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Hands-On Activities for Young Thinkers

11 Exploring Perspective in Photography through Role-Playing

Teach children about perspective in photography by having them imagine and capture the world from the viewpoint of different Animals and encourage taking up the perspective and Role-Playing of Animals.

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11 Exploring Perspective in Photography through Role-Playing

Digital

Teach children about perspective in photography by having them imagine and capture the world from the viewpoint of different Animals and encourage taking up the perspective and Role-Playing of Animals.

Making it Inclusive

Make sure you use examples from your own class to point out that it is difficult sometimes to put ourselves in another person's place. For example, it might be hard to imagine what it is to not speak the language of the school.

Instructions

  1. Begin by explaining the concept of perspective in photography, highlighting how the angle and height from which a photo is taken can change how we see the world. Show examples of photos taken from different perspectives, such as bird's-eye view and worm's-eye view.
  2. Discuss different animals and their perspectives. For example, birds see from high above, cats see from about a foot off the ground, and insects see from very close to the ground. Have the children choose, or assign them, different animals to role-play.
Bird · high above
Cat · knee height
Insect · ground level
One scene, three heights: the bird's-eye view, the cat's view and the worm's-eye view.

Discussion Plan: Different Perspectives

  1. In which way are things different when you look at them from different perspectives?
  2. How can the angle or height of a photo change the way we see things?
  3. Can you think of an example where changing the perspective makes a big difference?
  4. How do you think a bird sees the world compared to a cat or an insect?
  5. Can a bird understand the perspective of an insect?
  6. Can a cat understand the difference between how they see and how humans see?
  7. Can a cat feel empathy?
  8. Why might it be important to understand how different animals see their environment?
  9. How do you think the different perspectives of animals help them in their daily lives?
  10. If you could be any animal for a day, which one would you choose and why?

Task 1: Taking Photos

Take the children outside with their cameras. Instruct them to take photos from the perspective of their chosen animal. Birds can take photos from high places, like standing on a bench and looking down. Cats should take photos from about a foot off the ground, and insects should take photos very close to the ground, focusing on small details. Encourage the children to move around like their chosen animal to find interesting angles and subjects.

  • How is taking photos from your chosen animal's perspective different from your own?
  • What challenges did you face when trying to take photos like your chosen animal?
  • Did anything surprise you about how your photos turned out?
  • How can understanding different perspectives help us in our everyday lives?

Task 2: Imagining photo taking

  1. Challenge children to think of places and landscapes where a photograph could be taken, including real and imaginary locations.
  2. Collect a variety of places where photos could be taken: (from a spaceship; inside people's imagination; in the desert, on one of the poles of the planet; underwater, etc.)
  3. Have each person select one of these places and help them create the scenario to stage photo taking in those places.
  4. Photograph and make an exhibition.

Variations

  • Work with famous people's photos Create different backgrounds for famous people's photos.
  • Changing places Cut people out of photos and swap them with people from other photos.

Further Ideas

  • Drawing with paper-cut photos Cut people from magazines and give them to someone else to complete the image.
  • Exquisite corpse Make an exquisite corpse, first with drawings and then with photos of parts of a person or of animals and a background. Get inspiration from this video.