School project help please

sssscar1 · May 16, 2011

I received an assignment Friday and still have no ideas and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions.................These are the photos that I need to come up with............
1. make a photo that ask a question that hasnt been asked before
2. make a photo 20 years into the future
3. make a photo which makes the ugly beautiful
4. make a photo of the world the way you want it to be
5. make a photo of something never seen before
6. make a photo that reflects a fear
7. make a photo that makes the familiar unfamiliar
8. make a photo that takes you to a place you have never been before

If anyone has any suggestions on any of the above I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance

Stradawhovious · May 17, 2011

It seems to me that the assignment is designed to make you think and be creative. Anyone here that is giving you ideas how to go about this would be doing you a disservice.

My advice would be to think outside the box. Take a look at the TPF Fight Club adn see how others have filled specific assigned topics creatively.

I doubt anyone here is going to do your homework for you.

Good luck! Let us know what you come up with!

Village Idiot · May 17, 2011

I've said the exact same thing many times over to students who come on here asking for help with their assignments. I do have some really good ideas for his assignments though. I really wish I would have went to school for photography and not for CIS: Networking.

behanana · May 17, 2011

VI, I'm glad you came up with some good ideas, because my mind hit the gutter when I saw "5. make a photo of something never seen before", and there is no good ideas coming from it anymore!

Mind is gone for the rest of the day!

Village Idiot · May 17, 2011

behanana said:
VI, I'm glad you came up with some good ideas, because my mind hit the gutter when I saw "5. make a photo of something never seen before", and there is no good ideas coming from it anymore! Mind is gone for the rest of the day!

Just because an object has been seen before doesn't mean that it's never been seen in a different light or how about a scene with people doing something outrageous that's never been seen before, or how about....nah...no more ideas for you.

Part of being a good photographer is being creative. If you're not going to come up with new and inventive ways to see things or to do things, then you're going to have trouble selling your product if you're planning on doing the type of photography that's not sitting in Sears or Olan Mills portrait studio. Being creative also allows you to overcome challenges. If you show up for a shoot and you end up with only a camera and a lens instead of lighting equipment and props that were supposed to be there, are you going to tell your client that you can't do the shoot and they have to try again on another time? That can hurt your credibility, but if you're creative, you just may come up with a way to save it.

I think this assignment is testing your creative ability.

Bitter Jeweler · May 17, 2011

Word.

behanana · May 17, 2011

For me this assignment isn't testing anything...it's not my assignment. You are correct though, it is a good assignment to test creativeness. For whatever reason though (probably the fact that I'm at work and don't want to be here) when I saw that particuliar one, my mind went straight to the gutter...and that's where it stays for now!

Village Idiot · May 17, 2011

behanana said:
For me this assignment isn't testing anything...it's not my assignment. You are correct though, it is a good assignment to test creativeness. For whatever reason though (probably the fact that I'm at work and don't want to be here) when I saw that particuliar one, my mind went straight to the gutter...and that's where it stays for now!

Oops. Thought you were OP.

bazooka · May 17, 2011

And don't be afraid to fail. Because there are so many shots requested and they are admittedly difficult (read "thought provoking"), if you get any ideas, jot them down and go with them. It may not turn into a great shot, but you will learn from it because you're trying something different.

behanana · May 17, 2011

It's cool VI, I'm actually thinking about trying to come up with shots for the assignment as a personal thing, they are very interesting challenges that do require some thought (albeit not thought in the gutter) and I could use some help with thinking outside of the box.

Bitter Jeweler · May 17, 2011

That's another side of creativity. Answering these "questions" is one thing. Coming up with the questions for yourself is often harder,

Village Idiot · May 17, 2011

Bitter Jeweler said:
That's another side of creativity. Answering these "questions" is one thing. Coming up with the questions for yourself is often harder,

Dammit. That's why I'm trying to get into editorial and advertising work. I have some great ideas and I could make more money if I could find some good places to get my foot in the door, it's just hard as hell to get work if you're not an established name.

behanana · May 17, 2011

Bitter I got to take it one step at a time...my mind is very mechanical most of the time, being able to answer these questions would be a milestone in my mind! You're correct though coming up with the questions is incredibly difficult. It's like asking a question about a problem/idea you don't know exists, if you don't know it exists how do you know to ask the question?

Derrel · May 17, 2011

Seriously---you need to THINK a bit. I'll give you a little bit of help though: some of these assignments are going to be "abstract" or "symbolic" or "thematic"...not literal. Perhaps the reason you've had trouble is that you've been thinking about purely representational photography, and by that I mean where you take your camera around to various "things", and aim, focus, and fire, and come back with a picture of some "thing"...a purely representational image, a recording, a snap, a pic, if you will. What this assignment has is a number of photographic challenges designed to teach you how to broaden your abilities and your horizons. Let's take challenge 5, make a photo of something never seen before. Well, that sounds damned near impossible, right? I mean everything has been seen before, right? Well, maybe NOT. I am going to give you an idea of something that I have never,ever seen photographed before: a crucifix made out of a dill pickle and a hot dog, carefully cut and inter-linked. That took me about 10 seconds to come up with. What did I do? I went into the kitchen last night and noticed I had pickles and some big Polish sausage dogs from Bar-S...plus I keep seeing those commercials for Sonic's giant, loaded $1.99 hot dogs...

My advice grasehopper? head to the fridge!!!

reedshots · May 17, 2011

Creativity is what this is all about, if you don't have it you will be stuck - I am not trying to do your work for you but here are a few things to get your brain working in the right direction.

1. make a photo that ask a question that hasnt been asked before - shoot something in nature that looks like a question mark.
2. make a photo 20 years into the future - HDR
3. make a photo which makes the ugly beautiful - ?
4. make a photo of the world the way you want it to be - anything you want
5. make a photo of something never seen before - macro
6. make a photo that reflects a fear - spider, snake, dark room
7. make a photo that makes the familiar unfamiliar - macro
8. make a photo that takes you to a place you have never been before - anywhere you haven't been