Assignment Six: Photo Essay

There is a saying that picture is worth a thousand words. It is true that a viewer can make a fast assessment or judgment about a picture or photograph without words getting in the way.

Because of that fact, photographs can be a good source of unbiased information. What you see is what you get.

But can you be manipulated by pictures? Anyone who has seen a picture of a sad puppy on a donation box knows that the answer to that question is yes!

The Internet is a rich medium of both words and pictures. What is important to think about is that every picture and photograph you see posted on some website has been chosen by someone.  

So you should ask yourself some questions when you evaluate pictures on the internet-

• What is the purpose of the picture?
• What information is in the picture? 
• What is the emotional impact of the picture?
• Who picked the picture?
• Does the picture show anything about the opinion of the person who placed the picture on the website?
• Why did they choose this picture?
• Does the choice of that picture show any  positive or negative bias?

TASK- The Boston Globe newspaper website posts photo essays every week  that present  world news events.

•  Do a Google search for Boston Globe Big Picture.
• Locate the "Occupy Wall Street Global Protests"  which was posted October 17,2011
• Examine the 40 photographs you find there.
•  Choose your ten favorites and drag them to the desktop. Create a file and put them in it.
• Create a blank word document. Write your name on it!
• Drag or paste one of the pictures onto the blank page. The photo will automatically resize to fit the page.
• Under the photo write a paragraph about the photo. Include the facts and information you get from that photo. Do you have any emotional response to the photo? Also answer questions like "Why did they choose this picture?"  Include any feelings you get about whether the creators of the photo essay are sympathetic, neutral, or negatively biased against the subject of the photo essay.

• Repeat this for all ten of the pictures that you picked.