Assignment: Photo Essay (SP3)
Description: A photo essay that communicates a line of inquiry regarding the effect of Seattle’s music history on it’s architecture
Outcome 2: To work strategically with complex information in order to generate and support inquiry
Outcome 2 is heavily rooted in the ability to use intertextuality to establish an inquiry driven conversation. Apparent in it’s very name, I thought my photo essay would be the perfect fit for this outcome. Using my analysis of Susan Sontag and Teju Cole’s words on photography as secondary sources and my own photos as primary evidence, the composition introduces an interesting conversation. In what ways has Seattle’s musical history changed the city’s architecture? It’s an open ended question with no direct answer. Nonetheless, my composition provides the necessary evidence to allow the audience to evaluate and form an opinion themselves.
2.1: To craft research questions that explore and respond to complex ideas and situations.
Being able to come up with an initial question is the basis of creating a complex inquiry-driven composition. As I’ve mentioned before, for this piece, I chose to explore the effect of Seattle’s music history on it’s architecture. I did this primarily through photographs I took of different historical music venues. Before taking the photographs, I spent time researching the different landmarks throughout the city that represent Seattle’s musical past. This initial research helped me choose both my subjects and the method of shooting them. This inquiry is complex because there isn’t necessarily a clear answer to the question my composition poses. My question could have simply been: “What are the locations in Seattle that have played an important role in the city’s musical past?” This question has a clear and direct answer. The phrasing of the question has limited the complexity of the inquiry. But by incorporating the use of the word “how”, I can give my audience the opportunity to analyze the evidence I’ve provided in order to craft their own opinions. While there’s of course a balance between providing clear answers and being too open ended and vague, a complex composition’s line of inquiry will allow the audience to conduct some interpretation with the evidence provided.
2.2: To gather, evaluate, and make purposeful use of primary and secondary materials appropriate for the composition goals, audience, genre, and context.
The most obvious genre appropriate evidence for a photo essay would be pictures and an accompanying written introduction. The primary evidence I gathered for this composition is a set of photographs I took of the different historical music venues in the city. Using the spatial and visual modes, I’ve arranged the photos in a manner that exhibits different musical aspects of Seattle’s past. Adding to this initial evidence are the materials provided through the linguistic mode. The secondary evidence involves a written introduction that analyzes the photos I’ve taken through the words of Teju Cole and Susan Sontag. This secondary evidence helps tell more than just a series of photos. It puts the picture in context with the words of well known photographers. Doing this helps the audience further explore the line of inquiry without being handed a definite answer. For example, I analyze Sontag’s quote, “... photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as drawings and paintings are…” to illustrate that my photography isn’t necessarily a valid representation of reality. By quoting Sontag and Cole, I allow my audience to realize that my photographs are my personal interpretations of these physical locations. I present them with the necessary evidence and allow them to complete the line of inquiry with their own answers.
2.3: To create a “conversation” through identifying and engaging with meaningful patterns across ideas, texts, experiences, and situations.
This piece is clearly an intertextual composition. An argument is being told across both photography and writing. But the photographs help start a particular conversation. My audience is going to be aware of how Seattle looks like today. What is out of their reach, is the feel of the city during it’s different musical eras of the past. The photos I’ve taken isolate a historic venue in the confines of a frame. It gives the audience a glimpse of a long gone musical culture. Further, each of these photographs represent a different time during Seattle’s past. For example, the photo of the retro-esque typeface of the Paramount Theater, one of Seattle’s oldest venues, tells a story of pomp and prominence from the roaring 20’s. An individual simply walking by the venue; however, will see the theater in the setting of a modern city. It is the isolation of the venues through the medium of photography, that help the audience put the photos in contrast to Seattle’s current modern atmosphere. The intertextuality of the composition really comes into play when my photographs are introduced through the words of Sontag and Cole. Like I’ve mentioned before, a “conversation” involves more than just a definite answer. It should have some open-endedness. This comes into play through the specific quotes I’ve chosen to accompany my introduction. I tell the audience my motive regarding my photographs. I clearly let them know that, “.. the story I tried to tell was one of a rich and eloquent past.” This leaves the audience to consider the conclusion I’ve explicitly stated when they form their own opinion. That is the very definition of “creating a conversation”.
2.4: To use a citation style appropriate for the genre and context.
In a normal research paper, the appropriate citation style would be a works cited page in MLA format. But for this genre and context, that would not be appropriate. This isn’t an academic research paper and my audience isn’t looking to check the reliability of my sources. They are told that the primary evidence, photographs, is from the author. The writing is obviously my own as well. The only aspect of the composition that needs some clarification are the quotes by Sontag and Cole. I offer a very brief background on who they are and if applicable, what context their quotes come from. For example, when it came to introduce Susan Sontag’s quote I said, “In her book, On Photography, Susan Sontag, an American filmmaker and photographer...” This is the appropriate way to cite them for this genre because anything more would distract from the primary purpose of the composition. The brief explanation should be enough to point the audience in the right direction if they wish to know more regarding the individuals I have quoted.
