Visuals and Narratives

Grade levels:
9 - 12

Duration:
Minimum one 45-minute classroom period

In this lesson, you will put all those skills into use in a final project. You can create single or multi-panel photographs and you are invited to tell imaginary or nonfiction stories with your work. You will have the opportunity to plan your project. This lesson also re-emphasizes the ideas of topic and theme in visual narratives and helps you with planning your narrative. You will analyze photography as a group, looking for details and building up possible topics and themes.

You will create a visual narrative using photography skills and literary or informational text.

Vocabulary

Cause and Effect

In writing, when an author explains something that has happened, and gives reasons for the event or circumstance.
Chronology, or Sequence of Events

The key things that happen in a text. Events should proceed logically from each other to provide a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Climax

The peak of a story. The main event in which the main character faces the problem or conflict.
Compare and Contrast

A technique that explores similarities and differences between two or more things.
Detail

A word, phrase or sentence that is unique and memorable. Good details activate the senses to help the reader see, hear, smell, touch, or taste what’s being described. A detail can convey information about any element of a story, and ideally supports the theme as well.
Events

The key things that happen in a story. Events should proceed logically from each other to provide a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Genre

Categories of literature in both fiction and nonfiction, based on the type and purpose of writing. Examples in narrative fiction include poetry, prose and drama. Sub-genres include literary fiction; epics, fables and fairy tales; mystery, crime, horror, thriller and suspense; historical fiction; romance; Westerns; and science fiction and fantasy.
Informational Text

Nonfiction text written with a form that is not story-driven is called informational text. Examples include lists, directions, textbooks, and how-to books.
Narrative Fiction/Imaginative Narrative

A sequence of connected, imaginary events; a story.
Narrative Nonfiction

Text about true events written using the form of a story is called narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction often uses a chronological structure.
Pacing

Classic story structure begins with an inciting event, followed by rising action, a crisis, a climax, and resolution.
Point of View

The perspective of the author; and how they convey the story events.
Problem

The conflict that is central to a story. Conflicts are typically internal (character vs. self) or external (character vs. outside forces).
Resolution

The conclusion of a story’s plot, in which questions are answered and loose ends are tied up.
Sequence

A sequence of photographs is intended to be viewed in a particular order. To build the story, the viewer begins with the first image and continues in the order prescribed by the artist.
Series

In contrast to a sequence, a series denotes multiple images related by a theme or idea, which may be viewed in any order.
Setting

The place and time of a narrative. Often used to set mood and introduce problems.
Subject

The people in the story. The key character is the protagonist (or main character), who embodies, experiences and/or drives the central conflict of a story. Every protagonist needs an antagonist, which is the person or thing the main character is contending with. Secondary characters support the events of a story.
Text Features

In writing, added design elements that convey further information. Examples include photographs, captions, maps, timelines, charts, and infographics.
Theme

The central message of a story, as differentiated from the topic of a story. Stories usually have a topic and a theme. For example: In Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, one might say the topic is “Four sisters growing up in a household in 19th-century Massachusetts;” and the theme is “Learning to balance familial duty with personal growth.”
Topic/Main idea

A summary of the major thought or point of a written passage. A text may have multiple major ideas; readers infer the main idea of the entire passage by looking for the most repeated or referenced ideas of the text.

Introduction

The questions for inquiry at the center of this lesson include:By tapping into larger questions or truths, great storytelling affects an audience beyond the impact of any given story’s characters, events, or details. A successful visual narrative should have responses to two questions:

What is the story about? (topic?)
What is the story really about? (theme?)

The questions for inquiry at the center of this lesson include:

How do artists use visual elements and storytelling events in a visual narrative?
How do these elements work together to tell a story?
What is the difference between topic/main idea and theme? How does an artist convey a theme to an audience? How does an audience come to understand the theme of a work of art?

Set the Stage

Begin by looking at the image shown here, created by Anaya Wynters, a photographer from the Unshuttered teen program. Read the title, and answer the following questions.

Questions for Discussion:

What do you notice first about this image?
How would you describe the subject of this photograph?
What is the photographer’s point of view or perspective?
What details tell us about the subject or subjects of the photograph?
What can we tell about the setting or surroundings of the subjects?
Does the scene’s lighting tell aspects of the story?
Are there noticeable visual elements such as patterns or leading lines?
What is the effect of the title?
What do you think is going on in this photograph? What story is it telling you?
Why do you think the artist obscured some details of the subject?
What other questions does the photograph pose for you?
What do you think is the topic or main idea of the photograph, and why? Another way to state this question is: “What is this photograph about?”
What do you think is the larger theme of the photograph, and why?
Is this photograph a visual narrative? How so?

Discuss: Visual Narrative

*La frontera, Tijuana, México*, 1990, Graciela Iturbide, gelatin silver print. The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Graciela Iturbide

Next, we turn to a photograph from the Getty collection and analyze it as a visual narrative. Look at the image here. Or view the image on getty.edu. Read the title of the photograph as well.

Begin by taking a few quiet minutes to simply look at the photograph. What do you notice about the photograph?

Questions for Discussion:

What do you notice first about this image?
How would you describe the subject of the photograph?
What is the photographer’s point of view or perspective?
What details tell us about the subject or subjects of the photo?
What can we tell about the setting or surroundings of the subjects?
What do you know about the chronology and location where the images were created?
Composition: How is the photograph composed?
How do you feel when you look at this picture? How do you think the photographer wanted you to feel looking at this picture?
Is the photograph documentary or imaginative?
What questions does the photograph pose for you?
What do you think is the topic of the photograph, and why? Another way to state this question is: “What is this photograph about?”
What do you think is the larger theme of the photograph, and why? Or, what is this photograph really about?
Is this photograph a visual narrative? How so?

Further Context:

From the Getty webpage for this photograph, some more information about La Virgen de Guadalupe: “Some speculate that Mexico's indigenous Virgin of Guadalupe has roots in the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin. The characteristic wavy, pointed tendrils that surround her evoke rays of holy light. However, these are also thought to refer to something organic, namely the spiked agave plant, which Mexicans ferment into pulque, mezcal, and tequila—alcoholic beverages enjoyed on the Virgin of Guadalupe's feast day”. The image of La Virgen is additionally meaningful in the context of La frontera because migrants sometimes pray to her for protection on the journey. Regarding the subject of the photograph, he was later identified by family as Roque Rojas, who was working as a border guide at the time. [2] The artist says, “I think all photographers make documentary photography, but, afterwards, it all comes down to how each person interprets what they see, whether it has more or less poetry or imagination.” [3]

View Graciela Iturbide photographs in the Getty collection.

Exercise: Project Statement

For this exercise, you will create a project statement that includes the following:

an artist statement
an outline
a project plan

The goal of the project statement is to prepare you for your final project to create single or multi-panel photographs.

The most important elements of the project statement are:

The project topic or main idea of the photography project, which should answer the question, “What is this project about?”
The project theme should answer the question, “What is this project really about?” In thinking about a theme, you may wish to call back to the lesson titled Introduction to Visual Narratives: Definitions and Purposes:
- Exploring desire
- Revealing what lies beyond sight
- Influencing choices
- Creating and complicating history and memories

You can also revisit topics from other lessons in this series:

The principles of photography
The elements of narrative fiction, in particular:
- Author POV
- Theme
- Setting
- Characters
- Problem
- Events
- Resolution
- Telling Details
The elements of narrative nonfiction, in particular:
- Chronology
- Cause and effect
- Compare and contrast
- Pacing
- Text features

Read the Project Statement handout. [See Resources section.] Create your own statement. It is not necessary to use the exact format of the handout as long as the key elements are present. No drawing skills are necessary. Record ideas with photos, collage, simple drawings, or key words and phrases. As a group, share and discuss project statements.

Practice: Create a Visual Narrative

With project statements complete, it is now time to create your own visual narratives. When creating visual narratives with photography, “storytelling” can refer to single photographs, series, or sequences. You can create a single frame, a series of related frames, or a set of sequential frames. The key is to both “tell” and “show” a story. Use the project statement, the imaginative narrative storyboard, the mind map, or the narrative nonfiction storyboard as a starting point. Remind students of the tools at their disposal for setting their intention:

Project statement
Story outline
Mind map
Storyboard

If possible, doing this practice as homework will allow for more time to work on it.

Reflect

Share your final projects with your peers. It can be both exciting and intimidating. As a viewer, provide positive feedback to your peers.

Introduce your project:

Answer these questions to guide your presentation.

What is the title of your project, if any?
What was the inspiration of your project?
What tools did you use to plan your visual narrative?
What tools did you use to execute your plan?

Questions for Discussion:

What is the first thing you notice about the visual narrative?
What do you think might be the main idea or topic of the project?
How did the artist communicate the main idea of the story?
What do you think are some possible themes of the project?
What aspects of the story would you like to learn more about?
Are there any further opportunities to add major ideas or telling details to the story? Is there anything that would enhance the theme?

Reflect:

Answer the following questions on your own.