Find two different iconic or historically significant photographs that you would like to recreate. One photo should be from before 1940, and the other one should be from the period 1940 to the present. Try to choose two different types of photos: landscape, war photograph, portrait, street scene, or still life, for example. Choose subjects that you can find a way, even if it is very creative, to recreate.
Next you will research each of the two photographs. Find out who took the photo, where it was taken, when it was taken, how they mechanically produced the photograph, and what the photographer’s motivation was for each. Write two one-page essays—one about each photo. Your essays should cover the following:
- a brief description of the photographer and their body of work.
- the technology used to make the photo
- how the photograph represents a work of art
- how the style of the photo fits in with the historical trends in photography at the time it was made.
Finally, find people, places, and things that resemble what is shown in the photo. Use your camera to experiment and try to come up with a photograph that is as close as possible to the original. Look at the lighting and try to replicate what the original photographer did. Also, look at the shapes and make them similar. Perhaps you can have a friend pose for a portrait or pretend to be a famous athlete to make your photo recreation. Have fun, but work at it until you have something that can sit side-by-side with the original and be obvious that it is a “copy.”
