Photography Tasks to Raise Attainment

Are you looking for photography tasks to raise attainment? You’re in the right place.

I was recently looking at the portfolios of some low-ability candidates from a special school. They had clearly had an excellent teacher as the process was all there and I could see how she had guided them to fulfil the assessment objectives. In my feedback, I suggested that photography was pushed further. This can be useful with lower-ability students who might not be achieving as highly with drawing and other forms of recording.

Helping Low-Ability Students with Photography.

We would all love our students to have the knowledge and motivation to work independently and creatively with photography but this simply isn’t the case for many students. So how can we help them?

How to improve a Student’s Photography? 

Providing a list of tasks (see free download) for students to try when photographing an object is a simple way to approach this. This could be used with students who are aiming to work independently or with a whole class of younger students. Below is a list which, of course, you could add to. Its main objective is to simply get students to take MORE photographs and VARIED photographs. Each task is specific, easy to understand and encourages exploration.

Photography Tasks to Raise Attainment

1. Colour Photographs

• Take 5 colour photos of your object.
• Try different backgrounds (e.g., white paper, black card, wooden table, colourful paper, fabrics).
• Take one photo with a bright light shining from one side.

2. Black and White Photographs

• Take 5 black and white photos using your camera’s black and white setting or convert them afterwards.
• Try to make the object stand out by using plain backgrounds.

3. Texture

• Take 3 close-up photos to show the texture of the object.
• Try to show rough, smooth, bumpy or shiny areas.
• Use side lighting (light from the side) to make the texture clearer.

4. Contrast

• Place the object on different backgrounds (e.g., dark object on white background and vice versa).
• Take 2-3 photos that show strong contrast between the object and the background.

5. Different Viewpoints

• Take 6 photos from different angles:
  • From directly above (bird’s eye view)
  • From the side
  • From below (if possible)
  • From a corner (diagonal angle)
  • Really close-up (so it fills the frame)
  • From far away (include surroundings)

6. Light and Shadow

• Take 3 photos using a lamp or torch to create shadows.
• Try lighting the object from the left, right, behind, and above.

7. Unusual or Creative Shots

• Take 2 photos through something (e.g., glass, plastic, mesh).
• Take 2 photos with the object partly hidden or cropped (so you only see part of it).

8. Pushing Ideas Further

Whilst they are working, help students to identify successful photographs. Explain that looking at their photographs to see what is working is analysing their photographs. Next they could:

• Choose your favourite photograph and take it:
  • In colour
  • In black and white
  • With different lighting
  • On different backgrounds

Additionally, ask them to look at the artist they have been studying and consider how they might make stronger links between the photography and that artist. This might be through colour, texture, composition or subject matter.

I have created a free ‘Photography Tasks to Raise Attainment’ handy download which has the above tasks in it. Ideal to use with your students!

How to Present the Photographs

With a little planning and guidance, it’s simple to evidence that students have analysed their photography. I like to do this by asking students to create a contact sheet. This allows students to show what a large number of photographs they have taken and they can also annotate the contact sheet using subject-specific language. Presenting their most successful photographs on the adjacent page to the contact sheet(s) says ‘Look! I’ve taken all of these photos and these ones here are successful!’ without writing a word.

Below is a good example with a contact sheet on the left and selected photos on the right. At a glance, these look very ‘samey’ but they were just one set of photos from a student who took many sets!

You can see more examples of student work that includes contact sheets in the ‘Arty Students‘ section of this website.

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