The subject of the artwork is Sarah Williams, the image incorporates both abstract and portrait elements of art. The image was originally a portrait photo that captured a blank gaze. Yet now captures various eyes that are distorted from the original layer. The work was created as she was entering class behind a blank wall without looking through the lenses. The theme intended was inspired by Louie Palu鈥檚 series of portrait images of people without understanding the context of their role within the world. Although this did influence my final outcome, I slightly altered my theme into one that captured someone else鈥檚 perception someone else who was essentially a blank canvas yet had thoughts and feelings.
The photo captures a face yet the most significant feature within that photo was her eyes. Eyes are an extremely powerful organ on a human exterior. Which is the focal point of point of the image by distorting those eyes and making them offline. The abstract piece allows for her original eyes to be hidden by the layer of the duplicated ones. This allows me to convey a message of blinded eyes, her true perception of the world is essentially covered by the influence of the people and world around her. Yet I used her eyes to blind her as opposed to random ones because it鈥檚 still her own struggles and battles in which shape Sarah鈥檚 perception.
The lighting of the photo extenuates the focal point within the photo as it allows her features to more defined and picks up on her freckles and texture of her skin. This effect the audience view on the image as it makes the image more realistic. The actual lighting is contrasted to a light and dark which distorts the image even more. One eye is on the lighter side whilst one remains darker. In terms of depth and field, I used an ISO of 400 to create a yellow effect on the original photo. Which enabled the black and white filter to enhance the colour contrast of exposure within the photo. While the depth of field is quite sharp and focuses on her face yet the dark colour of her eyes instantly draws the attention of an audience. The aperture was quite wide and let in a bit of light which affected the darkness of the black and white filter however, I think this worked out quite well. Nevertheless, the shutter speed affected the balance of the photo. Although, it turned out ok and still enabled the moral message to be conveyed.
Throughout this visual study I have learnt a lot and was able to answer my concept question, because every artform still has a general purpose and is therefore able to convey a powerful and compelling message. I achieved my concept as I was able to answer my concept question while I was able to use various different techniques in photography in order to get the photo that answered my conceptual question. I used portrait and abstract techniques by photo shopping and layering Sarah鈥檚 eyes to convey that concept using different techniques. I really enjoyed combing different elements and using Louie Palu鈥檚 concepts on how an audience can view a portrait photo differently if they don鈥檛 know the context of why the photo was taken. I something that really influenced my images.
