Social Issue Assignment

You will be responsible for creating a photo and writing an informative caption of a social issue. 

The main purpose behind this assignment is for you to capture an image and do research so you can present a photo and caption that relates the impact of the social issue while showing who it effects.

Highlight those adjectives and adverbs. And dig in to get some statistics and background info on the social issue you pick and how it affects the person (or people) within your photo.

This assignment should test how well you research an issue, identify and locate people dealing with the issue and how quickly you react to situations. This is where the journalistic efforts come into play and the photography portion is about equal to the research portion. 

A helpful tip is this, identify an issue you have some sort of familiarity with or you are passionate about.

A few examples would be:

•  Animals (Humane Society)

•  Homelessness (Contact me before doing this)

•  Poverty (Dirne Center)

•  Unemployment (Temp Agencies or Labor Office)

•  Single Moms

•  Teenage Parents

•  Mulit-Job Workers

•  Pollution

•  Poaching

•  Illegal Dumping

•  Wolves (Idaho Fish & Game)

•  Medical Reform/Care Needs (Dirne or KMC)

•  Bicycles vs. Traffic

I can give you some direction on finding contacts for these and other issues you may find.

Make sure you have a back-up event if something happens to your primary shoot.

The baseline requirements for this assignment are the usual: properly composed, a good exposure, sharp focus, correct color balance and a complete caption. The rest of your grade depends on the items we talk about in class: communication points, accurate representation, well thought out idea or concept, creativity and those adjectives and adverbs that come across in the image.

Shoot with a purpose, always be editing and work that viewfinder from the outside in.

If you have any questions or need some guidance, feel free to contact me via email or cell. We'll be going over more information on the person at work assignment in class on March 23.

The due date for this assignment is April 6.

Below are some examples of social issue photography.

Animal Shelter Crowding

Allison Campbell browses the cat area of the Kootenai Humane Society shelter on Tuesday. The shelter currently has about 120 cats and kittens waiting for adoption and many more being cared for by foster homes.

Health Care and Poverty

Lani McLane, right, a dentist at the Dirne Dental Clinic, and her assistant Kelin Bard work with a patient Wednesday. The clinic's MediCaid client load is about two-thirds full leaving Dirne administrators searching to fill chairs with those in need of dental care.

Food Banks

Nancy Kadrmas organizes the groceries she chose Tuesday at the Community Action Partnership food bank in Coeur d'Alene. A proposed House bill and the proposed 2012 budget would call for significant cuts to the Community Services Block Grant, which funds Community Action Partnership services.

Dying with Dignity

After the hospice staff left for the day, Nancy Warner tried to bathe her husband Dick Warner in order to stick with a routine. Despite her best efforts, she had to stop because it was too painful for him. "He's here because this is where he wanted to be," Nancy said while fighting back tears. "I can't imagine what he would have to deal with being in a facility with strangers caring for him." Hospice of North Idaho has seen a significant shift in the number and type of patients they are caring for since 2000.

Homelessness

Kenneth "Wolf" Giffin, a Persian Gulf War veteran, collects his possession after receiving a trespassing warning from Kootenai County Sheriff deputies Friday. The homeless camp where Giffin was staying had more than 20 different camp sites where the homeless population has stayed unknown to the general public for the past six months. The site was in the trees near the Harbor Center along the west side of Northwest Blvd.

Caring for Children with Disabilities (this was a student's shot from last year)

(Sorry folks, but I couldn't find a caption with this image)

Bicycles and Traffic

Jay Johnson pedals his way north Wednesday on 4th Street in Coeur d'Alene. Several efforts are underway to make the community more bicycle friendly. Kootenai Medical Center has received 22 patients who were involved in some of the 51 accidents between bicyclist and motorists over the past three months.