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Look Closer

Overview

Artists look closely at objects and the world around them to find patterns, textures, and forms and see them in a new way.

Grade Level

3-12

Media

Drawing

 

  • Teaching Guide
  • Teaching Tools

Materials and Tools

  • Viewfinder
  • Drawing tool (pencil, pen, oil pastel, etc)
  • Paper or sketchbook

Activities

LOOK 

Look at Brandt’s photograph titled Baie des Anges, France, 1959.

Black and White photograph. © Bill Brandt / Bill Brandt Archive Ltd, Courtesy of British Council Collection, Photo © The British Council.
  • What do you see?
  • What does it remind you of?
  • How do you think Brandt has created the image?

Bill Brandt was a British photographer who was inspired by
landscapes and the human body. He experimented with his
camera to make the body and hands look different. He imagined them as sculptures or a strange landscape.

DRAW

Make interesting shapes with your hands. Imagine them as
sculptures or strange landscapes.

Find an interesting part of your hand. Create a drawing of the shapes and textures that you can see.

  • Does your drawing remind you of anything?

REFLECT

Try experimenting with your viewfinder again.

Close one eye and look through it to frame a section of your view.

Play with the angle that you hold it at. Try moving it near to you and far away.

Try drawing the same view again, showing the changes and
details you notice.

  • What differences can you see in your drawings?

Resources

Black and White photograph. © Bill Brandt / Bill Brandt Archive Ltd, Courtesy of British Council Collection, Photo © The British Council.

How to Make a Viewfinder

Credits

Written By:
Julie Applebaum, Senior Director
Andrea Burgay, Director of Digital Learning

These educational materials were created through a partnership with Studio in a School NYC and The Hepworth-Wakefield and made possible by the generosity of The Burberry Foundation. 

Copyright © 2023 Studio in a School NYC LLC