SOCY2000 Social Issues
Professor Backman
Spring 2011
Photographic Essay Assignment
Date due:
In this assignment you will illustrate a social problem through photos. Further, you will visually communicate an attitude or opinion about the problem. That is, balance is not the point; making a statement is.
THE ASSIGNMENT
You are to take or retrieve at least 10 (and no more than about 18) pictures. The problem can be any problem listed below or for which you receive permission. You must receive permission from me to do any other topic. Pictures can be retrieved from the internet though I am especially fond of photos you take yourself. The pictures must be mounted together, perhaps on poster board. The pictures should be mounted in such a way as to tell a story. Captions and transition text are allowed, but large amounts are discouraged. Remember, this is a photoessay, not a prose essay.
The pictures should be selected and arranged to (1) reflect the social problem, (2) elicit an emotional response from the viewer, and (3) affirm your own position on the issue. The whole ensemble should (4) be creative. These four items (reflecting problem, eliciting response, affirming a position, being creative) are what I use in grading.
Your name must be on the back of the photoessay. Accompanying the photoessay should be a page telling me where each picture was taken or giving me a link to the picture on the internet. For pictures taken where you live, it is sufficient to say, “My apartment/house/dungeon.” For this assignment, it is acceptable to stage a series of pictures. I will not penalize you for using the internet, but I will give some extra credit for pictures taken yourself.
If I can figure out how, I would like to display some of these photoessays outside my office in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work. If you do not want your work displayed, be sure to indicate such on the back of the photoessay.
Possible problems: war, poverty, hunger, the environment, corporate misbehavior, crime, family problems, gender relations, race relations, ableism, urbanization/urban decay, transportation or other infrastructure problems, health and health care, substance abuse (including alcohol)