Look
- Invite students to spend time looking closely at one portrait.
- Ask students to look carefully for at least a minute, focusing first on the setting.
- Encourage them to notice details in the setting before considering the mood or feeling it creates.
Discuss
- Invite students to discuss their observations in small groups or as a class, looking at the three portraits side-by-side.
- Ask students to consider how the sitter might be connected to the place they’ve been photographed.
Discussion prompts:
- How is mood reflected in both the setting and the subject?
- How does the subject feel as they stand in this place? What can you see that makes you say that?
- Is there equal emphasis on setting and sitter?
- Does the subject seem connected to the place? Why or why not?
Connect
- Invite students to investigate each portrait further, using research to reflect on the importance of place in visual storytelling.
- Ask students to consider how the three artists explore their subject’s connection to place.
- Encourage them to start by reading each artist statement before researching further.
Inquiry prompts:
- How is each subject connected to the place they’ve been photographed?
- How do the artists explore the significance of place to a person’s past, present and future?
- Are there recurring locations, communities or ideas about place across each artist’s practice?
- How has place influenced the subject’s identity? How does the artists’ connections to place influence their practice?
- Can you resonate with the subjects’ stories?
Create
- Invite students to explore their own connections to place through a creative activity.
- Ask them to reflect their ideas and experiences by creating a zine or keeping a visual diary that ‘maps’ their identity through place.
- Encourage them to fill their zine or diary with photographs, text, drawings and found objects, using collage to represent places that are meaningful to them.
Creative prompts:
- Who do you visit different places with?
- What memories do places hold?
- What feelings do different places evoke?
- How have places changed over time?
