The Guardian Teacher Network this week has all the resources you need to get your students taking great photographs.
Emily Drabble
 | |||||
| Homelessness by Nancy Cofie, from Charter school in south London, last year's winner of the upper secondary and lower sixth-form category of the Amnesty Young Human Rights Photographer of the Year award. Photograph: Nancy Cofie |
Students of all ages are fascinated by taking photos – and, now photography has gone digital, it is easy and cheap to get your students snapping. The Guardian Teacher Network has resources to help schools harness the potential of photography and use it as a really powerful cross-curricular tool.
Thanks to Photovoice, a participatory photography charity that runs projects in 23 countries, for sharing its resources. The charity was set up to provide people, especially young people, with a way of expressing themselves through photography.
A great start is Photovoice's introduction to composition, which introduces key concepts in composition of photos and will help students to make decisions about how they frame and represent subjects.
This photo treasure hunt is a simple and accessible way to introduce creative exploration of an environment or subject with digital photographs. This handout gives basic tips (known as the "Four Fs") and camera-care guidelines that will instantly allow all ages to take more successful photos on any model of digital camera, and most mobile phone cameras. Also check out this Four Fs video.
Photography is an accessible way to look at a multitude of issues in the classroom. See waiting: exploring homelessness through photography as a fantastic example.
If your students are interested in putting the world to rights through their photography, they can enter Amnesty International's Young Human Rights Photographer of the Year competition, part of the Amnesty Youth awards, which also include categories of reporting, songwriting, campaigning and fundraising.
The competition is a fantastic opportunity to get creative with students and help them to engage with human rights and justice through photography. Some great ideas on how to do that can be found in the Amnesty Young Human Rights Photographer PowerPoint, which includes images and ideas from award-winning photojournalists, including last year's competition winners. This lesson plan gives a step-by-step guide to how to take photographs that capture human rights issues. For more background information, see this set of resource sheets, including a summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and a photo planning sheet. See this Guardian photo gallery containing the award-winning photographs of last year's Young Human Rights Photographer award. More advice for teachers on covering children's rights through photography in a way children will understand can be found on www.rightscamerasaction.org.uk. Teachers or parents/guardians can submit up to five entries per class to the Amnesty Young Human Rights Photographer competition and the closing date is 17 February 2014.
Picturing news is a resource on photojournalism taken from The English and Media Centre's Doing News pack. It explores six news images shot by photographer Kevin Weaver, including his accounts of how they were shot, and the editorial decisions he made. The resource includes classroom activities on choices of selection and viewpoint, framing and picture editing, plus a practical photography exercise. Guardian readers can buy the entire Doing News pack at a discount if they quote EMCGuardian by emailing emc@education.co.uk or phoning 01634 729835.
This resource on photography was actually created before digital cameras were widely used, but is a really useful history of photography and includes some great activities on going back to basics and making sun pictures, chemograms and creating your own pinhole cameras in class.
The Guardian is home to some of the world's greatest photography and has produced some fascinating guides to prove it. See this resource on the photographer Don McPhee who died in 2007. An audio slideshow of his best pictures makes great viewing. Find a resource on sports photography, plus an audio slide show that advises would-be sports photographers to forget capturing the goals – great sports photography is all about emotion.
This resource looks at the work of photographer Jane Bown, who has taken pictures for the Observer since 1949. Also see this interactive gallery of Jane Bown's work, which spans the decades.
Some Guardian video tutorials make great viewing, especially for A-level photography students. Watch How to take a Jane Bown-style portrait – which includes some great practical advice, from using plain backgrounds to taking photos by a window to achieve light in the eyes – or How to take recession photography.
Students and teachers can share their photographs on Guardian Witness. Assignments include one on autumn colours, which is open until the middle of November. Under-16s need to confirm that they have permission of a parent or guardian before they submit content.
The Photographers' Gallery in London welcomes school groups and is a mine of information and ideas. Thanks to the gallery for sharing some interesting teaching resources on their current and most recent exhibitions, including images and innovative activities. Find notes on the renowned French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2013 (including the work of photographers Cristina De Middel, Chris Killip, Mishka Henner and artist duo Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin), and Home Truths: Photography, Motherhood and Identity. The gallery also runs a number of courses and workshops for schools and teachers.
Find out more about a really interesting online digital photography workshop, created by the team at Culture Street. The workshop explores the depiction of movement, expression, and the use of unusual perspective in photography.
Even very young pupils can get involved in photography. Earlyarts has created this simple and engaging photo project which will capture Early Years and Foundation Stage students (EYFS).
And finally, for students of English as a second language (ESL) this resource uses photography to build on English vocabulary.
