Photography Nametags: My Aesthetic

 This year our 7th and 8th graders can choose electives for the Integrated Arts. This year I'm offering Photography. We don't have a dark room, so we'll be using digital cameras and our cell phone cameras and there is still SO MUCH to learn just focusing on that!

Usually I start my art classes with a nametag project. It's a great way for me to get to know the kids and their names and chitchat with them. 

It didn't seem appropriate to have the students in Photo draw their names and tell me about themselves in a traditional way, so I decided to have them create a photo collage using Google Slides and the fair use photos Google's search feature in Slides uses.

Our school uses the Google Suite and has for 18 months or so, so the students are somewhat familiar with it. This would be a good opportunity for them to brush up on their skills. 

PART 1: See what Google Slides Can Do With Photos

Students were asked to create a Google Slide and use the Insert/Image/From the Web search feature to import an image of their choice. They then had to duplicate the image so that there were 9 total on the slide. 

Then they need to learn about the adjustments you can make within Google slides. They needed to do the following:

• Enlarge a photo
• Shrink a photo
• Crop a photo
• Invert or flip a photo
• Change the transparency
• Adjust the brightness
• Adjust the contrast
• Recolor the image

PART 2: Create your Aesthetic

Students were asked to create a Google Slide and use the Insert/Image/From the Web search feature to import multiple images. If students search this way, these images are fair use and we can use them in class for personal use. We looked at several aesthetic compositions and how the images, color and arrangement of images told us about the artist. Students were encouraged to search for "[their favorite color] aesthetic" in the image search. I then had them expand to include hobbies and activities such as "camping purple aesthetic" or "reading purple aesthetic." Searching this way helped them to find images that had a similar color scheme.

We looked at the finished aesthetic compositions by class and then my student teacher created this display in our hallway. It's nice to have such colorful art to look at right away. I've also had students say "I think I'd like this person" when they looked at the work. So interesting!

Lots of fun and a great low pressure refresher on Google Slides.

Enjoy!