Seventh graders in Mrs. Faletti’s class have been exploring the concept of identity as part of their Facing History and Ourselves curriculum. In the classroom, they discussed the many ways that identity is formed and how it can be expressed. The idea for this project stemmed from their “100 Traits Project” in which the students wrote 100 descriptors about themselves. After studying the silhouettes of artist Kara Walker who is “…best known for exploring the raw intersection of race, gender, and sexuality through her iconic, silhouetted figures*,” the students were assigned to create a silhouette of themselves to represent who they are.
The project began with the students choosing props and practicing poses that would represent who they are and also make effective silhouettes. After having their photos taken, they learned to use the challenging Pen Tool in Adobe Photoshop to trace their figures and then combined their images into a single banner to represent their class that can be seen at the top and bottom of this page. You can view their individual silhouettes below. Enjoy!
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Bytes@Bell 