Explore the technical and fundamental skills of narrative photography and cultivate a personal style.
Overview
- Essential Question: How can I tell my own story through narrative photography while also mastering the basics of the craft?
- Area of study: Photography/Arts
- Type and amount of credit earned: 3 elective credits total (2 for entire trimester, 1 for a half of a trimester)
- Community partner: none – student requested a self-directed experience
Competencies
Winnacunnet uses the same set of competencies for all elective ELOs to help build and assess common and critical soft skills. The student also established goals specific to this ELO:
- As an art form and as human expression I’d like to learn, then master, and finally capitalize all of the technical and fundamental skills of photography in order to fully express my “artistic expression”.
- Refine and cultivate my “style”.
When ELOs are created for elective credit within a content area, Winnacunnet uses competencies in that specific content area to assess the student in addition to the ELO-specific competencies below:
- Reflection, Research, Product, and Presentation
- Communication
- Self-direction
- Creativity
- Collaboration
See the ELO details for the full text of these competencies.
Student activities
- Produce a weekly photo series containing two or more photos, where the photos are sufficient envocation of emotions or ideas. Include either a technical skill write up, or a reflection of the image or its process and the story it tells.
- Each week, focus on a different technical skill: negative space, color, simplify, repetition, rule of space, depth, patterns, lens types and lengths, focal length, drive modes, autoexposure-lock and autofocus-lock.
- Write weekly reflections that include:
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- inspirational aspects
- descriptions of before, during, and after
- a theme to accompany the emotions invoked by the photo
- literary and cultural influences
Community Partner
For this ELO, there was no formal community partner, as the student wished to engage in a personal project-based learning experience. The ELO Coordinator served as the community partner to help the student set goals, connect to resources, and give feedback on work.
Assessment
The student’s final product was to create an e-book using BookCreator. The product provided an opportunity for the student to put all the weekly photo assignments and reflections into a narrative, so the student began working on the final product with four weeks left of the trimester.
The student presented to friends and teachers to practice communicating the technical aspects of the photography, and the narrative elements found in the individual reflections and final product. The final presentation also allowed for the student to communicate reflections on successes, struggles, and how they plan to use this learning going forward.
The student’s final research component was to create an annotated bibliography of photo works that influenced his work, as well as instructional materials related to the technical aspects of each weekly series.
Student demonstrated mastery of competency through these activities and was graded on the ELO Summative Rubric (see sidebar). Formatively, through weekly check-ins with ELO Coordinator, the student was graded on their ability to self-reflect and set goals.
More information
This student wished to take a bridge year and travel before higher education, and planned to use the technical and narrative skills learned in this ELO to document his journey.
Students engaging in this ELO should definitely take any photography classes offered at the school as a prerequisite. This ELO could be used as independent study of photography skills after course offerings have been exhausted. Additionally, to support the student’s work in either the technical skills or the narrative development, an option to involve a photography teacher or English teacher would allow the student to work towards competency and earn elective credits within each of those departments.
This ELO was submitted by Matt Long, ELO Coordinator, and Donna Couture, Director of Extended Learning, Winnacunnet High School. Email ELO Coordinator for more information
May 2025
