For my third and final experiment, I plan to compose a photo essay detailing the national debt of the United States throughout history. After researching the conventions of the photo essay genre, I feel well prepared to begin choosing photographs and building each part of my photo essay.

 

After thinking about my plans for this photo essay, I plan for the final product to be six to eight photographs in length, each accompanied by 100-200 words of text, if I choose to expand on Experiment #3 for my final project. Therefore, I aim to include roughly three photographs in my sample, a number that I think will allow me to experiment with the genre while not getting too preoccupied with photo selection.

 

If I select my third experiment for the final project, each image I select will be large and centered on the page (either of a Word document or on my online Gateway portfolio). I hope to find images (and properly cite them) from the Internet that are high quality so they don’t get distorted. Below each image will be a short paragraph (roughly 100-200 words) demonstrating to readers why I selected that particular photo and why it is significant in understanding the national debt crisis. This diagram here outlines the main structure of the photo essay I hope to create.

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Since I aim to provide a historical overview of the national debt (mainly over the past 100 years), each photo will focus on a central event in U.S. history that has had a major impact on the national debt. At this point, while each image is subject to change, I plan for Photo 1 to depict a scene from World War II; Photo 2 to depict the Great Recession in the early 2000s; and Photo 3 to depict the current pandemic of the novel coronavirus. While Photo 3 will focus on a current event that is still evolving, and I am constructing a historical photo essay, I feel the COVID-19 pandemic has had such a noticeable impact on our national debt that it should be included. I also believe that sharing scenes from the present will enable my audience to relate well to my experiment as the world continues to fight the spread of the coronavirus.