FAH352
Victorian photo assignment: Manipulated Images
Due:
Feb. 14 at 11:59pm
Value: 20% of mark
Submit electronic file (Word or PDF) to Quercus
INSTRUCTIONS
There are two components to this assignment (a creative element and a written portion), as outlined
below:
a) black & white photograph directly inspired by a Victorian-era photograph.
b) 3 pages (approx. 750-words) typed analysis (double-spaced)
*Please include a brief note with your submission, indicating whether you would be comfortable with
having your image shown in lecture.
THE PHOTOGRAPH
For the creative portion of this assignment, you are asked to create a photo that references the
style and setting of a specific Victorian-era photo.
The photo you select should be one that uses
an element of manipulation (ie. Students may want to consider creating a ‘ghost photo’, aura
photo, or another image of illusion/manipulation, such as a photo that uses
collage/montage/composite techniques, pictorialist techniques such as brulage, or other
‘deceptive’ strategies, such as staging).
A number of such photos will be covered in class lectures
– and you are free to select an image from class – but you may also want to search for an image
outside of the class content.
The ‘manipulated image’ selection is open and up to you, but it
should fall within the mid-to-late 19th-century period.
There is a creative element here, but you will not be evaluated directly for creative skill or
technical ability, but for demonstrated effort and evidence of your own attention to historical
detail.
Your recreated image should include your self portrait.
You may include other people in your
photo (family members or friends), as long as you have their permission to do so.
You are permitted to use editing software to alter the appearance of your image or you may use
simple cut/paste methods, etc.
There are many instructional videos online, outlining how to alter
a digital image using programs such as Photoshop.
See this example for producing a double
exposure effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG4it-__Bps
Give your image a title and a full label within your image appendix.
You may wish to reference
the original in your given title (ie. Jane Brown,
Modern Version of Henry Peach Robinson’s Fading
Away, 2025, digital print) or you can invent your own title (ie. Jane Brown, Dreamstate, 2025,
digital print).
In a separate image appendix, include both the original photo and your modern recreation (both
fully labeled – photographer, title, date, photographic method/medium).
Include one additional
image, showing an aspect of your working method (ie. the set-up for the shot or the process of
manipulation).
2
WRITTEN ANALYSIS
Your 3-page written essay should present a coherent summary of the original image, carefully
describing the photograph’s historical and cultural context, the photographic techniques used,
and relevant visual features.
Include specifics on the photograph’s origins (photographer,
location, type of photograph, conditions).
And finally, your analysis should pay particular
attention to the form of visual manipulation within the image.
This is essentially a ‘close reading’ of a photographic document and its context, so attention to
detail will be part of the evaluation.
A thesis argument is not required, but your ideas should be
organized and coherent.
The second part of your paper should describe your 2025 recreation and what details,
techniques, and photographic traditions you sought to evoke or capture.
Does your modern
version capture a similar theme as the original?
Be specific here.
(ie. If you used a particular
filter or manipulated the contrast, or used an editing program, include those details here).
If you
opted to ‘update’ aspects of the image to suggest new ideas or modern contexts, you can include
these comments here.
*SUGGESTED ORGANIZATION:
2 pages for the synopsis of the original photo
1 page for discussion of the 2025 image
NOTE:
You may not use AI programs that involve generated text or images.
Digital editing software is
permitted for the creative portion of the assignment.
RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS, FORMATTING, CITATIONS & APPENDICES
Your selected image should be researched using academic sources and those sources must be
cited correctly using footnotes in Chicago Style format (footnotes and bibliography style).
Please
note that specific page references are required for any texts cited.
All sources must be ones you actually consulted directly.
Students should include a screenshot or
photo of the specific page(s) consulted within a separate appendix.
See Sample Chicago Style
Paper – available on Quercus.
It is recommended that students consult at least ONE academic source for this assignment,
outside of the assigned course texts.
You may consult/cite those as well.
You submission should be organized in the following way:
Title page, essay, appendix A (images),
appendix B (source documents), bibliography
Include page numbers
For the Chicago Style citation guide, see:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
