During our last unit, students categorized different triangles and calculated supplementary angles. Everyone in 6th grade knew what a triangle was, but they probably see triangles much more often than they realize. In photography (and theater… and art…) triangles are used ALL of the time. Straight lines are visually boring. If you have ever been in a musical theater chorus or play, you have probably heard your director scream, “You’re in a line!”. Which is fine for “A Chorus Line”… but not great for most plays and musicals.
Every student has had their photo taken and probably had a family photo taken at some point in their lives. I pulled some of my photos from the past 2 years and had students look at them. Really look at them. And see if they could find the triangles. I did this on the Smart board, but you could post them in Google Classroom as well.
Second, after receiving feedback on some of the photos, I asked the students what they thought the most important part of a a portrait is. Eventually one student says “the eyes.” From there, we could make many MORE triangles and using the eyes as our vertices create many important triangles that lay the foundation for much of portrait photography.
I have included the originals and drew triangles on the second set. I used my tablet to save time which is why the lines are not perfectly straight…. but you and the students will get the idea!
Here is the Link to Folder of All Photographs
I didn’t draw triangles on the one below because it is pretty obvious 🙂
Link to Folder of All Photographs
Note: All photographs are subject to copyright.