Photography

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Why it works

Photography is both an art and a technical craft: it develops the creative eye (seeing, composition, light, storytelling, visual communication) and technical skills (camera controls like aperture, shutter, ISO; lighting; editing and post-processing), along with critique, visual literacy, and increasingly digital and career applications. Students already take countless photos, so photography education builds on a familiar medium to develop genuine artistic and technical competence, visual thinking, and creative expression, and can connect to careers (photojournalism, commercial, portrait, visual media). Strong teaching balances the creative and the technical, and treats the phone or camera in every student's pocket as a serious creative tool.

The research: CTE and arts education standards.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: develop the eye and the craft

Teachers leave with a project building the creative eye and technical skill.

Pick a photography topic or project.
Develop the creative eye (composition, light, storytelling, seeing).
Build technical skills (camera controls, lighting, editing).
Include critique and visual literacy, and connect to careers.

The creative eye and the technical craftPhotography develops both artistic vision and technical skill, in a medium students already use. Teach seeing and composing alongside camera control and editing, with critique and careers.

Facilitator notes

Develop the creative eye, and build technical camera and editing skills.
Include critique and visual literacy.
Connect to careers.

Point-and-shoot without the eye or the craft is not photographyTaking photos is not studying photography. Develop the creative eye and the technical craft together, with critique and visual literacy.

Adapt it

Elementary and middle: seeing, composition, simple technical, critique.
High school: camera controls, lighting, editing, careers.
All settings: creative eye and technical craft, critique.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Photography: the eye and the craft

Art and skill: the creative eye (composition, light, storytelling) and technical craft (camera, editing), with critique.

The photography topic or project:
How I develop the creative eye (composition, light, storytelling):
The technical skills I build (camera controls, lighting, editing):
The critique and visual literacy I include:
A career connection to make:

Make it stick

The eye and the craft:

Develop the eye and the craft.
Include critique.
Bring a photography lesson to the next PLC.

Common questions

Isn't photography just pointing and shooting?

Everyone takes photos, but photography as a discipline develops the creative eye (composition, light, storytelling) and technical craft (camera controls, lighting, editing), plus visual literacy and critique. It is art and skill.

Do students need expensive cameras?

Not necessarily. The creative eye, composition, and visual thinking can be developed with the camera every student already carries, while technical camera controls deepen the craft where equipment allows.

What does teaching photography include?

The creative eye (seeing, composition, light, storytelling), technical skills (camera controls, lighting, editing), visual literacy and critique, and career connections. Balance the creative and technical.