Final Project: No one but the cameraman

Composition: Balance, lighting and perspective played the most important roles in my set of image. Balance came in the form of many symmetrical images with lighting spread throughout the frame. Lighting, as just stated, was not focused in one area, but instead covered the whole composition. The lighting did however provide some very strong blacks and whites. And perspective may be the most important element. Low aperture created many blurred areas that moves the viewer's focus through the frame while also obscuring areas that might be important to pay attention to.

Concept: My set of images are meant to form an emotional response in the viewer. The emotions should be along the lines of sadness, loneliness, fright, and an overall eerie feeling. The concept is about feeling alone and like you're the only one in the world. At first glance, this set of photos may appear as just pictures of places and scenery. But when a closer look is taken, the viewer will notice hidden shadows of people there before. It is hard to sometimes notice that  we're not the only ones to ever feel a certain way. Others have gone through the same things.

Method: All of these images were taken with a 50mm lens at an aperture of 1.8. This created some very sharp elements while other elements blurred into obscurity. All lighting was provided by the scenes, there was no constructed lighting sources. Once the photo was taken, I went into photoshop, sharpened the image, adjusted the levels, and added the shadows. Shadows were silhouettes found on Google which I then placed over the photo, added a gaussian blur, and then made it opaque. I worked to make each shadow somewhat hidden yet still tell a story.

Motivations: My goal for this set of images was to elicit an emotion from the viewer. Through ambiguous shadows and shallow DOF, I wanted to force the viewer to look at the photo longer than normal. This would hopefully lead the viewer to make their own definition for the shadows and overall feeling of the composition. My other goal was to finally create something intentionally "dark." After years of people telling me that my art was "brooding" or "macabre,"  I wanted to embrace it and create something that suited those names.

Conext: I believe my images are unique because of their pure ambiguity. I have seen many other photographers and artists express a specific emotion in their pieces that may not let the viewer decide for themselves what it means. My set is also different because photographers often times seem to have a stigma with adding things into their photos. By adding in the shadows and creating a story, I was able to successfully "alter" my photos while still leaving their artistic value in tact. Outside of art and photography, my images have a social/psychological meaning. We all at some point feel alone. This usually leads us to overgeneralize and think we're the only ones dealing with that problem and that no one can relate. But, our attitude is what keeps us from seeing the truth, the real fact that we're never alone and our emotions/feelings are common.

Blog #25

Write a detailed description of your “motivations” for your final self-proposed project. Why are you interested in this subject? What do you want to convey? How do you want viewers to respond? Why are you inspired to make these images/this project? Do you want to evoke emotions in viewers? Shock viewers? Make them laugh? Make them think? Inform them? Reveal something about how you see the world? Reveal something about yourself, a person, a place, a feeling, a memory, a moment in time? 

My final project is meant to be an ambiguous set of photos that can evoke emotions in all people. I have chosen a theme where I take photos of empty scenes that you would expect people to be in, and then I add in very subtle shadows/outlines of people that once were. This theme conveys the ideas of loneliness, sadness, emptiness, feelings of the past, and feelings that we're all in the same boat. These themes come together to form my project called "No One But The Cameraman." When the viewer first looks at my photo, they will feel the emotions listed above and not notice the subtle shadows for some time. But once they notice the shadows, feelings of past lives and all the other interpretations of shadows that people have will come into play. I am motivated to do this project because I feel that everyone shares these emotions. It is commonly hidden from society, but at some point everyone feels alone and isolated, even when there may be others around them (another interpretation of the shadows). This project has personal meaning as well. Being an only child often meant feeling alone and "empty." Those feelings do no persist today, but the memories of them inspired me. This is also why many of the photos in my set are blurry or have a shallow depth of field, creating a memory/dreamlike effect. Overall, I want my viewers to think and feel. I want my photos to be personal to each individual through their ambiguity. And lastly, I would like my photos to feel almost like a story, traveling from place to place, feeling the environment, and searching for those shadows.

final project preview