As school resumes tomorrow and throughout the week, I am looking forward not only to seeing my students but helping them recognize the historical significance of this Friday, which is the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. While thinking of the upcoming school year in context with this unforgettable day, I got the cool idea of exposing my students to some of the most iconic September 11th photographs via the practice of close looking, a term I became familiar with during last year’s NCTE conference.
As the name suggests, close looking is like close reading in that the viewer dives deeper into a photograph through multiple viewings. Here’s how it works.
As the name suggests, close looking is like close reading in that the viewer dives deeper into a photograph through multiple viewings. Here’s how it works.
1) Students should split a photograph into quadrants.
2) The students should focus on a quadrant at a time, listing the things they see in that quadrant of the image (what is referred to as observations).
3) The students should do the same thing for the remaining three quadrants, listing their observations.
4) From here, the students want to shift towards their interpretations, which are much different than their observations. Interpretations refer to the student’s reactions to the image, through questions like these:
5) Students should then probe some deeper-level questions, such as:
● What does the photographer want you to see?
● Why do you think the photographer took this photo?
● What is the story beyond the image?
6) Once these questions have been explored, students should discuss their observations and interpretations with classmates and then the whole class.
7) Close looking can, and should, extend into writing with questions like the following:
● What does this picture inspire me to do or feel?
● What in the picture caused me to do or feel this?
* An important note with close looking: it requires inferential thinking, and background knowledge is crucial.
With these points in mind, I am going to try close looking for the first time later this week as my students and I observe and interpret iconic photos from 9/11. It should be quite the learning experience, both on a human level given the mature subject matter and a professional level as an evolving teacher.
Source: Kathryn Mitchell Pierce
from 2014 NCTE Annual Conference lecture entitled “Supporting Close Reading Through Photography”
November 22, 2014
2) The students should focus on a quadrant at a time, listing the things they see in that quadrant of the image (what is referred to as observations).
3) The students should do the same thing for the remaining three quadrants, listing their observations.
4) From here, the students want to shift towards their interpretations, which are much different than their observations. Interpretations refer to the student’s reactions to the image, through questions like these:
- What do you make of the image?
- What do you think is going on here?
5) Students should then probe some deeper-level questions, such as:
● What does the photographer want you to see?
● Why do you think the photographer took this photo?
● What is the story beyond the image?
6) Once these questions have been explored, students should discuss their observations and interpretations with classmates and then the whole class.
7) Close looking can, and should, extend into writing with questions like the following:
● What does this picture inspire me to do or feel?
● What in the picture caused me to do or feel this?
* An important note with close looking: it requires inferential thinking, and background knowledge is crucial.
With these points in mind, I am going to try close looking for the first time later this week as my students and I observe and interpret iconic photos from 9/11. It should be quite the learning experience, both on a human level given the mature subject matter and a professional level as an evolving teacher.
Source: Kathryn Mitchell Pierce
from 2014 NCTE Annual Conference lecture entitled “Supporting Close Reading Through Photography”
November 22, 2014
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