Photo Analysis

Activity #2

• Photo 2 gave me the most confidence in President Obama’s leadership abilities. For one reason, he is not the only person in the picture, like photo 1. In the second picture, he is sitting with a US coast guard, who would have been directly exposed to the problem and have witness accounts of the progress of the clean-up. To be an effective leader, this first‑hand knowledge is critical to determine the next step to take. Also in photo 2, Obama’s arms are outstretched as if he is explaining something. He could be presenting methods of how he plans to not only clean up the current oil spill, but prevent future ones from happening. Obama looks puzzled and like he could be listening to someone in photo 1. However, it is impossible to know exactly what it is that he is thinking about. The maps of where the oil spill took place in photo 2 show exactly what the problem at hand is. There is a map in the back ground of photo 1 but because it is so fuzzy and blurred, it is not very noticeable upon first glance. The clean-up pictures in the background of photo 2 show that steps are being taken to resolve the problem even during the meeting. It is hard to tell what is going on in the first photo because it is just a close up of Obama’s face. Adding another person and having a wider camera angle (photo 2) give the viewer the impression of having the “overall” picture of the story. It shows that Obama knows what is happening, is taking the steps to fix the problem, and is preparing to prevent future problems.

• From photo 2 I can infer that the photo is spontaneous. I get this impression because it looks like he is in the middle of a sentence. His hands are in motion as he explains the situation and tries to find a solution. The coast guard in the photo also looks like he in intently listening to what Obama is saying. The biggest give away that this photo was not posed is the microphone in the upper right hand corner of the picture. I also infer that this photo is trying to raise confidence in Obama’s efforts. This problem drug on for longer than it should have and I think that surrounding him with people and pictures of how the problem was being resolved helped the public’s faith in his abilities. The photo gives the impression that he is working on it and that “response” is happening. The first question this photo raises is at what point in the oil spill was this photo taken? Was it right at the beginning or had it been a while? Secondly, what exactly was Obama’s plan at this point in the process? Was he still in the observation stage or was he actually giving productive methods of clean-up? The final question raised is what role will the Us Coast Guard Admiral play in the clean-up? Is he leading the clean-up crew or was he just a first-hand witness to let Obama know what was happening?

 

 

Caption: President Obama devises a plan to address the BP oil spill. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity #3

Link to lesson plan. CLICK HERE

The activity I found involves students looking at different Fibonacci patterns in nature. To incorporate this lesson, I would have the kids examine the provided picture and discuss the pattern they see within the image. This is a great leeway into the Fibonacci Series of numbers.