What artistic choices does a photographer make when creating an image?

How might artists portray mood or emotion in their work?

How might the background, clothes, facial expression, and body language depicted in a portrait reveal something about the sitter?

How is light important in the creation of the artwork?

Describe what you see.

What is the medium?

What is the figure doing?

Look at the dancer closely. What are her hands doing? Her arms? Her feet? Her legs? Her head? Is her face giving off any emotions? Which ones? What is her body language communicating?

Describe what she is wearing. Does this look like something you might have in your closet? Maybe something you have worn before? Why would someone wear this? How does this outfit complement the figure’s movement?

How does this photograph show movement? Why would it be important to show movement in a photograph of a dancer? Can you imagine how the dancer might have been moving before or after this image was taken?

What mood is depicted in this image? Why do you think that? How does it make you feel?

Does the photograph being in black and white impact how the image makes you feel? What if it had been in color? How might that change the mood? Or the narrative?

Now, look at the title, Lamentation. What does that mean? (The passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping.)

Does knowing the title change how you think about the photograph? How so?

Is the figure communicating sorrow to you? If not, what would you rename the photograph?

All Levels

Students will write emotions on small pieces of paper (one emotion per piece of paper). Then they will fold the paper and put it in a bag or box to draw from.

Students will each pull an emotion out of the bag. In pairs, students will take turns using their phones or a camera to photograph their partner, who should attempt to demonstrate their drawn emotion through their body language, facial expression, and movement.

The photographer may choose to edit the photograph to best match the emotion being portrayed. Students might consider altering color, tone, brightness, etc. Students will then display their photographs (printed or virtual), and the class will guess which emotion is being portrayed.