Capturing the Moment
Module 1, Activity 7.1 - Photojournalism Introduction
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:

In this lesson students go on a virtual field trip to view the work of award winning photojournalists. They will also read about how difficult it can be to take the right photograph, and what a dramatic effect the right photograph can have. In the end, they will start to define the role of photography in journalism through the examples they have seen.

Resources:

- Internet connection
- Additional resources are available in the links page under Photojournalism and Layout and Design. They include additional galleries of great work and an interactive quiz that extends student understanding of the role of an image.

Activities:

Task One - Virtual Field Trip
Have your students go to the digital museum called the Newseum and view their pages on Photojournalism. As a group, you might choose to look at one of the individual shows like the one on female photojournalists.

Please note that this site requires a flash plug in. If you cannot see the site properly, you can click on the link at the bottom of the Newseum page to get one. If you are working with very low Internet bandwidth, the site will likely take a long time to load.

Students are using inductive reasoning to determine what photojournalism is. They should view at least 3 galleries before making a decision so they have a large sample size.

Once students have viewed all three sets of slides, ask guiding questions designed to help students identify commonalities between the photos. These commonalities become the generalities that the definition is based upon. Once students decide what photojournalism is, have them record their definitions in their notebooks. As you discuss the definition, ensure that students include the basic elements of all stories and images of news including purpose, point and intended audience.

Task Two - Point of View
Have students read the article linked to below and then return to this page.
Abortion - by Mark Hertzberg

After reading article, students should work with a partner on the guiding questions on the student page for this lesson.

Instructional Strategies:

Task 1 - Virtual Field Trip (experiential)
Task 2 - Guide for Reading (direct)
Task 3 - Guided Imaging (experiential)

Task Two Continued. . .

1. Why was the story a difficult one to cover?
2. What made the story news?
3. How did the photographer decide which photo to select?
4. What is the purpose of photojournalism?

Task Three - Guided Imaging

One of the most famous pictures from the War in Vietnam is a photograph of Kim Phuc. Have students read one of the articles on the student page for this lesson.

After reading the article, students do an image search on the Internet for one of two other images from the same time period:

1. Eddie Adams' photograph of Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting a suspected Viet Cong collaborator in the head, taken February 1, 1968.
2. John Filo's image of Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of Jeff Miller from May 4, 1970

Using the article and a modified version of guiding imaging explained in the student lesson, students have the opportunity to experience the power of photojournalism for a third time. At the end of task three they should revise their definitions in their notebooks by recording at least three ways that photojournalism tells a story differently than news writing does. They should also write down three roles that the photograph has other than telling a story.

Assessment and Evaluation:

The role of the teacher in this lesson is that of a guide. The teacher shepherds students through a variety of written, audio and visual experiences as the students construct meaning for themselves. As your students struggle with various concepts, try rephrasing their arguments and saying them aloud so students can test their ideas verbally. The resources section also contains items that you can use to further develop student understanding.