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| Sunprints Related Subjects: Visual & Performing Arts, English-Language Arts Grades: 4-6 Medium: Mixed Media Author: MoPA Education Department Class time required: One 60-minute class session  read/post
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 Sunprints are photographs made without cameras. Technically called cyanotypes, they are made by placing objects directly onto light-sensitive paper and then exposing the paper to light. The resulting image is unique and shows white shapes against a blue background. In this one-session lesson, students will be introduced to Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) and will create sunprints. Using photographs from a variety of time periods, students will discuss and analyze the subjects, the time period, and photographers’ angles. Students will also record their ideas and reflections. back to top   • Paper and pencils • Sunprint kits • Black bag from Sunprint Kit • Large pan or deep trays to rinse sunprint paper • Objects (dried flowers, leaves, or other flat objects with a distinctive shape) • Visual Thinking Strategies • Images Online Materials
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• Familiarize yourself with Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). Read this overview of Visual Thinking Strategies written by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine at Visual Understanding in Education. • Print the images listed on overhead transparencies • Purchase enough sunprint kits for each student to have a sheet of sunprint paper. Read the directions so that you will be familiar with the process. • Have the students collect objects and cut shapes out of paper for their sunprints. Make sure each student has a few things to work with. • Fill the trays with water. back to top 
1. Begin a discussion with the students about photography: What is photography? Where have you seen photographs? Who has used a camera before? What do you like to take pictures of? Why do people take photographs? 2. Show the students one of the photographs. Ask the students the following questions: What’s going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can you find? After each student provides a response, acknowledge his/her response by pointing to the image and paraphrasing what he/she said. Continue this questioning for 5-10 minutes. 3. Have students select their objects and decide on a composition. (Tip: Have the students organize the objects on a piece of paper before going outside.) 4. Take the students outside with their objects and pencils. Keep the sunprints in the black bag until you are ready to use them. 5. Before giving each student a sheet of light-sensitive paper, emphasize that since the paper is light-sensitive, it will react to light as soon as it is removed from the black bag. 6. Make sure each student is ready with his/her objects and pencil. 7. Give each student a sunprint sheet.
10. Discuss with the students how the sunprint process worked. Talk about the various factors that affected the results: exposure time, brightness of the sun, how flat the objects lie on the paper, etc. (Relate it to a sunburn.) 11. With the students, have a discussion about the composition of the sunprints (negative/positive patterns, asymmetry/symmetry, etc.). back to top  • Sunprints can be purchased at the Museum of Photographic Arts bookstore, online, or in stores that sell educational toys and crafts. back to top  CA Content Standards Fourth Grade Visual Arts: 1.2 Describe how negative shapes/forms and positive shapes/forms are used in a chosen work of art. 2.6 Use the interaction between positive and negative space expressively in a work of art. 3.1 Describe how art plays a role in reflecting life (e.g., in photography, quilts, architecture). 4.1 Describe how using the language of the visual arts helps to clarify personal responses to works of art. Fifth Grade Visual Arts: 1.1 Identify and describe the principles of design in visual compositions, emphasizing unity and harmony. 2.4 Create an expressive abstract composition based on real objects. 3.3 Identify and compare works of art from various regions of the United States. 4.1 Identify how selected principles of design are used in a work of art and how they affect personal responses to and evaluation of the work of art. Sixth Grade Visual Arts: 1.2 Discuss works of art as to theme, genre, style, idea, and differences in media. 4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they perceive in works of art. 4.2 Identify and describe ways in which their culture is being reflected in current works of art. Fourth Grade English-Language Arts: 1.1 Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration in oral settings. 1.5 Present effective introductions and conclusions that guide and inform the listener's understanding of important ideas and evidence. 1.8 Use details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to explain or clarify information. Fifth Grade English-Language Arts: 1.1 Ask questions that seek information not already discussed. 1.5 Clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples. Sixth Grade English-Language Arts: 1.5 Emphasize salient points to assist the listener in following the main ideas and concepts. 1.6 Support opinions with detailed evidence and with visual or media displays that use appropriate technology. back to top  Teachers Technique: Oelbaum, Zeva. Blue Prints: the Natural World in Cyanotype Photographs. New York: Rizzoli, 2002. Photographer’s Tool Kit: Alternative Photographic Process, Part II Detailed explanation of the process of creating a cyanotype. History: James, Christopher. Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. Albany, N.Y.: Delmar Thomson Learning, 2002. Cyanotype History A brief history of the cyanotype process with images. A History of Photography: From its beginnings till the 1920s Essays on how photography began and information on some of the most significant processes used during the early days of photography. Includes an alphabetical list of significant people and their contribution to photography. Wikipedia A brief history of the cyanotype process and history. Visual Thinking Strategies: Vue: A Solution to Education’s Challenges Visual Understanding in Education (VUE) conducts educational research focused on aesthetic and cognitive development that results from interaction with art. Based on its findings, VUE develops programs for schools and museums, principally Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). Students Technique: Arnold, Caroline. Sun Fun. New York: Watts, 1981. Buckingham, Alan. Photography, DK Eyewitness Books. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2004. Bulloch, Ivan. Design. New York: Thomson Learning, 1994. History: Blankston, John. Louis Daguerre and the Story of the Daguerreotype. Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane, 2004. Ford, Carin T. George Eastman, The Kodak Camera Man (Famous Inventors). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2004 Strangis, Joel. Ansel Adams: American Artist With a Camera. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2002. Hands on History of Photography. Entries on the history of sunprints, pinhole photography and camera obscura. back to top |
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Sunprints 4th grade student San Diego, CA |
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