Down and out (model: Taylor Worth)
This is one of my major downfalls, i do well of hiding it, Pessimism. I have an extreme amount of negativity on many different subjects and I always seem to find myself seeing the glass half empty instead of full. It seems to me that nothing is ever good enough. I am optimistic about other people but when it comes to myself I have a lack of positive energy. I can make anyone feel better but i only make myself feel worse about situations. I showed the symbolism with stairs. I tried to think of things that would be an outside-of-the-box way to show my negative side. I automatically thought of negativity as down then i had an epiphany... Stairs go down! so I used the stairs as a way to show my downer side to things. Another ironic thing is that... stairs also go up, so it shows that my direction of thinking automatically thinks down. I showed my glass-half-empty thoughts by positioning Taylor downward on the steps.... (THANK YOU TAY I KNOW YOU WERE IN PAIN!) I told her to give herself a hopeless and pained expression to show off my theme.. the pained part was not hard at all (haha) The dress shows her more feminine side and shows more vunerability. The way she is positioned shows that there is a long way to fall before she can get back on her feet, pessimism, once in the habit, is hard to get back up, so by showing her in a hard position to get out of shows what kind of a predicament i find myself in far too much. I like the way the lighting is cast, with her tactfully in shadows showing off her cynical mind set, and the upper part of the stairs lightened, almost showing salvation. It has good composition with her feet leading you down (another symbolic negative) to her face. This is a very strong picture (in my opinion).
precariousness (Model:Mitchell Noll)
I tried to find an abstract yet still understandable way to show the theme of this picture. One of my biggest problems is Insecurity. I thought about how many times i looked in the mirror a day and gave myself mental make overs that would cost millions of dollars. Mirrors are obvious so I didnt even let that enter my head. I thought for something deeper and thought of when I (and everyone else) analyzed themselves the most. The bathroom was an obvious blace because that is where the mirror is always located. With one final brainstorm I figured out that showertime was the most obvious for picking yourself apart, when you are alone to make contorted and discusted faces at yourself. I used my parent's shower as the location because of the glass, it distorts things and reflects lights nicely as well. I had him stand in the shower and look out obviously disgruntled. The glass distorting his body is symbolic for what he sees. I put a light in back of him to contrast the shadows more to show the human figure off as something everyone worries about. I angled the camera down to show that he's looking down on himself. Compositionally the peice is strong because it drags your eye from the bottom left corner to the top of the picture. I also really like this picture :]
Quarantine: (model: Taylor Worth, Chad, and Robbie Nolland)This was the hardest picture to produc, not only because of the people in the background but also because of the symbolism behind it. I could not figure out another strong downfall of mine but I finally figured out one of my worst traits. My insecurity plays into this trait more than it should. I often feel much different from everyone else and from that I become self concious shy and I am very secluded. I tend to feel distant in a room full of people, like I'm not quite right there. So I chose seclusion as a downfall. I had Taylor stand still and look at the camera, almost as if she knew something no one else did, to show difference. I made her really contrasted compared to the people in back who i desaturated. I had them move to show that they really weren't there, to emphasize the saying, "Feeling alone in a room full of people" I put a light behind her to make her outline more visible to make her "glow" in a way to make her differenciate from the people in the back. The figure (chad to the right) leads the eye to Robbie who leads you down to Taylor, the main subject of this picture. The focal point shows that she feels last. I am glad this picture turned out how I wanted it to. :]
In the Dark (Model: Mitchell Noll)I have been screwed over one too many times in my life to be comfortable. I have learned caution is important for self preservation. Unfortunately it has gotten out of control and has turned into paranioa. It has become a major problem and I find myself having panic attacks more often than i should. (haha?) I definitely saw this as a downfall. At first It was hard to think of a way to portray it but I found a good idea that is very out of the box. I used an umbrella to show what paranoia does. When you are cautious you block things out and when you are paranoid you try to block it out but all you get is a wave of scary thoughts. What I did was show the umbrella in the back, able to handle rain but if it took on hail, or anyhing too powerful it would easily get broken and washed away. Paranioa does the same thing The light in the back shows "Thoughts" showing through and engulfing his head. I like the symbolism behind this the most and was reaalllyy proud of myself for thinking of it :]
