One-of-Fifty: Description Challenge
One-of-Fifty: Description Challenge
A Creative Exercise in Visual Storytelling and Emotional Tone
A Creative Exercise in Visual Storytelling and Emotional Tone
Choose one powerful image and describe it through poetry or prose. Your job is not just to see—your job is to feel, to imagine, and to translate that emotion into words.
You’ll describe the photo in a way that lets readers feel it—before they even see it. Then you’ll guess each other’s photos based on those descriptions!
Visit this gallery:
Best Photos of 2019 – MyModernMet
Scroll until one photo hits you emotionally. It might make you feel wonder, sorrow, anger, warmth, or even confusion. Choose that one.
Rule: You may only choose ONE photo. No switching later!
You may write a:
Paragraph (vivid, image-driven description)
Short Poem (free verse, structured, or anything in between)
Your piece should capture:
Point of View – Who’s telling this story? A bystander? The photographer? A character inside the frame? Even the photo itself?
Imagery – Use your senses. Don’t describe the photo literally—describe how it feels.
Tone – Is the image joyful? Tragic? Tender? Chaotic? Match the emotional atmosphere in your language.
Theme or Message – What is the image trying to say? What might be beautiful, haunting, symbolic, or human about it?
Fictionalizing is encouraged! Imagine a backstory or create a narrative if it brings the image to life.
Post your response under the Google Question for this assignment. You may find an example at the bottom of this page.
Include:
Your Description (Paragraph or Poem)
Your Full Name
The Image Link – Right-click on your photo and copy the image URL (not the whole gallery link). Paste it after your writing.
Before clicking on anyone’s photo link, read their description and guess which image they chose.
Try to visualize it first—then click and see if you were right!
🎯 The goal is to make your description vivid enough that classmates can recognize the photo without seeing it.
Don’t just tell us what’s in the photo—show us why it matters.
Think like a storyteller or a filmmaker.
Write with emotion, not just accuracy.
Four boys played at the end of the falls while I waited for my drink. Their clothing was tattered, but their faces reflected no thought on their poverty or circumstance. They tossed water in the air from buckets they found left on the side of the river (a practice in many of these remote villages) and the water created these perfect parabolas from the chaos of their play. A few kicked wildly, maybe from some remnant of their primal ancestors, as they descended into an animalistic frenzy of joy. For a moment, the water was still, and the ambitions of my venture here stood inferior to the frenzied stillness of their youth.
– Mr. Tretyak