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| Photojournalism Related Subjects: Visual & Performing Arts, English-Language Arts Grades: 9-12 Medium: Photography, Mixed Media Author: Vivian Kung Haga, Museum of Photographic Arts Class time required: Two 60-minute class sessions  read/post
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 A photograph can tell a story about events, people, places, and situations. Photojournalists are usually assigned by newspapers and magazines to take a variety of photographs related to an event. Their photographs are often accompanied by captions that explain the photograph. In this lesson students will choose a historical or present-day event to portray through photographs. The students will narrate this event with photographs and text to communicate its significance in history or our current daily lives. back to top   • Newspapers or magazines or photographs the students have taken • Paper • Glue • Writing materials • Images Online Materials
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• Familiarize yourself with the work of photojournalists James Nachtwey and Don Bartletti. • Print the images listed above onto overhead transparencies. back to top 
Session One: 1. Look at the works of photojournalists such as James Nachtwey and Don Bartletti. 2. Ask your students the following questions: What type of images does he photograph? Why do you think he photographs these particular subjects? What is he trying to say with his photographs? 3. Ask your students to choose a significant event, or a series of events, in 20th century history or present-day. Using newspapers, magazines, books, the Internet, and other visual resources, have the students select 5-8 images that tell the story of that event or series of events. 4. Have the students cut the images from the newspapers or magazines or use their own photographs and paste the images onto separate sheets of paper. Session Two: 1. Ask the students to imagine they have just taken the images they have selected and their assignment is to write a short description, or caption, about the pictures. Have the students describe the scenes with concrete sensory details, paying particular attention to the feelings of the participants in this event. 2. Instruct the students to write reflective compositions explaining the significance of this historical or present-day event and how it has had an effect on their lives. Extensions English-Language Arts: Have the students read novels or non-fiction books set in the time period of the events portrayed in the photojournalism activity. Ask the students to analyze how the political, social, and philosophical influences of that time period shaped the characters, plot, and setting. back to top  • Another variation of this activity: after the students have selected their images, ask the students to exchange photographs so that they are working with images they have not seen before. • To extend the lesson, have students write an article to accompany their images. • Another assignment: Have the students research James Nachtwey and Don Bartletti or other photojournalists and write a composition comparing and contrasting their images. Discuss their vantage point and how they have captured the event. back to top  CA Content Standards Ninth-Twelfth Grade Visual Arts: 1.3 Research and analyze the work of an artist and write about the artist's distinctive style and its contribution to the meaning of the work. 2.6 Create a two or three-dimensional work of art that addresses a social issue. 4.1 Articulate how personal beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political contexts influence the interpretation of the meaning or message in a work of art. 5.2 Create a work of art that communicates a cross-cultural or universal theme taken from literature or history. Ninth and Tenth Grade English-Language Arts: 3.12 Analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period. (Historical approach) 2.2 Write responses to literature. 2.3 Write expository compositions, including analytical essays and research reports. Eleventh and Twelfth Grade English-Language Arts: 3.2 Analyze the way in which the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, using textual evidence to support the claim. 3.7 Analyze recognized works of world literature from a variety of authors. 3.8 Analyze the clarity and consistency of political assumptions in a selection of literary works or essays on a topic (e.g., suffrage, women's role in organized labor). (Political approach) 2.3 Write reflective compositions. Tenth Grade History-Social Science: 10.5 Students analyze the causes and course of the First World War. 10.6 Students analyze the effects of the First World War. 10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I. 10.8 Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II. 10.9 Students analyze the international developments in the post-World World War II world. 10.10 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China. Eleventh Grade History-Social Science: 11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty. 11.5 Students analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s. 11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government. 11.7 Students analyze America's participation in World War II. 11.8 Students analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America. 11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II. 11.10 Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights. 11.11 Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society. Twelfth Grade History-Social Science: 12.8 Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life. 12.9 Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. back to top  Photojournalism: Carlebach, Michael L. American Photojournalism Comes of Age. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997. Hopkinson, Amanda. 150 Years of Photojournalism. Volume II. Koln: Konemann; London: Hulton Deutsch Collection Ltd., 1995. Horton, Brian. Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Magnum. Magnum – Degrees. New York: Phaidon Press Ltd., 2000. Stevenson, Sara. Magnum’s Women Photographers. Munich: Prestel, 1999. Stolley, Richard B. LIFE – Our Century in Pictures. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1999. The Best of Photojournalism. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Book Publishers, 1977. James Nachtwey: Nachtwey, James. Civil Wars. Hamburg: Stern Gruner + Jahr AG, [1997?]. Nachtwey, James and Robert B. Stone. Deeds of War. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1989. Nachtwey, James. Ground Level: Photographs by James Nachtwey. Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts College of Art, 1997. Nachtwey, James. Inferno. London: Phaidon, 1999. Parrish, Fred S. Photojournalism: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002. Nachtwey, James. War Photographer, prod. and dir. Christian Frei, 96 min., Christian Frei Filmproductions. 2001, dvd. PBS Online A conversational interview with James Nachtwey regarding the book “Inferno” that details his work as a war photojournalist during the period 1990-2000. US News.com Article entitled: “Image Makers: The photojournalist is a witness, an adventurer, an interpreter of history. And for the past half century, Magnum photographers have defined the craft.” FaheyKlein Gallery Images of photojournalist James Nachtwey throughout the world. John Paul Caponigro Conversation between John Paul Caponigro and James Nachtwey that appeared in Camera Arts magazine in June/July 2000. Don Bartletti: Los Angeles Times – Enrique’s Journey Read the story and view the photographs about Enrique’s journey to find his mother in the United States. Don Bartletti traveled with Enrique and followed him on his journey from Central America through Mexico and the border into the United States. Bartletti won the Pulitzer Prize for this amazing story in 2003. back to top |
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James Nachtwey American, b. 1948 Bagdad, Iraq, March 2003 Archival ink jet print, AP, 2003 Collection Museum of Photographic Arts Gift of the artist 2004.014.001 |
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