Full Curriculum

Unit III: Jewish Peoplehood and Community

Lesson 2: Documenting Your Community

Introduction (5 minutes):

1. Hand out a sheet of paper and markers, crayons, or colored pencils to each student.
2. Ask each student to take a few minutes to draw a picture or diagram that shows “you in relation to your community.”

The Meaning of Community (15 minutes):

1. Have some students share their drawings and explain what they signify.
2. In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), the great sage Hillel said, “Don’t separate yourself from the community.”
   Discuss:

    

   • What is your community?
   • Are you part of more than one community?
   • What makes a community? What is the role of community?
   • Why shouldn’t you “separate yourself from the community”?
   • What might be the effects of separating yourself from the community?

Introduce the Community Photography Project (30 minutes):

1. Remind students that Zion Ozeri’s photographs depict the Jewish values that connect diverse Jewish communities around the world but that they also reflect the uniqueness of each of these communities. Explain that now, after having studied Ozeri’s photographs, explored the concept of values, and discussed the meaning of community, students will turn their cameras on themselves and their own community. They will be taking pictures that reveal the values and uniqueness of their community.
2. You might decide ahead of time which community or communities you want your students to photograph (for example, the school community, the synagogue community, the local Jewish community, the neighborhood community, etc.). Or you can raise this question with the students and have them discuss it.
3. Based on your curriculum, your students’ interests, time constraints, and other needs, you will also need to decide how best to frame the assignment for your students. Here are some suggestions:

    

   • You might want to tie your studies in with ANU’s annual international Jewish Lens Photo Contest.  Learn more about the contests here [link to “I.A. International Photography Contest” page.]  Every year, the contest invites teens around the world to submit photos that capture the theme of “my connection to the Jewish people.”  Winning photos are displayed in a special exhibition at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People in Tel-Aviv.
   • Have each student choose a value or ideal that he or she thinks best reflects the community, and find ways to depict it in a photograph. Students must consider not only what value to present in their work but how best to communicate it through the photographic medium. How will students capture abstract concepts in concrete images? How will they use the formal elements of photography to create a narrative, convey an idea, or evoke an emotion? How can they express the uniqueness of their individual community while reflecting the universality of its values?
   • Have students interview and photograph people who play important roles in the community—from community leaders to individuals who contribute in smaller, but equally important, ways. The values of the community will be reflected in the photos they take.
   • Have students set out with a more general task—simply to capture the “essence” of their community. Afterward, they can go back and identify the values reflected in the photos, as they did with Zion Ozeri’s work.
   • Link the students’ photography projects to curriculum areas being covered in their other studies. If, for example, the curriculum covers prayer, Israel, or tzedakah, have students take photographs that reflect the role these play within the community.
4. Before students set out to take their photos, remind them to think about what makes an interesting photograph. They’ll need to consider who or what the subjects will be, whether to pose the subjects or take a candid shot, how to make the composition interesting, how to capture the specific moods they want, how to frame the shot, what angle to shoot from, etc. Students should feel free to take a number of photographs in order to try out different ideas, compositions, and camera angles. You may want to review the photography terms and tips outlined in The Jewish Lens Photo Teaching Guide, or assign it for student reading.  A couple of additional helpful resources include:
   • Seeing Things:  A Kid’s Guide to Looking at Photographs, by Joel Meyerowitz (Aperture, 2016) – great for Middle School students
   • The Little Book of Contemplative Photography, by Howard Zehr (Good Books, 2005) – best suited for high school and up
5. Photocopy and distribute Worksheet V (Photography Checklist) to help students organize their picture-taking efforts. If there’s time left in the session, let students begin to take pictures. They will finish taking pictures for homework (and/or during additional class periods).

Many teachers have their students take photographs at home. Others have made the photography project part of a class trip or an in-class assignment. If your students take their photographs at school, they will be somewhat limited in their choice of content, but with a little creativity, there is still a lot they can do. Just remind students that their photographs can be candid, posed, or staged and need not be literal in the way they communicate their message.

Students may need to get permission from the individuals who will be featured in their pictures. Click this link for a sample Subject Release Form. Before sending your students out to take pictures, you may also want to discuss with them the relationship between photography and Jewish values.

Taking pictures of their community provides students with an opportunity to act in accordance with the Jewish values they may have identified. For example, one must show respect to his or her subjects and their property. Students must get permission to take and use people’s pictures or to enter private property that belongs to others. Students also have a responsibility not to depict their subjects in an unflattering manner. Embarrassing others is considered a sin in the Jewish tradition; students must be careful not to photograph their subjects in a manner that will embarrass them. In addition, photographers often have to wait for just the right moment to get the perfect shot. Students may therefore have to apply the value of patience in their work.

For Homework:

Students will need additional time to finish taking their pictures. Have them continue to take photographs for homework and/or during additional class sessions.  

Once students have finished taking their photos, have each of them select one photograph that will be part of the class exhibition or presentation and bring a print of it into class. If students have taken other photographs as part of The Jewish Lens program, you can ask them to choose from their entire portfolio in selecting works for presentation. 

Students can continue to work on taking, editing, and selecting photographs, as well as preparing them for presentation or display, throughout the remainder of the unit – even as they engage in other lessons and assignments.

If possible, we recommend concluding this unit by creating a class presentation or exhibition showcasing your students’ community photographs.  It is a powerful way to tie together the various strands of student learning, further engage students with the broader community, and instill in students a sense of pride and accomplishment.

For more information and guidance on preparing photographs for presentation and creating a school-based exhibition, see Unit V: Exhibiting Students’ Work or check out our supplementary guide to mounting community exhibitions.

If your students have not yet done the Introductory Lesson, we recommend beginning with that lesson before progressing through the lessons in this unit.