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Lesson 9 of 9
  • Year 10

Photography: the influence of sources on photographic investigations

I can research, record, and annotate a photographer’s work, and show how their ideas, style, or techniques connect to my own.

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Lesson 9 of 9
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  • Year 10

Photography: the influence of sources on photographic investigations

I can research, record, and annotate a photographer’s work, and show how their ideas, style, or techniques connect to my own.

Download all
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Researching photographers helps us understand their ideas, style, techniques, and context.
  2. Context can include cultural, historical, material, and social influences on a photographer’s work.
  3. Annotation means describing, analysing, interpreting, and making a personal response to images.
  4. Research should inspire our own photography, not by copying, by adapting techniques and linking them to our themes.

Keywords

  • Research - investigation into and study of information to establish facts and reach conclusions

  • Source - a place from which something, in this instance images or information, originates

  • Context - the circumstances that form the setting of an idea, event or photographic work

  • Annotation - notes and comments that accompany work

Common misconception

Research is separate from making work.

Research feeds directly into experimentation and outcomes.


To help you plan your year 10 art and design lesson on: Photography: the influence of sources on photographic investigations, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Keep reminding students to link back to their own theme. That way, research never feels separate from making, and students avoid description with no connection.
Teacher tip

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Why is research important in photography?

to copy another photographer’s work exactly
Correct answer: to understand ideas, contexts, and techniques that can inspire your own practice
to avoid having to take photographs yourself and save time
to make your sketchbook look full of reference images

Q2.
True or false? A source in photography can only be a famous exhibition in a big city.

True, it is important that you only reference famous photographers.
Correct answer: False, sources can be exhibitions, books, journals, internet or magazine images.
True, reliable sources in photography are usually photographic exhibitions only.
Correct answer: False, sources may come from local or community exhibitions or shows too.

Q3.
Match the type of source to its strength:

Correct Answer:magazines/ newspapers,broad, affordable way to explore themes quickly

broad, affordable way to explore themes quickly

Correct Answer:journals/ photobooks,high quality images, detailed research into one artist or theme

high quality images, detailed research into one artist or theme

Correct Answer:exhibitions,immersive experience of seeing a photographer’s work directly

immersive experience of seeing a photographer’s work directly

Q4.
Why is it important to share your ideas and describe your intentions when researching and responding to photographic sources?

It shows how you copy other photographers exactly.
It makes your portfolio look more colourful and detailed.
Correct answer: It communicates how research connects to your own themes and choices.
It avoids having to do annotations around the research images.

Q5.
Why is it useful to make a mind map before starting research?

It avoids having to use reliable sources.
It helps you skip annotation.
It ensures you only research one photographer.
Correct answer: It saves time by focusing on key words, themes, and techniques.

Q6.
True or false? Context (historical, cultural, material, or social) has no impact on how a photographer’s style develops.

Correct Answer: False, Incorrect, Wrong

Additional material

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