The photo essay was the most enjoyable assignment to date. Not that writing an essay on the history of Valentine’s Day or reviewing the History Channel’s website were not fun but this assignment allowed for me to research and study a subject I thoroughly enjoy.
One of the first things I noticed when researching was the amount of sites that had the same pictures. For this assignment I chose to not only focus on the Black Panther Party but also on some of the most famous photos every taken of the Party. However, the goal in choosing popular photos was not to make it easy on myself but quite the opposite. I wanted to research all of the different sites that contained these pictures and compare what each person wrote about them. It was interesting to read the different captions and stories that accompanied these pictures. Even in small captions, points of view were evident. Of course, I too am guilty of this bias. However, I also believe that there is no such thing as an objective historian. Just in the topic I chose to research I am biased. In essence, I am arguing that the Black Panther Party is more important than another historical subject to research.
In addition to searching for the pictures and having the opportunity to view a variety of Black Panther Party photos another aspect I enjoyed was writing my own captions. As I wrote each caption I tried to think of someone looking at the photo and having no idea who the Panthers were and their historical significance. I wanted each picture and caption to intrigue the viewer to go out and research the Panthers on their own.
Perhaps the only frustrating part of the project was realizing after I completed it that the pictures were not in the order I so desired. I began researching in a certain order and when I published the photos they appeared backwards. In short, the top of the blog shows the last picture of the essay and so on down the line. I wanted viewers to see the last picture first. I attempted to reverse the order but to know avail.
In closing, while it may not seem like much, looking at my blog I realize just how much I have learned from this course and this assignment truly made me look forward to our final project.
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