Photo Essay

[#1]

What is Beauty?: A Photo Essay

Assignment by Brittny Byrom, Bedford New Scholar 2022

The Assignment 

As you may know, beauty comes in many forms, as does writing and composing. For this project, you will compose a photo essay—from photos you capture yourself—that indicates your idea of “beauty,” tells a detailed narrative, and connects to themes from our readings. 

Your photo essay must contain the following: 

• an opening paragraph (4-5 sentences) that introduces your photos and theme 
• 5 photos—each followed with a short paragraph (around 3-5 sentences each) that contextualizes the photo to the narrative 
• a concluding paragraph about how the narrative connects to perceptions of beauty (as discussed in class) 

Remember, be creative. Beauty has many lenses and looks different to everyone. It’s your job to put a spotlight and a camera angle on it. 

Purpose of the Assignment 

This assignment launches our semester-long conversation about beauty. How it’s communicated, how it affects us individually/communally, and how our interpretations of beauty are a story in and of itself. 

Plan for Writing

1. Identify the topic and the theme of your photo essay. The photo essay should develop a narrative that paints a picture of beauty through traditions, ideals, or conventions relevant to you.
2. Select 5 photographs or images to include in your photo essay. These photos must be of your own original creation. 
3. Select the application that you will use to create the essay. You may create your piece in Microsoft Word, Apple’s Pages, Google Docs, or Issuu; be sure you can upload the document to iCollege. If you experience challenges, consult with me right away. 
4. The introductory paragraph provides background/overview of the overarching theme, details about what makes this theme’s connection to beauty unique, and a description of why you are invested in this theme. Your introduction should prepare your audience for the images that are to follow. 
5. Following the introductory paragraph, display your photographs as artistically and as well as you can. The primary goal is to provide enough organization that the audience can easily follow your narrative from one image to the next. 
6. Provide short paragraphs for each of your photos. These long-form captions should contextualize the images and the essay’s theme. 

Audience 

Your classmates are your audience. You will share parts of your photo essay on iCollege’s discussion boards and peer review for others to read and review. Be mindful of your audience as you develop your project. 

Important Dates

Peer Review in Class on [Date]
Essay Due on [Date]

Assignment Rubric

Criteria	Exceeds Expectations	Meets Expectations	Developing	Fair	Missing
Introduction	The introduction of the essay is engaging, well-developed, and free of writing errors. It includes all of the required elements outlined in the assignment.	The introductory paragraph is well developed and free of writing errors. It includes all of the required elements outlined in the assignment.	The introductory paragraph is developing and contains some writing errors. It includes all of the required elements outlined in the assignment but needs some editing.	The introductory paragraph contains writing errors or is underdeveloped and insufficient.	No introductory paragraph is included.
Images & Image Quality	The required number of images is included. The photos are clear, interesting, connect to the theme of the essay, and are arranged in a visually appealing manner.	The required number of images is included. The photos are clear, interesting, and connect to the theme of the essay.	One image is missing, or one or more images does not connect to the theme clearly.	The images generally do not connect to the essay's theme; or, the piece fails to meet the required number of images by two or more.	No images included.
Paragraph / Captions	All of the captions provide excellent details about the images and contextualize the image to the overall theme. The captions are exciting and engaging to the audience.	All of the captions provide adequate details about the images and provide a general context.	Some of the captions provide good details about the images and provide a general context.	Some of the captions provide insufficient details about the images.	Some or all of the images are missing captions.
Understanding of Theme	The theme of the photo essay emerges through very compelling and interesting connections among the images.	The theme of the photo essay emerges through interesting connections among the images.	The theme of the photo essay is developing but may need more clarity through either image or writing.	The theme of the photo essay emerges slightly through a loose connection among the photos.	The photo essay does not have an apparent theme.
Conclusion	The concluding paragraph to the essay ties together central ideas to one theme of beauty and is free of writing errors.	The concluding paragraph is well-developed and free of errors.	The concluding paragraph is developing or contains distracting writing errors.	The concluding paragraph contains writing errors or is underdeveloped and insufficient.	No concluding paragraph included.