Museum Exhibition Paper Instructions
For this assignment, you are required to write a five page paper on four photographic works.
Assignment Due Date: End of Week Fourteen
Overview of Assignment
Students are required to write a five page museum exhibition paper on any four photographs (not paintings or sculpture) found in a museum. You are looking at virtual works of art, do not visit a museum in person during Covid.
Students may write on:
Any three works in one exhibition
Any three works by same photographer
Any three works by three different photographers
Any three works that are tied by the same “theme”
Any three works from one venue or multiple venues
Museum Choices (Virtual)
LACMA
The Getty
MOPA
CMP (Calif. Museum of Photography)
The Broad
MOCA
SFMOMA
or any other major museum with photography on display
*Fine art galleries or art walks are not acceptable venues
Guidelines and Paper Layout
Paper Specifications
Paper length should be five or more pages in length and should contain an analysis of four works. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, Times Roman font, 12-point, and margins should not be adjusted. Students should provide photographs of chosen artworks at the end of paper and not integrated into the text or body of the paper. Paper must be spell checked and proofread. Cover pages are not required or desired. Simply type your name, course number, course title and date at the top of the page. Do not press return more than once between paragraphs. Simply begin typing your paper.
Summary of Paper Layout
Introduction
Analysis of four photographs
Closing with informed judgement
Focus of Paper: What Should You Write?
Students should focus discussion on universal themes and artistic concepts learned in class. Students should conclude paper with an informed judgment about selected photographs and overall layout of exhibition, etc.
Label Information
Include the name of the photographer, title of photograph, date, and any other pertinent info found on the museum label.
Artist Info
This assignment is a critical analysis of your chosen photographs. Please be reminded that this is not a book report or research paper per se, so if you include biographical info about the artist, it should be brief. Best sources/resources are artist controlled websites and other sites that end in .edu and .gov.
First Impressions
Spend a sentence or two discussing the virtual museum you chose to visit and then begin your first analysis by describing in detail your first impression after studying chosen photograph. Think about why you chose to observe a photograph. If so, describe what you observed and what you felt.
Reading the Photo and Other Technical Aspects
Discuss choice of subject matter. Is it a portrait or landscape? Is it a nature scene, street scene, etc.? Did the photographer capture a random moment in time? Is the scene arranged or manipulated in your opinion? What does this mean?
Discuss the use of black and white or color film.
Discuss the focus. Is it sharp, crisp, or blurry? If blurry, do you think it was purposeful or simply a technical error? What does this mean?
Discuss the use of light and exposure. Describe the use of lighting and contrast in the photographs. The lighter the photograph, the higher the exposure. The darker the photograph and the greater amounts of contrast, the lower the exposure. Can you guess what time of day the photograph was taken?
Discuss applicable compositional elements. Describe in detail the use of patterns and textures, depth perception (foreground/background), and lines (diagonal/vertical/horizontal) if applicable. How is the photograph cropped? Are the elements in the photograph symmetrical or overcrowded? What does this mean?
Be sure to discuss how each photograph reveals what it means to be human.
Closing
In your closing paragraph and if you chose to write on a photo exhibition, you must include your opinion on whether the layout of the exhibition was successful. If you chose to write on random photographs from a virtual exhibit, discuss your overall experience in choosing and writing on specific works. Discuss whether you have a deeper understanding of the importance of photography as a medium in the visual arts and remember to make an informed judgment about the exhibition and/or individual photographs.
Last Page of Paper (Do NOT count as part of your four pages of analysis and discussion)
Students must provide embedded photos of chosen works at the END of the paper and should not count them toward fulfilling page number requirements
Students must provide all working links to museum website and resource information in a works cited page
Submission Instructions
Paper will be submitted in Turnitin, a plagiarism detection software. Turnitin submission portal can be found in week five. No other submittal options will be provided for this assignment. Late papers will not be accepted.
Embed Photographs
Be sure to embed photographs at the end of your paper.
You are submitting your work in Turnitin
Turnitin is a plagiarism detection software that checks for similarity and outright plagiarism. Turnitin will only accept files that can generate Similarity Reports. Do NOT CREATE an account in Turnitin and do NOT ATTACH your paper as a file; otherwise, the plagiarism detection software won’t work. Just embed your paper in the site provided.
Turnitin will only accept files that include:
Microsoft Word® (.doc/.docx)
If you are using an unsupported word processor, you may need to save your plain text file as .txt or .rtf in order to upload to Turnitin.
OpenOffice Text (.odt)
WordPerfect® (.wpd)
PostScript (.ps)
HTML
Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)
Rich text format (.rtf)
Plain text (.txt)
Google Docs via Google Drive
Turnitin will NOT accept the following:
Password protected files
Microsoft® Works (.wps) files
Microsoft Word 2007 macros-enabled .docm files
OpenOffice Text (.odt) files created and downloaded from Google Docs online
Document (.doc) files created using OpenOffice, as they are not 100% Microsoft Word equivalent
Apple Pages
Spreadsheets created outside of Microsoft Excel (i.e. .ods)
Text with visual effects
Helpful Hints in Writing a Formal Paper
The first mention of a photographer’s name should contain first and last name. Subsequent mentions should be by last name only (see example). Never refer to a photographer by their first name. As you mention the photographs throughout your paper, be sure to underline them with each mention (see example).
First mention of a photographer/artist and exhibit title:
Uta Barth is most famous for her photograph Untitled #34, from her 2013 exhibition, To Draw with Light.
Second mention of a photographer/artist:
Barth believes that it is important to do something you love so that it doesn’t feel like work.
Underline the title of an artwork:
Cindy Sherman’s 1994 photograph, Untitled 23, is a self-portrait of the artist dressed as the historical figure Marie Antoinette.
Papers that are not spell checked or proofread will lose at least 5 points so be sure to spell check and proofread before submitting assignment. I cannot emphasize this point enough and I cannot believe that I even have to state this here.
Review of Paper Specifications:
Paper length must be five pages NOT including photos and works cited section.
Do NOT adjust margins.
Do NOT use a large font.
Be sure to double space.
The only thing that should be typed at the top of the first page is your name and the date.
Do NOT create a Turnitin account. Simply use the Turnitin submission portal provided in module fourteen.
Do NOT attach paper as a file.
You must include photographs in a works cited section at the end of the paper.
You cannot submit your paper via a smartphone.
You must use one of the above specified word processing softwares.
Be sure to Proofread and Spell Check your Work
Papers that are not spell checked or proofread will lose at least 5 points so be sure to spell check and proofread before submitting assignment. I cannot emphasize this point enough and I cannot believe that I even have to state this here.
