Grades 9-12: Never Picture Perfect
Lesson Two
Artist Spotlight: Young-Min Kang
Provide your students with full-page images of the artist's work.
Click here for printable images.
During his younger high school years Young-Min Kang said, "I was suffering from identity issues...When I was in Korea, I was watching all the Hollywood movies, so I had a certain kind of imagination about Americans and American culture. And I'm not sure...if I really liked it or it was more just curiosity. But when I got here my image of it was broken and I had to totally rebuild my idea of America."
"There's a certain kind of influence," the artist continues, "America exports its culture internationally. So many people living outside the United States know about the culture, at least a little bit, but I don't know if they realize it correctly. And when I got here, I began to learn how it is–the real things, the real culture."
"Some of my work, I make sculptures out of two-dimensional digital prints, to make them into three-dimensional shapes. My idea is to break the illusions of media and remake them into something else, to reveal something. I don't know what's going to be revealed, but I try to break it down, as a kind of experiment. Maybe so I can show the truth of the images."*
*Interview conducted and derived from: Wayne Alan Brenner The Austin Chronicle. March 25, 2005.
Student Connection: Deconstructing "Reality"
Every day young people view numerous images found in advertisements, magazines, television, Internet, billboards, etc. Discuss as a class the purpose of an advertisement. What is the advertising photographer's job?
Step 1: Ask students to bring in samples of advertisements that include photographed images. Evaluate these ads using the following list of criteria:
1. Who is the target audience and why do you think this? (e.g. children, adults, men, women, etc.)
2. What is the ad trying to sell? (e.g. a message, product, candidate, idea, etc.)
3. How does the ad sell the message/product?
• Notice product elements: sound effects, music, camera angles and movement, black and white or color, special effects, graphics.
• Name the emotional appeal: fear, anger, mystery, confidence, patriotism, loyalty, trust, distrust, optimism.
• Is the ad negative (the other guy or product is bad) or positive (look at how good I am)?
4. What facts are being used in the ad? Who is providing the facts and where are they getting them from?
*Criteria derived from: PBS.com's Dissect an Ad
Step 2: Discussion Questions
1. After deconstructing your sample advertisement, do you feel that the product/idea was marketed in a truthful way? If not, explain why.
2. Imagine that you grew up in another country, as Artist Young-Min Kang did in his homeland of Korea. All of your perceptions of the United States would have been primarily based on the depictions that you saw in Hollywood movies, magazines, product advertisements, and international news broadcasts. Do you think that these are truthful sources and representations of reality in the United States? Explain your answer. How might your beliefs and perceptions change if you would move to the Unites States?
3. How might the written text of an ad be manipulated or altered to promote a product?
Step 3: Product photography is all around us. Open your kitchen cupboard and list the products that you find which contain images. (e.g. cereal box, soup cans, cleaning products, etc.) To achieve the desired look, the product photographer works with art directors and stylists who design, compose, and position the placement of the photo shoot-similar to the arrangement of a still life composition. Work in pairs to create your own product label or advertisement. One student is the photographer, in charge of lighting, camera position, and camera settings. The other student is the stylist, in charge of positioning the product, and placing any props in the shot.
*Lesson Idea derived from: Joyner, Hermon & Monaghan, Kathleen. Focus on Photography. Worchester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc., 2007.
Student Connection: Writing Self Portraits
Step 1: Have your students write a self-portrait. Ask questions in preparation to help students document a unique quality that describes them as an individual: What do you look like? Who is in your family? Where do you live? What do you like to do? What unique talent or interests do you have? What do you hope to do in the future?
Step 2: Next ask the students to write a second self-portrait using the same questions as starting points. In this piece, however, they must create a new identity for themselves, developing a written portrait of what it would be like if they were members of a different family, culture/sub-culture, racial or ethnic group, age group, etc. Choose one new identity to write about and spend time interviewing people to learn more about these different identities. For example, if the class is ethnically diverse, the students may interview each other for information. To identify with various age groups, such as the elderly, spend time visiting with residents at a nursing home.
Step 3: Introduce the idea of making photographs from the self-portrait writings. Ask students to bring props and clothing from home to illustrate the two people in their writings. Show actual portrait photographs to the students, avoiding commercial pictures and advertisements. Talk about what information is revealed about the subjects. Consider the elements of facial expression, body position and posture, and clothing. Black-and-white pictures are best for this.
*Writing Self Portraits has been derived from the following sources: CDS Projects, kodak.com , and Joyner, Hermon & Monaghan, Kathleen. Focus on Photography. Worchester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc., 2007.
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