How are primary sources created and later analyzed by historians?

Photographs are one of many different kinds of primary sources historians use to study the past.  Complete the activities below to gain a better understanding of how primary sources, particularly photographs, are used by historians to understand the past.

You can either print the worksheets in the sections below or fill them out on your computer and save them to your personal device.

Connections to VA Standards of Learning  

These definitions are important to know for the following worksheets. Read below or download the PDF.

• Primary Source: A primary source is an artifact, document, image, or other source of information that was created during the time under study.  Examples of primary sources include letters, diaries, drawings, and photographs.  
  
  Primary sources are important because they tell us about the time from the perspective of those actually living through it. While primary sources give us a better idea about life in the past, they are not perfect. Each person creating a primary source has their own perspective and biases. Also, what they chose to write about, draw, or photograph limits what we can study, and not everything that is created is saved. That means that primary sources reveal only part of what life was like. 

• Photography: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines photography as “the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or an optical sensor)”.  Basically, photography uses light to record an image onto film or some other surface. Photographs are a primary source. 
  
  Check out the History of Photography Timeline to learn more about how the technology of photography has changed over time. Knowing about the changes in technology can help date photographs and answer questions about why photos were taken. 
   

• Community: A community is a place where people live, work, and play. You can be part of many different communities in your life. Small or large, communities form a large part of who we are. 
  
  At the end of this lesson, you will be documenting your community using photography. One day historians may use your photographs as a primary source to learn more about where you live!

Practice analyzing photographs taken in Alexandria, Virginia. Start by Analyzing Photographs and then end with What do Photographs Tell Us? Watch the video below, How Historians Analyze a Photo, after analyzing photographs on your own.  

After examining historic photographs, practice doing primary source research of your own. Download Research Using Photographs or follow the steps below. For this activity, use The Library of Congress online collection of photographs.

Step 1: Find one or more photographs of life in Alexandria. If selecting more than one photo, choose a theme, like photos of people working or photos from around the same time.

Step 2: Create a slide show or document with the photograph(s). Be sure to include a photo credit for each (where you found them) and their captions from the catalogue.

Step 3: Analyze the photographs. These are things you might share when presenting the photo. You can ask:

• What do I see?
• What do I think?
• What do I wonder?
• How does this photograph answer the “Five W’s?”
• Who took this photograph and why? (Check the online catalogue to find this answer).

Step 4: At the end of your presentation, answer this question: How do you think the community has changed since the photograph was taken?

When your presentation is complete, be sure to share it!

After analyzing historic photographs to understand what they can and can’t tell you about the past, it’s your turn to be the photographer! Select a community that you are part of to document and share with others. This guide walks through the project steps. 

Curious how photographers have documented their community in the past? Watch the clip below to hear from Photographer Nina Tisara about the process. Her photography project Converging Paths, which documented 50 worship groups in Alexandria in 1985, is now part of the Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum’s collection. Highlights of a temporary exhibit, Witnessing Worship: A Photographic Study of Faith in Alexandria, are available online.

Want to go deeper or learn more? Below are some suggestions.

Suggested Readings:

• Great Inventions: The Camera by Larry Hills. Reading Level: 3
• Super Simple Camera Projects by Alex Kuskowski. Reading Level 2-4
• Inventing the Camera by Joanne Richter. Reading Level: 4+.
• Lunch Counter Sit-Ins by Danielle Llera-Smith.  Reading Level: 5-7.
• America Through the Lens by Martin W. Sandler.  Reading Level: 5-9.
• Photo by Brady by Jennifer Armstrong.  Reading Level 6-9.
• Gordon Parks; How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford. Reading Level: 4-8.
• Make your own camera obscura.