Elements and Principles of Art (Photo Scavenger Hunt)

For this exciting project students choose four elements/principals of art and then search for them on a photo scavenger hunt. The scope of this activity is limitless as students can search the whole wide world looking for examples of the elements/principals. For simplicity sake I would suggest however limiting the search to their home town, unless they have previous photos from vacations that they feel are great examples. I for example used several photos from hiking excursions to bring clarity to the elements/principles. Students should explain how each photo matches an element or principle by writing a short paragraph.



Movement  
•Movement guides the eye of the viewer through the work of art. The art piece should present a sense of flow.
Movement can be seen when looking at the clouds in this sunrise.  

  “Outlaw Mountain” near Custer SD
  Black Hills















Rhythm

•Rhythm draws the eyes from one object to the next as a result of a repeated pattern, colors and lines remain consistent.

Looking at these clouds we can clearly see rhythm as they create repetition/pattern in the below picture.  

             “Atlantic Mountain Ranch” (Lutheran Outdoors camp)

                Black Hills 

 

 











Unity

Unity is the result of many elements of art coming together to create a unified sense of balance in the art work.

In the below picture several of the elements are blending together, there is a sense of movement, balance, contrast, and even emphasis when looking at the tree in the for ground. This creates an overall sense of unity as the piece comes together as a whole.

 

             “Canyon lands national park” Utah

Contrast

•Contrast is the jump between light and dark colors, it is the result of using elements that conflict with each other. Complimentary colors can also create a sense of contrast.

The lightning in this photo gives the viewer a sense of contrast along with the brighter colors from the sunrise below the dark clouds.   

             “Little Devils Tower” Custer State Park

Extension Activity 

This would be a great activity to introduce at the elementary level. Students could analyze a single principle of art and then explore which elements are involved in each principle. The project could take place in the surrounding school area itself, or you could even take students on a field trip. This project could also be done in groups with each member of the group looking into a different principle. As a group students could then collaborate sharing their results on the different principles.