SchoolArts - April 2007

Middle School Studio Lesson
Not Your Ordinary
School Pictures

Mary Coy

Although every parent loves the annual school portrait taken of their child, artistically, not much can be said about the photo’s diversity from year to year, or from child to child. Sure, one can order a softened halo around the edge or even a laser effect shooting distractingly around in the background, but basically, one portrait is similar to another. A slight smile might give us an inkling that a child is shy, and a pair of devilish eyes might indicate a potentially spunky personality. Yet what can one really tell about someone from a school photo?

Introducing Marilyn

My students were asked to reveal
more of themselves by creating a
self-portrait collage using the work
of artist Audrey Flack as inspira-
tion. Flack’s early paintings reflect
a photorealis-
tic style which
combines bright
colors and sym-
bolic imagery

Marilyn Monroe was, students
offered their own interpretation of
who they thought she might have
been by examining the different
objects in the painting. “She must
have been rich to have her portrait
in a fancy gold frame.”