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 Digital Photography, Arts Education Exemplars for Elements of Design & Genre

 

Christine Charette explores multi-media arts in a variety of ways. She is a musician and sound artist who mixes original samples, voice, found sounds, and electro accoustic sounds into cerebral and spiritual experiences for the listener. She has performed live in many venues, as a solo artist and often collaborates with other artists.  Charette has also exhibited her sound art and video in a vareity of galleries most often in installation or interactive form. 

Christine Charette is also an avid

photographer who enjoys capturing life's moments, the object, and place. She is most inspired by light, contrast, line, and echos between life and nature. Having fun with filters and editing effects are also where she finds tremendous joy in the picture making process.

 

High Contrast Black & White Self Portrait

Combining textile art, video, sculpture, and sound art, are a favourite for Charette.

Environmental themes are integral to Charette's work, such as with this 30 foot knit "pressure crack" in the installation called "Under Pressure". This is a commentary on Global Warming.

By Christine Charette

Shape and Colour

Line and Contrast

Perspective

Black & White Portrait

Repetition

Organic Line and Silhouette 

Texture

 

Pattern and Balance

Horizon Line Landscape

Composition and Balance

Natural Lighting Portrait

Exemplar Assignments and Curriculum Expectations

by Christine Charette

 

With only  1 picture to tell a 1000 words, express a particular mood or emotion in your self-portrait

1. Take a self-portrait using a tripod or hand-held.

2. Before taking the picture, decide what sort of emotional qualities you  wish your picture to convey.  

3. Decide on a pose, expression, setting and lighting, and experiment  with different shots so that you have multiple choices to choose from.

4. Using the different photo-editing programs available on the school’s computers (or your own) enhance the photo to push it further into an emotional place. You may also use old photographs of yourself for further narrative.  

5. Think about colour, line, value, contrast, texture, and balance when editing your photograph and let these guide the photograph's mood.

 

Self Portrait: Digital Photography

Grade 12 Visual Arts AVI4M:

 

CREATING AND PRESENTING-Elements and Principles of Design:

A2.1 use a combination of elements and principles of design to create art works that express personal feelings and communicate specific emotions to an audience (e.g., use colour and line to suggest strong emotion; use harmony and unity to convey a sense of balance and peace). 

 

CREATING AND PRESENTING-Production and Presentation:

A3.1 Explore a range of techniques, tools, materials/ media, and technologies, including alternative media and current technologies, and apply them to create and present a variety of art works (e.g., use digital photographs,  image-editing software, found objects, and fabric to create an original work of art).

The Self-Portrait holds a prominent place in art history.  In their final year of high-school art, students would do well to take on the self portrait in a contemporary fashion.  Digital photography is not a stranger to today’s teenagers, and the “selfie” photograph and arm reaching out to take a picture of oneself is more than popular.  However, the self-portrait assignment pushes students to go beyond this, and to digitally enhance and edit their self-portrait photograph to assume an emotive quality.  Guided by other criteria the self-portrait will get students thinking about composition, posture, expression, colour, line, and balance.  Subtlety is powerful and not always easily read.  Abstract qualities often lean this way, and so it is that the students are encouraged to let expression and emotion take over the photo-realism qualities of a raw digital photo.

Personal Identity: Explore your “personal history” and how you connect to the past

 

 Whether you know a lot, or a little about your personal family history, research as much about your family roots and culture as you can.  

1. Incorporate symbols from your cultural research that you found intriguing, and create your “personal history” into one finished work of art. Your finished artwork should relay how you wish to represent yourself, your family, and your culture(s) to the viewer. 

2. Follow the elements & principles of design.

3. In your sketchbook, express your thoughts and discoveries, what you never knew about yourself, your family story, or cultural connections.  Also, journal if this has changed how you view your culture or your place in the world.

 

Personal History: Multi Media 

Grade 11 Visual Arts AVI3O: 

 

CREATING AND PRESENTING -Production and Presentation:

A3.1 Explore and experiment with media, including alternative media, and current technologies, and use them to create a variety of art works (e.g., use media such as digitally enhanced photographs, transparencies, and/or found objects when creating a collage; create a mixed-media image reflecting their personal identity or cultural heritage)

 

REFLECTING, RESPONDING, AND ANALYZING -The Critical Analysis Process:  

B2.3  Describe how creating and analyzing art works has affected their personal identity and values and/or changed their perception of society and social issues (e.g., with reference to their emotional awareness and their ability to express themselves; their awareness of stereotypes; their understanding of the meaning)

 

The Personal History assignment gives students the opportunity to research their family history and or their family’s cultural background.  Undoubtedly, when students will be researching their respective cultures, they will happen upon political, racial, and other cultural history.  Unless the students’ parents are engaged in family histories, many students have not done extensive research into their heritage.  Learning about moments in history connected to ones past or blood line, can be empowering as well as eye opening.  The narrative is a powerful tool in visual arts, and this exercise will open doorways for critical analysis on the part of the art students creating the work, as well as when the student get to view their classmates’ work.  

During in class critique.  Students will not only get to know more about each other, but will learn more about different cultures.  Students will be encouraged to read some of their written entries during their critique, and or relay the meaning behind the imagery they have chosen to represent their “Personal History” artworks, during their critique.

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