writing

Photo Analysis Paper:

Length: 2,000 words or more. Please include images at the point in the text where you discuss them.

Are photographs mirrors of reality or rhetorical constructs? Lutz and Collins’ article “The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes” considers the ways that photographs shape viewer responses, functioning as persuasive texts rather than simple windows into the world or into history. Lutz and Collins see photographs in terms of the different implicit gazes they contain, including the photographer’s, subject’s, viewer’s, and magazine editor’s gaze.

Using the notion of the gaze as a critical lens, analyze the rhetoric of a set of photographs in which the photographer portrays a specific topic or culture/subculture to a target audience. Your paper should be directed towards an academic audience; think of this as a potential article for a journal in cultural studies or photography. To provide a critical and cultural context, you should draw on four or more sources, with at least two scholarly sources, and should include MLA in-text citations as well as a final Works Cited list.

In narrowing this down, you may, for example, focus on the work of a single photographer (such as Edward Curtis’ photographs of Native Americans), compare/contrast the work of two photographers responding to a similar topic (such as Dorothea Lange’s and Ansel Adams’ photographs of the Japanese internment), center on photographs related to a particular publication (such as magazine covers for Sports Illustrated), or consider several photographers’ representations of one or two related subjects (such as current examples of photojournalism representing the COVID19 pandemic crisis OR a comparison/contrast of photojournalism depicting two different pandemics such as the Spanish Flu versus COVID19)…

As a paper for an academic audience, your paper should examine a sufficiently narrow topic and, drawing on outside sources as well as on a close reading of individual photographs, should support a specific and complex claim about the photographs in questions. Secondary sources may include, for example, previous scholarship about the photographers or topics in question, biographic or factual information about the photographers or the topic, articles that provide a critical lens for your study (such as Lutz and Collins’ “Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes”) or primary documents (such as journals or diaries by the photographers). As mentioned above, aim for four or more sources, of which at least two should be scholarly articles or books. You should easily be able to find all of these sources online. Since you will be using Lutz and Collins as a critical lens for your paper, you may use this as one of your scholarly sources. While sources will provide a background and critical frame for your paper, a major focus of your paper should be on a close reading of a collection of photographs (probably around four to eight images) related to your topic. (Note: The images themselves are in addition to the required four sources.)

Topic Ideas: Here are a few ideas stemming from class reading and/or past student work.

--Photojournalism Depicting Crisis or War: You can consider, for instance, the ways in which the COVI19 crisis has been represented, the way a particular natural disasters or terrorist acts has been represented, or ways that a particular war has been represented.

--Photographing U.S. Subcultures or Celebrities

--Photographing Native Americans: DU’s rare collection of Edward Curtis’ The North American Indian (also available through online images) continues to be controversial in its portrayal of Native Americans. The way in which Native American culture has been portrayed raises important questions about authenticity and about the stereotyping of native cultures.

--Photographing the Japanese Internment: You may want to narrow your topic to a particular historical context. For instance, we will look in class at the work of two famous photographers, Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams, whose photographs of the Japanese internment portray strikingly different visions.

--Photographing Celebrities: Magazine covers depicting celebrities—such as key figures in sports, music, and film—can give insight into the ways that our culture relies on stereotypes to influence viewer perception.

--U.S. Photographs of Cultures Abroad:

--Portraying Refugees: Photographs of refugees published by the media tend to solicit a specific gaze from intended viewers. In class, we will look at the reception and circulation of Steve McCurry’s “Afghan Girl” and of the gazes implicit in this iconic image.

--Portraying Indigenous Cultures: Our key critical text, “The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes,” examines how indigenous cultures have been represented in an implicitly condescending way by photographers featured in National Geographic.

--Portraying Exotic Cultures for Tourists: Travel photography often portrays cultures deemed as “exotic,” such as Hawaiian natives or the natives of other island cultures, in a way that presents a stereotypical view to the gaze of the potential western tourist. This contrasts with how such cultures have been depicted by photographers who are insiders to the given culture.

--Depictions of your Native Culture or Subculture:

If, for example, you are an international student or a first or second generation immigrant, you may be interested in examining how the culture or subculture of your heritage has been represented.

Checklist of Paper Components to Include :

--A sufficiently narrow topic of interest to you and your target audience.

--An interesting and complex claim about this topic.

--An argument supporting this claim through secondary sources as well as through close reading of several photographs (probably around four to eight images)

--Specific references to Lutz and Collins’ notion of the gaze as a critical frame for your analysis.

--References to around four or more sources, with at least two scholarly sources, to provide background, context, and a critical framework for your study.

--An analysis and interpretation of several photographs (probably around 4-8). Please paste the photographs into your paper at the point where you are analyzing them, so a reader can view these while reading your analysis.

--Your paper should be clearly organized and edited for mechanical errors. It should include in-text MLA citations and a final MLA Works Cited list.

My Criteria for Evaluation : (An “A” paper should be excellent in all of these criteria.)

I. Claim and Support for Claim: Does the paper make an interesting and complex claim about a well-defined collection of photographs? Is the claim effectively supported?

II. Effective Use of Critical Framework: Does the paper effectively use the theory of the gaze as a critical lens for the paper? Is the notion of the gaze sufficiently explained to readers and convincingly applied to the set of photographs?

III. Use and Citation of Sources: Are your sources well used to provide context, explain previous scholarship, and/or provide a critical lens for your analysis? Are your sources acknowledged through MLA in-text citations and through a final MLA Works Cited list?

IV. Close Reading of Photographs: Do you further your analysis and your support for your claim through a close reading of several photographs (probably around 4-8 images)?

V. Organization, Cohesion, Mechanics, and Rhetorical Efficiency: Is your paper well organized, cohesive, and mechanically correct? In terms of style and argument, is it rhetorically effective for your target audience of academic readers?

Daily Schedule for Photo Analysis Unit : (Adjustments to the schedule may be announced if needed.)

Reading with accompanying Canvas posts due by midnight on day it is listed. I am scheduling deadlines for Canvas posts and other submissions on Tuesdays and Fridays instead of Tues/Thurs just to give an extra day of time to catch up between posts. (Please contact me by email if you need to submit late due to illness or a personal or family emergency.)

Week 1

Tues. 3/31

Zoom Meeting:

This course will be primarily asynchronous. People are on different time zones and have different commitments given the pandemic emergency in which we find ourselves. However, we will have a recommended introductory meeting through Zoom on Tuesday, 3/31 so we can get to know each other and so I can explain the structure of the course as well as the materials provided on Canvas. Times for the scheduled Zoom meetings are as follows: 8AM class—9-10AM; 10AM class—10-11AM; 12PM class: 12-1PM.

Homework:

By midnight, you should complete TWO Canvas posts (each worth 5 points) under Canvas Discussions. [See Canvas Discussions for the prompts.] Before completing the second post, you should read/view the following photo essays:

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/04/photos-the-1918-flu-pandemic/557663/

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/02/photos-life-in-the-time-of-covid-19/606706/

https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/the-uncanny-melancholy-of-empty-photographs-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/

Thurs. 4/2 Optional Zoom office hours: 8AM class 9-10AM; 10AM class 10-11AM; 12PM class 12-1PM

Fri. 4/3 Homework:

1. Read Lutz and Collins’ “Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes” http://home.iscte-iul.pt/~fgvs/Lutz.pdf

2. Canvas Post: Complete Canvas Discussions post about “Afghan Girl.”

Week 2:

Tues. 4/7 Homework

1. Read “Cover to Cover: The Life Cycle of an Image” (Attached on the Discussion Board and under files on Canvas.)

2. Complete Canvas Discussions post by midnight.

Thurs. 4/9 Optional Zoom office hours: 8AM class 9-10AM; 10AM class 10-11AM; 12PM class 12-1PM

Fri. 4/10 Homework

1. Read the “Adams and Lange Manzanar Photographs” handout and the “Representing Native Americans” PowerPoints (Attached on the Discussion Board and under files on Canvas).

2. Complete TWO “Canvas Discussion posts by midnight. 1) Response to Reading: Comparing Representations by Two Photographers 2) Description of your topic including 4-8 pasted-in images that you plan to discuss in your paper.

Week 3:

Tues. 4/14 Homework

1. Watch the Kaltura video about finding online resources by Peggy Keeran. You may also find it useful to consult the “Documentary Photography Online” resources page, included in the larger useful “History Matters: Making Sense of Documentary Photography” website: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/photos/online.htm

2. Post an annotated bibliography of four or more sources for your paper under Canvas Discussions.

Thurs. 4/16 Optional Zoom office hours: 8AM class 9-10AM; 10AM class 10-11AM; 12PM class 12-1PM

Fri. 4/17 Homework

1. Photo staging and manipulation: Read/view the “Photo Staging and Manipulation” PowerPoint

2. Complete the photo manipulation Canvas Discussions post.

Week 4

Tues. 4/21 Homework (Draft Due by Beginning of Class/Peer Reviews Due by Midnight)

1. Post a complete draft of your photo manipulation paper (2,000 words or more) under Canvas Discussion Peer Reviews by the beginning of our originally assigned class time. (8AM, 10AM, or Noon, depending on your section.) These posts need to be on time in order to give your peers sufficient time to review them prior to the deadline.

2. I will assign you to a peer review group on the Canvas discussion board. Please complete peer reviews for the peers in your group, following instructions on Canvas, by midnight.

Thurs. 4/23 Optional Zoom office hours: 8AM class 9-10AM; 10AM class 10-11AM; 12PM class 12-1PM

Fri. 4/24 Final Drafts of Photo Analysis Papers Due by Midnight through Canvas Assignments.