I’m trying to study for my Art & Design course and I need some help to understand this question.

Discussion 4: Comparative Historical Context (Photography).

Please report any two photographs from two different photographers (one each) from this list: Ansel Adams, Alfred Steiglitz, Dorothea Lange, Steve McCurry, Yousef Karsh, Eve Arnold, Diane Arbus, David Bailey, Irving Penn, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, or W. Eugene Smith. Your report should be at least 350 words, and should include these numbered sections:

1. Images: Post images or links to your chosen works, with the MLA citation and URL to the source.

2. Material Data: Name the artist/designer (if known), date(s), current location or museum, materials used and size. Note its use(s) and any special production techniques utilized. Compare and contrast both images under this section, as you should do in each section below.

3. Formal Analysis: Compare your two images using at least four (4) of these categories: Line, Shape and Form, Space, Texture, Value and Light, Color, and Implied Movement (Time), Repetition, Variety, Rhythm, Balance, Compositional Unity, Emphasis, Economy, and/or Proportion. Look closely and note the differences clearly.

4. [NEW] Comparative Historical Context: This section requires research, which should be cited. Here, please note the local history, culture, wars, economics and/or politics of the immediate time and place that each image was made. Compare and contrast the possible “meaning” of the images based on your analysis of their specific “context”. Avoid talking about the symbolism of the works, or the biographies of the photographers. Instead, try to understand the photos within the socio-political “spirit of the times” in the time and place it was made.

For more on this method see:
“Writing About Art: Historical Analysis”
http://writingaboutart.org/pages/historicalanalysis.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

5. Personal Reflections: Why did you choose this work? What are its least and most attractive aspects to you?

6. MLA citations to your research sources.

Post this initial post by Thursday night. Afterwards, please post at least two substantial replies to other students (and/or the professor), on separate days, before the end of the instructional week (Sunday night). In your replies to one another, try to go deeper into the work presented, comparing and contrasting it with what you presented. Share new research or knowledge. End by asking a critical question of the other student (not a yes/no question but a how/why type question) on what they presented. Return later in the week to continue the discussion and go further with the conversation.

GRADING RUBRIC
Initial posting: up to 16 possible points.
Substantial reply to at least two other students: up to 10 possible points
Spelling, grammar, formatting and citations: up to 4 possible points.
TOTAL : 30 possible points

Note our late deductions for discussions: 10% a day for postings posted after the Thursday deadline. No postings or replies are accepted for grading after Sunday at 11:59pm EST.