Home / Photography Unit / Lesson 4: The Power of Portraiture

Lesson 4: The Power of Portraiture

Guiding Questions

  • Why do we take, view, share, and save photographic portraits?
  • How has the role of portraiture shifted in the digital age?
  • What do portraits reveal about the lives, values, communities, and eras of their subjects?
  • Can a portrait capture its subject’s essence or self?
  • What does it feel like to be photographed, and why does this matter?
  • How can students use portraits to deepen understanding of their lives and communities?

Learning Objectives

  • Articulate the power of photographic portraits
  • Explore the public and private uses of portraits in contemporary life
  • Compare Sontag’s key ideas on portraiture to those of historical and contemporary theorists
  • Reflect on the experience of being photographed and
  • Consider the responsibilities of photographing others
  • Use photography and visual displays to represent complex ideas creatively

Time Required

1-7 Class Periods + written or visual assignment (optional)

Subject Areas

  • Art and Culture

Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Philosophy

  • History and Social Studies

Themes > Culture
Themes > Globalization
World > The Modern World

  • Literature and Language Arts

Genre > Biography
Genre > Essay
Place > Modern World

Student Skills

  • Analysis
  • Compare and contrast
  • Creative writing
  • Critical analysis
  • Critical thinking
  • Cultural analysis
  • Discussion
  • Evaluating arguments
  • Expository writing
  • Gathering, classifying and interpreting visual information
  • Historical analysis
  • Interpretation
  • Literary analysis
  • Media analysis
  • Making inferences and drawing conclusions
  • Oral analysis
  • Oral communication
  • Oral presentation skills
  • Persuasive writing and speaking
  • Photography
  • Representing ideas and information orally, graphically, and in writing
  • Summarizing
  • Synthesis
  • Technology
  • Textual analysis
  • Using archival documents
  • Visual analysis
  • Visual art analysis
  • Visual presentation skills
  • Vocabulary
  • Writing skills

Common Core Standards

  • ELA Reading: 1-7, 10
  • ELA Writing: 1-2, 3-7, 9-10
  • ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2, 4-6
  • ELA Language: 4, 6
  • HSS Reading: 1-10
  • HSS Writing: 2, 4-7, 9-10

About This Lesson

Susan Sontag wrote eloquently about photography and sat for numerous photographic portraits with famous photographers. Being Sontag, she also wrote about the experience of being photographed. This lesson explores portraiture in photography. It asks students to think about why we take portraits, the experience of being photographed, how the art of portraiture has changed over time, and how Sontag’s ideas resonate in the “age of the ‘selfie.’” After reflecting on these themes as a class, students may respond creatively in essays and curated collections, or with their own portraiture.

LESSON 4 HANDOUTS
LESSON 4 STUDENT ACTIVITY OPTIONS

How to Teach This Lesson

  1. Watch Regarding Susan Sontag and reflect on its relevance to your students and subject area. For extracurricular organizations, community groups, and book clubs, consult our guide on adapting the curriculum.
  2. Select the handout(s) and student activity you will use with this lesson.
    • Begin the lesson by watching and discussing the lesson video module with Handout 1
    • Continue the lesson with Handouts 2-4 to deepen learning (optional)
    • Complete the lesson with a student activity: options include writing, presentation, and creative assignments as well as class projects or debates
  3. Download or print all related resources for this lesson at our resource center (video module, handouts, worksheets, teaching plans), and prepare for classroom use. Preview the video module, familiarizing yourself with the content and any potential areas of sensitivity for your students (see Information for Teachers).

Extending The Lesson

    • Photographers featured by Sontag
    • Online photography resources
    • Photography reference texts (unit citations and recommendations)
  • Allow additional time for discussion, group work, peer-review, editing, revision, or student evaluations and critiques of finished work.
  • Coordinate presentations of student activities outside the classroom, such as a class blog, podcast or online gallery posts, school newspaper or literary/art journal publications, student radio or video broadcasts, or all-school exhibits, panel discussions, and screenings.
  • Teach this lesson with additional content from the curriculum guide. See our interdisciplinary diagram for help choosing related units and lessons.