look at the photograph here. Or, view or download the image on getty.edu or in the Resources section.

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you notice first about this image?
• What do you think the photographer is interested in communicating about the subjects?
• Consider the following information about the photographer and the photo:
  • The title and date, Human Erosion in California (Migrant Mother), 1936, identifies the group as a mother and her children, experiencing hardship during the Great Depression. By “migrant mother” we understand the subject to be a migratory farmworker, from a community of workers who were particularly affected by the crisis.
  • Dorothea Lange made this photograph while working for the Resettlement Administration, a government agency dedicated to documenting the devastating effects of the Depression during the 1930s.
  • Within twenty-four hours of making the photographs, Lange presented them to an editor at the San Francisco News, who alerted the federal government to the migrants’ plight. The newspaper then printed two of Lange’s images with a report that the government was rushing in twenty thousand pounds of food for the workers.
• Does anything change when you know a bit more about the photographer and her assignment from the Resettlement Administration?
• Where is the line, with photography, between documenting and advocating? Is there a line?

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About Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange’s (1895–1965) poignant images of a mother and her children during the Great Depression depicted the hardships endured by migratory farmworkers. Within a day of documenting them, Lange presented her series to the San Francisco News. The newspaper published two of the images and reported that the federal government was rushing in food for the workers, underscoring the power of photography to move people to action.

View Dorothea Lange photographs in the Getty collection.

In this exercise, you'll map out some possible service opportunities using the Service Ideas graphic organizer. [See Resources section.]

First, choose one (or more) social justice issues, and show or describe examples of each type of service around that issue including direct service, indirect service, advocacy, and research and documentation. You may choose to complete the graphic organizer individually or in a group. If you work in a group, select an issue that everyone in the group feels comfortable discussing.

Once you've completed the graphic organizer, share the issues and examples of service that you wrote about with your class.

Think about the following questions as you listen to your peers share their ideas.

Questions for Reflection:

• What are your feelings regarding service and advocacy?
• Can you envision yourself in a service role?
• What are some of the obstacles to service?
• Have you done any service in the past?

Review photographic elements such as framing, foreground and background, and position and pose of the subject(s). The related photography skill videos listed under Resources also provide quick skill refreshers. Think about how you will apply these skills and understandings.

Next, make some photographs that shine a light on the types of service you observe in your community.

Continue your practice at home and in your neighborhood, taking the opportunity outside of class to incorporate these contexts from your daily life into your practice.

Sharing your work can feel vulnerable, so creating a safe space for sharing is important for this exercise. In small groups or with a partner, share one to three of your photographs. You may choose to speak about your intention with the photograph(s), or not. Alternatively, this exercise can be done on your own as an individual reflection.

Consider the following questions as you look at each others' photographs and think about what it was like to make them. As you discuss them with your peers, think about ways you can share positive feedback with them.

Questions for Discussion:

• What is the first thing you notice about the photograph?
• What is the photographer showing about service?
• Is the photographer documenting or advocating?
• Where do you see yourself, among the types of service? Do you think that might change over time, or depending on circumstances?
• What part are you most proud of, and why?
• What would you do differently next time?