Assignment Instructions
For this assignment, you will create a gender and sexuality photo essay. You will present 5 photos
with captions and brief descriptions that tell a story about a particular class idea or concept.
Importantly, you will need to relate at least 3 class readings or concepts into your photo
descriptions. Use the class readings/concepts to analyze the photos and the story you are telling.
More specifically, a photo essay is a set of photographs selected to tell a story and/or make the
viewer feel certain emotions. The photo essay takes the same story telling techniques as a
normal essay, translated into visual images. Think of this assignment as a visual essay about
gender and sexuality. Tell a visual story about something we have learned in class.
Photo essays can be designed to be viewed in a particular order. They can also be unsequenced.
The viewer can then decide how to examine the photographs and accompanying text.
The photographic essay should tell the story of a person or people, a place, an object or
collection of things, an event, or an issue. The photo essay, then, includes images that thoroughly
explore aspects of your chosen topic. A good photo essay will hold you on each image but also
make you want to explore the next image as the story unfolds.
The photographs can be of any style (landscape, portrait, objects, and so on) as long as there is a
unifying theme or subject.
Guiding Ideas
What class theme or concept do I want to structure my photo essay around?
What thoughts, emotions, and conversations do I want people to have?
And what photos will create those thoughts, emotions, and conversations?
In my photos, do I want people and portraits?
Do I want black and white photos, color, sepia, or a mixture?
Do I want indoor, outdoor, or both?
Do I want props and/or objects?
Do I want to tell a story about my family, friends, loved one, and/or myself?
Do I want to tell a story about my neighborhood, my school, or another place?
Do I want to address a social issue with my photo essay?
What argument do I want to make with my images, captions, and descriptions?
Formatting Instructions
You need to take your own photos for this assignment. Please feel free to use the camera on
your phone or another device to take your photographs.
Your photo essay should consist of 5 photos. Each photo should have a caption and a brief
description. The description should explicitly discuss core class ideas and concepts. You need
at least 3 class readings or concepts integrated into your description and analysis. Explicitly
reference these class readings/concepts.
You will use Padlet.com to make your photo essay. You can sign up for a free account. Padlet
has a variety of ways of adding your photos, captions, and descriptions to create a photo essay.
Be creative and create the format and story that you want.
Once you have created your photo essay on Padlet, you will need to upload the link to your
photo essay on Canvas. To do so, click on Assignments, then click on Photo Essay.
