The Cornerstones of the Shepard Academy
Task: Select a social justice or environmental issue and present a visual argument through a 6-8 image photo essay
including researched captions and a works cited page.
Project Overview
There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true, you'll be creating a 6,000 to 8,000 word essay!
For this assignment you will put together a sequence of from six to eight photographs or images to create a visual argument related to a social justice or environmental issue. The photos may work with the argument in a variety of ways: to give a historical context, to provide background material useful for understanding your argument, to illustrate the causes or effects related to your arguable issue, to generalize a local issue or to localize some more widespread issue, or some other connection of your own devising. You may find these photos online, you may take and upload your own photographs, or you may use some combination of found and personally shot photos. Your goal is to make an argument through images.
In writing the captions for this essay, you must incorporate research (use at least three sources) and give credit to the sources of your research and images.
For this assignment you will put together a sequence of from six to eight photographs or images to create a visual argument related to a social justice or environmental issue. The photos may work with the argument in a variety of ways: to give a historical context, to provide background material useful for understanding your argument, to illustrate the causes or effects related to your arguable issue, to generalize a local issue or to localize some more widespread issue, or some other connection of your own devising. You may find these photos online, you may take and upload your own photographs, or you may use some combination of found and personally shot photos. Your goal is to make an argument through images.
In writing the captions for this essay, you must incorporate research (use at least three sources) and give credit to the sources of your research and images.
Deciding on a Topic
Choose an arguable international, national, or local social or environmental issue that can lend itself both to argument and to some sort of visual representation. Your photo essay need not be argumentative in itself; however, it may be expository (explanatory) or illustrative. You can show the extent of a problem, its causes, its effects or some combination of all three.
Finding Pictures
Decide whether you will take your own pictures, search for them online, or some combination of the two. The purpose of the photo essay is to put a “face” on the issue. The slide show should highlight some aspects of the issue but it isn’t intended as an in-depth study. See the links below for a good list of sites of photographic archives that are in the public domain Be sure to record the source of each image that you do not take yourself. You will need to provide a credit for each image in your photo essay and list the source of each image on your works cited page.
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Library
- New York Public Library Digital Gallery
- PhotoGraphicLibraries
- Wikipedia Free Image Resources
- Google ADVANCED IMAGE Search -- use multiple terms or exact phrase and try limiting domain choice to .gov or ,edu, for example.
Researching Relevant Information for Captions
Use credible sources to gather relevant information to use in developing captions for your images. Look for the facts and information which relate to the image and develop your argument. Locate at least three sources related to your issue.
Writing Captions and Putting Everything Together
For each photo, write a paragraph-sized caption, remembering to use in-text citations for any information taken from your sources (summary, paraphrase, or quotation). Cite at least three different sources in your captions.
You may use MS Word to put your essay together, or you may use PowerPoint or other slideshow program.
You may use MS Word to put your essay together, or you may use PowerPoint or other slideshow program.
Create a Works Cited Page
Once all your images have been chosen and captions have been written, create a works cited page listing your research sources as well as the sources of any photos that you didn't take yourself. Use MLA format for the bibliographic entries and works cited page. The format is just like we did for the persuasive essay. Because this works cited page is not part of a written text, you will need to include an MLA stacked heading at the top left.
INFO ON CITING PHOTOGRAPHS
In-text citation for photos. To indicate the sources for your photographs within the photoessay itself, please use italic font, 10 pt text, below the photo itself, to give this information:
Title of the photograph/image (photographer’s name or artist)
or if this info is not available
Title of photograph/image (Source–e.g., Library of Congress, National Archives, or web site title)
Info on citing photos retrieved from online (from Purdue OWL):
An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)
Provide the artist’s name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, the medium of publication, and the date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.Museo National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive. Web. 22 May 2006.
If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, the medium of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.
brandychloe. “Great Horned Owl Family.” Photograph. Webshots. American Greetings, 22 May 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009.
INFO ON CITING PHOTOGRAPHS
In-text citation for photos. To indicate the sources for your photographs within the photoessay itself, please use italic font, 10 pt text, below the photo itself, to give this information:
Title of the photograph/image (photographer’s name or artist)
or if this info is not available
Title of photograph/image (Source–e.g., Library of Congress, National Archives, or web site title)
Info on citing photos retrieved from online (from Purdue OWL):
An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)
Provide the artist’s name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, the medium of publication, and the date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.Museo National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive. Web. 22 May 2006.
If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, the medium of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.
brandychloe. “Great Horned Owl Family.” Photograph. Webshots. American Greetings, 22 May 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009.