Portrait Studio/Film Developing/Printing the Negative
This is the first assignment students are given with the film cameras and will be the first negatives they print from in the darkroom to create some actual pictures. Each student is given a roll of film and a camera and are instructed to take pictures using each other as the subject matter. After the roll is taken, students must first develop their negatives before they can print any pictures. It is a bit tricky to get the hang of the process at first but by the end of the class, they are like old pros at it and can work with relative ease in the pitch black room they need to be in to get the film out of the canister and into the developing tank.
After the roll has been successfully developed, students are to choose their favorite three pictures and print them. They cut and mount their pictures to matte board which is then placed into plastic page protectors in their three ring binders. At the end of the class they will be able to take home a binder filled with their negatives, pictures, and any other prints they did. This first assignment is where they learn how to put all of this together so later as new film assignments are given, they know the procedure for completing the entire process for grading and critique.
This assignment is one where we don't focus so much on composition and interest in the pictures themselves (although that is important too). This assignment is really meant to help students get the feel for how negatives develop and how pictures are printed from those negatives. We get into the technicalities of it all (and with darkroom photography there are many…) in later assignments.
Minnesota State Visual Art Standards:
After the roll has been successfully developed, students are to choose their favorite three pictures and print them. They cut and mount their pictures to matte board which is then placed into plastic page protectors in their three ring binders. At the end of the class they will be able to take home a binder filled with their negatives, pictures, and any other prints they did. This first assignment is where they learn how to put all of this together so later as new film assignments are given, they know the procedure for completing the entire process for grading and critique.
This assignment is one where we don't focus so much on composition and interest in the pictures themselves (although that is important too). This assignment is really meant to help students get the feel for how negatives develop and how pictures are printed from those negatives. We get into the technicalities of it all (and with darkroom photography there are many…) in later assignments.
Minnesota State Visual Art Standards:
- 4. Apply understanding of the health and safety issues related to creating in art. (9.1.1.5.4)
- 1. Identify the tools, materials and techniques from a variety of two- and three-dimensional media such as drawing, printmaking, ceramics or sculpture. (0.1.2.5.1)
- 2. Synthesize and express an individual view of the meaning and functions of visual art. (9.1.3.5.2)
- 2. Revise artworks based on artistic intent and using multiple sources of critique and feedback. (9.2.1.5.2)
- 1. Present, exhibit, publish or demonstrate collections of artworks for different audiences and occasions. (9.3.1.5.1)
- 1. Analyze, interpret and evaluate works of visual art by applying self-selected criteria within the traditions of the art form. (9.4.1.5.1)