Year 7 Art Project titled "Empowerment and Equality"

The Year 7 unit titled “Empowerment and Equality” is a thematic art and photography project designed to explore key concepts of personal empowerment and societal equality through self-portraits and creative expression. The unit encourages students to think critically about how power, identity, and representation are communicated through body language, symbolism, and artistic techniques.

Key Objectives:

Understanding Empowerment: Students will explore what empowerment means through historical and contemporary examples in art and photography, considering figures like Henry VIII and Queen Victoria, and their own definitions of power.
Photography Techniques: Students will develop photography skills, focusing on self-portraits that convey personal empowerment. They will experiment with poses, camera angles, and lighting to communicate strength and identity.
Artistic Inspiration: The unit introduces students to the work of artists like Gabriel Garcia and Kehinde Wiley, whose styles emphasize turning ordinary people into icons of empowerment. Students will incorporate elements of these styles into their own artwork.
Collage and Mixed Media: As the unit progresses, students will combine their photographs with other elements like midground shapes, patterns, and handwritten text to create layered compositions that reflect their personal experiences of empowerment.

The project not only builds technical skills in photography and mixed media but also fosters deep personal reflection on themes of equality, power, and identity. The culmination of the unit is a final artwork where students combine photography, text, and pattern, drawing inspiration from both their own lives and the artists studied.