Lesson 07: Light, Shadow and the Series Theme
Pre A Level Art & Design · Unit 2 · U2·L2 · ← L06 | L08 →
At a glance
| Session | W8, one Wednesday double (~90 min) |
| Dates | Wed 2026-10-21 |
| Focus | Light and shadow; what makes a series; you leave with an A2 theme |
| Deliverable | A four-position light circuit; a written, approved series theme in your sketchbook |
| Feeds | A2 (sits W10, Wed 2026-11-04); SB1 sketchbook spot-check runs today |
| Homework | Begin the theme shoot — ≥15 frames on your chosen theme before W9; MB posting |
Goal
Two halves with one join. First: light has direction and quality, and moving yourself (or the lamp) is a decision as expressive as framing. Second: A2 is not five nice photos — it is a series, one idea looked at repeatedly with intention. The join is the theme: by the end of the double you have one, in writing, approved.
How it runs
- Warm-up (10 min) — homework pairs: one thirds frame and one broken-thirds frame each, your partner guesses which was deliberate. Add vocabulary terms 20–24 (directional / ambient / soft light…) to your sketchbook glossary.
- Teach: light (15 min) — Seeing Photographs §1 on screen: front, side, diffused, back light, one canonical exemplar each; hard vs soft shadows. Then a live demo: one object, one continuous lamp, walked around the four positions — what you see is what you get. Exposure control on whatever you shoot with: phones — tap to focus, AE/AF lock, exposure slider; cameras — AE lock and exposure compensation.
- Light circuit (20 min) — in pairs: one subject (a classmate or an object), four frames — window side-light, backlight, diffused, hard lamp. Same subject, four moods; annotate which position made which mood.
- Teach: the series (15 min) — what makes photographs a series: one subject, idea, or rule; variation with intention; sequence. Exemplars from the shared library’s Photographers collection — Ueda’s project folders, Hara’s series, Atget’s Versailles, Johansson’s towns — plus Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment from §4. Then the A2 brief: 6–8 photographs on one theme, selected from many, sequenced, titled, with a short reflection — made over the next two weeks, submitted in class W10.
- Theme workshop (15 min) — shortlist three candidate themes (things you can shoot at school or home this fortnight: doors, hands, red, lunch, shadows, pairs…); talk each through with a partner; write your chosen one in your sketchbook and get it initialed before leaving.
- Close (10 min) — A2 announced and posted on MB; homework: ≥15 theme frames before next Wednesday.
Assessment
A2 (photographic series + reflection, Wed 2026-11-04) is announced today — 14 days, two classes ahead. Marking focus: framing, viewpoint, light, series thinking. SB1, the first sketchbook spot-check, is taken during the studio blocks — it checks progress and upkeep (2–3 pages a week since W1), not a full grading. Register: PAL S1 Assessments.