photography+-+Inquiry

= Most Famous Portrait Ever? = What is the most famous photographic portrait ever taken? Some would say it is this one of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan woman who became famous as a cover photograph on a 1985 issue of National Geographic magazine. While at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan in 1984, her picture was taken by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image. Read more about this photo in the [|Wikipedia article].

-- Wikipedia.com You should also see the [|original article] from the National Geographic and the [|amazing story of McCurry's journey 30 years later] to find Sharbat Gula again.

**Inquiry Assignment:** What other famous portraits can you find? Why are they famous? Here are a couple of suggested links: [|Annie Leibovitz] || [|Rolling Stone Covers] || [|Time-Life Portraits] Most famous kiss? - [|This photo], on the cover of Life Magazine at the end of WWII may be one of the most famous ever. It was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, famous for many of his [|Life Cover photos].

= It's All About Tension = This simple photograph from [|Barbara Fischer's Flickr stream] is a study in tension. How many different ways can you see opposites, balance and depth in this single photograph?

Think about lines, color and texture and talk about the choices Fischer made. Do you think this photograph was accidental or composed? Could you compose a photograph with similar contrasts? = =

= = = Is It Art? =

Look at this photograph by [|John Cohen]. Is it art or is it a snapshot? What makes a photograph more than a snapshot? Is it luck? Can anyone move beyond snapshots and produce art with a camera? Can you?

Finally look at this photograph by [|Oskarlin]. It's a funny photo of someone's friend wearing a wig. Is this art or is it a snapshot? What makes a photograph less than art? Was it the intention of the photographer to produce a snapshot and not art?

**Inquiry Assignment:** Write an essay on, "What makes a photograph more than a snapshot?"