OVER THE SUMMER YOU ARE TO SHOOT 100 DIGITAL IMAGES and ONE ROLL OF BLACK & WHITE FILM FOR YOUR SELECTED WORKS PORTION OF YOUR PORTFOLIO AND BEGIN TO RESEARCH YOUR SUBJECT AND/OR QUESTION FOR YOUR SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION.
The Summer Assignment will help alleviate the pressure during the school year of having to produce the required number of quality pieces needed for a successful and passing portfolio. The assignment will be due the first day of class will be your first AP grades. Completing more than is required will put you that much further ahead when school starts. You will be keeping a virtual/online sketchbooks/journals (we will be switching from Microsoft Teams to Schoology)... use it whenever possible, record images, plan artwork, write ideas, reference photos, etc.
Try to visit art galleries, museums and art festivals. Read art magazines, artists’ biographies, search the Internet for artists dealing with the same subjects as you. Study their work, philosophy, life and influences.
Search the Internet for artists dealing with the same interests as you. Study their work, life history, and influences.
Take a camera with you as much as possible. You never know when a great opportunity for interesting subject matter or lighting will appear. If you do not have your camera with your, use Lightroom Mobile and shoot in RAW. The new iPhone also has the option to shoot in RAW.
Spend time experimenting and practicing in Photoshop. There is always something new and interesting to learn. You can find tutorials in Abobe.com Become familiar with AP website. It’s full of valuable information for you and your parents as well as lots of examples of student portfolios: apcentral.collegeboard.com
2020 AP Portfolio Selected Student Portfolio Examples
SELECTED WORKS: This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design with minimal constraints. Each work is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Students should carefully select works that best demonstrate their skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The submission can be a group of related works, unrelated works, or a combination of related and unrelated works. Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted, that directly and completely address the prompts, and that provide further evidence of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas shown in the work. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation. There is no preferred (or unacceptable) material, process, idea, style, or content. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES INVESTIGATION Investigate the elements of art (line, shape, form, space, color, value, pattern and texture) and principles of organization (unity/variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, repetition, proportion/scale and figure/ground relationship) found in nature and man-made environments using your camera. Remember to use variety in perspective, camera angles, proximity to subject, composition, and lighting to create impact in your compositions.
Use the following list for ideas on what to photograph. Remember, it's not just about the subject, but your approach to your subject... your point of view. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
Study people's faces this summer. Take “character” portraits of someone whose face really speaks to you. Do NOT simply photograph someone posing with a smile.
Do a series of photos experimenting with motion. Use a variety of long shutter speeds, panning to show motion, and/or freeze the action of your subject.
Do a non-literal self-portrait. This means your face does NOT appear in the photograph.
Photograph night scenes. Try some long exposure “light painting” or time-lapse photography.
Work with silhouettes (by shooting your camera into the light). Try a series by improving your composition with each new photograph.
Take a series of photos that present a social issue or something that you are passionate about. Be mindful not to gross anyone out or capture anything inappropriate.
Set up an interesting still-life of any related or unrelated items.
Take a series of photographs as though you were a fashion magazine/home magazine photographer on assignment. Concentrate on texture, shape, composition, negative and positive space, and lighting.
Explore color. Try a primary, secondary or tertiary color scheme. Go for warms or cools.
Think outside the box. Go to a (safe) weird location or find some strange angles to a seemingly normal situation or subject. Photograph it. Use juxtaposition.
Photograph something that deals with perspective. Think how you may lead the viewer's eye into the work center of interest. Make sure it’s creative and not cliché.
Experiment with different ways of 'framing' in your photographs. Try a series of different creative devices (hands, bicycle wheel, hair, etc.).
Try using a screen or reflective surface in your work.
Work with people, people, and more people! Try posed shots in different lighting, informal street portraits, group portraits and people in positions where the background helps explain the photo. Use different light sources or backgrounds to vary the mood.
Photograph rhythm/movement using pattern, line and repetition in architecture or nature.
If you are traveling to a new place this summer, record the adventure.
Take 2 photos of the same friend or family member, focusing on a very different mood in each photo.
Take a series of photos that deal with repeating shapes in the composition.
Take a series of photos of the same landscape, cityscape or beach scene at different times of the day, capturing the changing light.
Study the work of a famous photographer that you admire. Emulate his/her style but with your own twist…your own subject matter/concept.
Take a strong photo using only natural lighting. Soft or strong contrast.
Isolate a pattern you see in nature or a manmade pattern and photograph it. 1
Photograph your subject with restrained color…use an analogous color range.
Take a series of black and white photos. Experiment with lighting, contrast, light tones, dark tones, texture, etc.
Man vs. Nature
Close-up of an Object Making it Abstract
Transformation
Negative Space Only,
Nonobjective
Contradiction
Outside vs. Inside,
Extreme Light Source
What’s For Dinner
Laundry Day
Glass Bottles
Yourself in 15 Years
Opposites
Anatomy
The Senses
Metallic Objects
Shallow depth of field
Project: Digital Create a folder called Summer Quality. You will turn in a digital contact sheet with 100 images. File folder with 100 images, 35 working, and Final 15. You will rename your files LastNameSummerQuality_(file number). We will have a class critique on the images to help you determine which compositions work best in regard to the rule of thirds and how to photograph your subject with more interesting viewpoints to attract viewers to your compositions.
Project: Film You will shoot one roll of 36 exp. black and white film. You will develop this roll in class. You will turn in one contact sheet and circle your best 5 images. You will print one 8x10 photo for each image selected.
Sustained Investigation Section This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design based on an in-depth investigation of materials, processes, and ideas done over time. Sustained Investigation is work united by a single guiding inquiry. It involves practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses to these prompts are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted; that directly and completely address the prompts; and that provide evidence of inquiry-based sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation. There is no preferred (or unacceptable) basis of inquiry, type of investigation, or use of material, process, idea, style, or content for the Sustained Investigation. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
Over the summer begin to research what your subject and/or inquiry question will be. Look at the class syllabus and the AP College Board website. We will have a class discussion on your ideas.