Aerial Photography

Lesson Introduction

In a unique project to document the landscapes of once and future prairies throughout Illinois as well as other Plains states and Canada, Terry Evans has undertaken a number of photography projects, including the aerial photographs that document Midewin. Many of the changes and scars on the land can still be seen from the air, although their visibility and their patterns are invisible on the ground. What tales can this kind of photography tell about the prairies?

Illinois State Goal	Standard	Learning Benchmarks
25	A	5. Analyze and evaluate student and professional works for how aesthetic qualities are used to convey intent, expressive ideas and/or meaning.
27	A	5 Analyze how careers in the arts are expanding based on new technologies and societal changes.

Lesson Objectives

• students consider the artistic choices made in aerial photography
• students compare the artistic values of Terry Evans' photography with LandSAT images and other images made for purely scientific, government and commercial purposes

Time Allotment

One class period of 45-60 minutes

Materials

• paper
• writing materials
• cameras
• film
• cardboard "frames," if no camera equipment is available.
• examples of aerial maps, photographs, etc. available from the United States Geological Survey

PROCEDURE

Tap Prior Knowledge

1. Ask students why they would want to take an aerial photograph? What purposes would an aerial perspective serve? What are some examples of aerial photography? What are they used for? Besides Terry Evans' photographs, what are some aerial photographs they've seen? Were they taken for artistic or commercial purposes? How could you tell?

Share with Neighbor

2. Look at Terry Evans' photographs from the air of prairies and lands that used to be prairie. What can you tell from these photographs? What patterns are discernible? What still remains obscure? What can the photograph communicate from this perspective? What might you not want to photograph from the air? Have students work in small groups to make lists of what their would photograph from the air and why. Have them share their ideas with the class.

Hands-on Activity

4. Take a piece of cardboard with a rectangle cut from the center. This is your "frame," which simulates the view-finder of a camera. Students will use it to choose pictures from your location. Students can use it to "find" pictures as they look around. If students have access to photography equipment, this activity can be done using cameras.

5. Once students have found their "picture," describe it. Students may want to work in teams, so one student can take notes while the other student describes what she sees in the "frame." They should use these notes to write about why they would photograph the image or landscape they chose. What do they see in it? What patterns can they see? Why does their picture make a good aerial picture? How does the aerial picture of their subject differ from a close-up view? Do aerial views have as much emotional impact as close-up or on-the-ground pictures? What did you notice from the aerial view that you didn't see from the ground?

6. Have the students photograph or draw their aerial shot.

Introduce Scientific Principle/ Environmental Issue

7. By taking in vast tracts of land at once, aerial photography can be a political as well as an artistic tool. Photographers can document the uses of the land in a way that is not always obvious from formal reports or by viewing isolated patches of landscape on the ground. The effects of fire or habitat destruction, of flood or the building of new homes or malls, can be witnessed through aerial photographs in a way that is impossible through other means. For environmental purposes, aerial photographs can create a stunning record of the changing patterns and uses of the land.

Relate Activity and Concept

8. The aerial photographs record visual information in a much different way. Connections and patterns can be seen from above that are not visible from the ground. Students can learn to use these differences to gain insight into reading photographs and developing their own abilities to frame a picture.