Exploring Portraits: Pictures That Tell a Story

Exploring Portraits: Pictures That Tell a Story

What can a portrait tell us about a person, their experiences, and the world they live in? In this lesson, students will learn strategies for engaging with a portrait by identifying its elements and uncovering its layers of meaning. Students will then create an original portrait or self-portrait using the medium of their choice and share their artwork and the story it tells.

The lesson packet above includes activities, examples, and worksheet.

Maine Contemporary Archives Collaborative

2021

Reading

Speaking & Listening

Visual Arts

Visual Literacy

All Ages

Identify and describe the elements of a portrait

Interpret multiple stories expressed in a portrait

Create and share an original portrait

Portraits (viewed online or printed)

Portrait Analysis Worksheet

Digital tools or art supplies to create an original portrait

Words can also be used to create a picture of a person. Write a portrait poem representing yourself or someone else.

• Example: I Am (Was) a Helper, Biddeford COVID-19 Community Archive

MoMA Learning: Glossary of Art Terms

National Portrait Gallery: "Reading Portraiture" Guide for Educators

Step 1: Analyzing a Portrait

Have students work in pairs or small groups. Students should choose a contemporary portrait to work with:

• Portrait 1 - Photograph: Helping the Community with Much Needed Face Masks, Ogunquit Memorial Library's COVID-19 Archive
• Portrait 2 - Digital Art: Barbijo, COA COVID-19 Community Archive Project

Ask students to identify and describe elements of the portrait (clothing, pose, gaze, expression, setting, objects, and colors) using the Portrait Analysis Worksheet. (Some elements may not be found.)

• Clothing: What is the subject wearing?
• Pose: Describe the subject’s body position (standing, sitting, relaxed, active)?
• Gaze: Where is the subject looking?
• Expression: What emotions does the subject’s facial expression communicate?
• Setting: Describe the setting or background.
• Objects: What objects do you see? Why do you think they were included?
• Colors: What colors stand out? How do they make you feel?
• Does anything else catch your eye?

As a class, talk about the results. Why do students think the artist made these choices?  What might they tell us about the subject, the purpose of the portrait, and the time and place it was created? 

Help students uncover additional layers of meaning by using the Unveiling Stories exercise developed by the National Portrait Gallery. Discuss these questions:

• What is the visible story or overarching theme of the image?
• What is the human story or the person-centered experience in this image?
• What is the world story? What global issues of today can we connect to this image?
• What is the untold story? What are the important absences of the story? What could be happening beyond the frame of this portrait?

Step 2: Creating a Portrait

Have your students create an original portrait or self-portrait in a medium of their choice, incorporating the elements identified in Step 1 (clothing, pose, gaze, expression, setting, objects, and colors).

Students should consider who they want to represent (themselves, a friend or family member, or a public figure) and what aspects of this person they want to portray.

Students can create a photograph, drawing, collage, digital artwork, etc.! Ask students to title their portrait and provide a descriptive caption.

Assessment Activity

Have students present their portraits to the class, identifying the elements they have included and describing the stories their portraits tell. Invite students to submit their portraits to a Maine Contemporary Archives project to share with your community! (Use this list to find a participating library near you.) Each project has its own Terms and Conditions for contributions, get in touch if you have any questions.