Photography and Pedagogy

I have always enjoyed doing what I refer to as conceptual photography, this is where you need to depict a theme, topic, controversial subject or anything you may choose in a photograph. I think this could be used in teaching as it really evokes higher order thinking and personal reflection to link a topic to a photograph. The student would have to think about what the topic means to them, then use their imagination to decide what visual picture can be inspired by the thought. Finally some technical skill is required to produce an image that reflects what is in your minds eye.

 This photograph was taken with the view to shock the viewer.  The following techniques were used to achieve this; the background of the photograph was dramatised by making it red, the association with red is, pain, danger, beware and it is the colour that the eye is most drawn to after yellow. The second shock tactic was to position the subject in the middle of the photograph. Normally good composition is having the subject on a line of thirds, having the subject in the middle causes the viewer to feel uncomfortable. Words were added that state the obvious leaving nothing to the imagination of the viewer.

 Photography is a tool that can be used to teach visual thinking. Visual literacy is fast becoming a very important literacy in the 21st century.