Nathan Lear proposes a photo story for a teenage magazine on the theme of "Teenage Issues". The story is about a young girl experiencing "stranger danger" and the fear of being in an unsafe situation with a stranger. Nathan plans to use dark lighting and locations like alleys to convey the seriousness of the issue. The story follows the girl being stalked by a stranger and shows how she deals with the problem by hiding and then running to a friend's house to call the police. The photos aim to raise awareness of safety risks while traveling alone without scaring readers.

1. Nathan Lear
Still Images Project
Media
Autumn Term Homework Project
TASK: Imagine that you work for a teenage magazine. You have been asked to plan
and produce a photo story on the theme of ‘Teenage Issues’ that would be suitable
for publication in your magazine.
Task 1: My Story
This story is about ‘stranger danger’, an idea that perhaps may be daunting to some
teenagers, but is possibly one of the most important regarding the safety of young
people. It follows a young girl and the fear that she feels when faced with a stranger,
leading her to be in an unsafe and horrible situation. The photos that I will present
may be a bit over the top, but I feel that this is necessary to get the point across. I
will take photos using dark lighting to express the darkness of the situation. I will also
take these photos in various locations to such as walking down an ally on your own,
to having the background of a simple brick wall. By doing this I am able to give the
reader of the story a perspective of this serious issue of ‘Stranger Danger’ and the
particular focus on young people travelling alone. The motive of this is not to scare
young people, but simply to keep them aware of the possibility of certain situations
which are perhaps not shown enough in our society. The young girl is shown to the
victim of stalking from this stranger, which could lead to a nasty outcome. The story
board shows some ways to deal with this problem.
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2. Nathan Lear
Still Images Project
Media
The first photo shows the simplicity of the wall as a background expresses the
loneliness of the girl in the image. The use of lighting is reasonably bright on her face,
so that there is a clear indication of what she is feeling. But surrounding the photo, in
the corners, the light darkens. This shows that the girl is alone in the dark. This is
useful as it implies how it is more dangerous a night to be alone. A suggestion that
could be used in the magazine would be that if it is a complete necessity that
someone has to travel in the dark, try to be with someone, or stick to main roads
where there is always cars and people around, which takes of the fear of being
followed or targeted.
Her facial expressions imply fear and not knowing of her fate. The use of her clothing,
a bright top could make the girl more noticeable which could be useful if on a main
road, however the darker jacket would suggest a darker and more fearful approach,
even if the viewer of the image is unaware. The close are casual, making the
circumstance feel like it could be applied to anyone.
Her hand gestures are drawn close to her body which implies fearfulness and
protection of her heart, unconsciously. It is a natural reaction when in fear and when
scared to try and protect yourself with your hand gestures. This again makes the
reader of the magazine feel that this is not just a story, but something that could
happen to them.
The second photo shows the dangers of where you go, here in this photo the girl in
our story goes into a small alley way. only to find a dangerous stranger there waiting
for someone to come by, she didn’t notice at first but when he started to follow her
she ran, she was chased around the area as she tried to find a safe place where this
man wouldn’t find her.
The third photo: Here in our story we have our girl hiding from the stranger under a
walkway, little does she know the stranger can see her.
The forth photo: She quickly ran to her friend who was near by and they both ran
back to there house and called the police, later the stalker was put in jail.
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