Mind Map
Focus
Generally, I am focusing on the social issues of inequality and the famous quotation, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” from George Elliot. I want to show that people are just people; they are all equal. I am trying to present this idea using unique ways to reveal a person’s identity. The methods include depicting only a part of the person’s body, such as hands, using eyes as the main focus, and the background.
Statement of Intent
The title of this project is “Equality.” The social and cultural issue I want to explore with my photographs is a cultural difference. I want my audience to feel a strong sense from different cultures and ethnicity and different emotions such as isolation. I want my viewers to clearly see the cultural difference of people, like how some are different than others. I also want my audience to feel the isolation in different ways. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that depict the eyes as the main focus, showing different cultures by their appearance, different poses, and different ways to show identification, such as offering a person’s hands.
Artist- Bill Brandt
Bill unusually expresses emotion to show some part of the body. The body parts and the background catches the audiences’ attentions. Bill set a pretty busy background, unlike other photographers who focus on a plain and not busy background. He usually depicts the parts of the body that represent someone’s identity on a beach or in a room. He slightly uses the technique of “Get in close” to fill the main subject of body parts on the frame. Furthermore, he usually depicts these body parts utilizing “Change your angles.” It doesn’t use angles to eliminate the distractions but instead takes the main subject in a weird angle. We can also find his photographs mainly as a portrait shape. Even though he follows these rules, he breaks these rules more. One of the features that makes his pictures different than others is the editing technique. Most of his portraits are in a Black & White tone. I have chosen this artist because it relates to my intent. He uses just one of the body parts to represent identity and uses a feeling of oldness, isolation, and darkness through the tone of Black & White. I will take his idea of Black & White tone, using body parts to show identity and angles on my experimentation. Moreover, I also want to experiment with the shadows that he utilizes. I want to depict the essence by taking photographs from different angles and distractions.
Least favorite photograph
The subject of this photograph taken by Bill Brandt is unclear to me. This subject was the first thing that caught my eyes because it took up the most frame space. It seems more like an arm, but it might also be a knee. Even though this shows a person’s identity through a body part, it is unclear.
On the skin, I see a minor blemish; this shows the uniqueness of its identity. By the background, we can identify it is near the shore. This photograph is attractive due to its unique part of the body and the busyness of the background, but I don’t like the posing.
Some positive features of this image include the details on the skin, like the fainted lines and dots. The Black & White tone and the shadows created by the subject on the pebbles show the uniqueness of the photograph. In addition, The small pebbles catch the audience’s attention by showing the setting of this image.
As for Portraiture, a simple background is much better than a busy background. This can be improved by depicting from a different angle. By the clearness of the small pebbles, I anticipate this photograph was taken during the daytime.
Favorite Photograph
The subject is taken in this photograph taken by Bill Brandt is very clear to me. It was the first thing I saw in the Portrait. It takes up most of the frame, and the identity stands out clearly. The subject of the photograph is fingers. I like this photograph since it clearly zoomed in and focused on one part of the body to show identity. Moreover, it has a plain background as standard Portraiture than other images taken by Bill Brandt. There are multiple shapes, lines on the hand, and the tone of Black & White presents the photograph as impressive. Furthermore, the element of “light” is well used. It creates the shadows of the hands-on pebble and clearly shows the subject. The shades provide uniqueness to the photograph.
The feature of the catch in texture also provides a positive effect to the audience. The smoothness of the fingers and the rocks can be identified.
The setting and the time of this photograph aren’t precise. I can anticipate that it is daytime near the sea. I can see small details like palm lines from the picture of fingers. The palm lines show the characteristics of the person and the identity. By the number of palm lines, there is a high possibility that the person isn’t young and works a lot. More palm lines show more ages. People who work a lot of hand movements often have rough lines on their hands. I am predicting he is a diligent and middle-aged person.
Plan my shot
I might need to use props such as a watch, light, and clothes to show one’s identity.
My vision is clear; I want to show different cultures and a feeling of isolation through photographs.
I am going to take my pictures in any school space that has a simple background to take photographs. (like the cafeteria tables)
Plan
Set 1 Blue
I have chosen photographs that are mainly related to my artist in my blue shots. Some photographs are related to my topic of depicting the cultural aspect of one’s identity and the idea of equality. I also focused on the element of tone, “Get in close” and “Quality lights and shadow.” In addition, the variety of posing was also what I was looking for in this set.
Set 1 Green
For the Green shots, I narrowed it down to photographs that are both related to my topic and my artist. Again, I was also looking for a variety of posing. I didn’t want the repetition of posing. The contrast of the color of hands was another part that I was looking for; it shows the cultural part of one’s identity.
Set 1 Red
I have chosen these images as my red shots because they have the clearest color contrast of hands. From the contrast, it meets my vision of showing a strong sense of cultural difference. It represents one’s cultural identity well and shows an idea of equality.
The idea behind these photographs is equality. Each photograph presents one’s ethnicity and cultural part of one’s identity in different ways. By the contrast of colors of hands, it shows the ethnicity that one belongs to. Moreover, it has a story or an idea that no matter what skin color you possess, everybody has the same hands. In addition, they care for each other and collaborate with each other.
The strengths of these photographs are that there are multiple elements included and different posing of hands to tell a story. The elements comprise “Get in close,” “Quality Lights and Shadow,” and “Out of focus.” In addition, it has a clear color contrast of hands by editing. I also have followed the style of my chosen artist, Bill Brandt, for this set.
Throughout the set, I have developed different skills, including photo editing and managing ISO setting when taking photographs. Moreover, I have experimented taken photographs from a variety of angles. From my previous tasks, I have learned to use shadows to attract audiences’ attention. Moreover, I also learned to use a Black & White tone to express feelings of darkness and isolation.
Something that works well about these images is that it clearly follows the expectations of my chosen artist. Moreover, it has a clear color contrast and has a variety uses of important elements for Portraiture.
Something I need to develop further is photo editing. I think I only did a decent job of editing. I could have used a variety of colors of hands to show different ethnicity of individuals.
Critique
Favorite Picture
Most of the elements support the main subject of hands. The element of general lines in the background might be a distraction. On the other hand, the use of “Quality Lights and shadows” and the tone of Black & White fits well with the main subject. The tone expresses a feeling of darkness, and the shadows created by the artificial lighting attracts audiences’ attention. When I first saw the photograph, my eyes were drawn directly to the dark part of the hand. I want the audience to see the color contrast and then see the sculptures in the background.
The exposure is correct because I have used low ISO when taking photographs. Moreover, the shadows are included in both the sculpture areas and below the hands. There is also a bit reflective of the light beside the hands. I have utilized the element of “Quality Lights and Shadows” to exaggerate the exposure. It might be better to depict the shadows more; the shadows are a bit small.
By a longer focal length, I think it would be better by eliminating the background and utilizing the element of “Get in close.” It would increase the magnification. This way, it makes the audience focus on the details on hand. Moreover, shortening the focal length would make the photograph worse since it would have more backgrounds. It makes a wider angle of view and low magnification.
The background includes the cultural sculptures and the repetition of plain woodblocks. The woodblocks do not mean anything, but the cultural sculptures links with the hands. It shows the western and Indian ethnicity of one’s identity. It gives a sense of cultural identity and difference to the audience.
The element of the tone of Black & White is taking up the most composition. The use of the component “Quality Lights and Shadows” are also seen below the hands and on the side of the sculptures. By the hands, which are the main subjects in the photograph, the use of “watch the hands” is found by the posing. The pose of hands has a universal meaning of equality and peace.
The color is accurate because it has a clear contrast between black and white hands. These two colors show different identities and different cultures. However, it is still based on the idea that everybody has the same hands.
The depth of field between the hands and the sculptures fits well. The hands are directly pointing and facing at these sculptures from an angle. The sculptures might get a bit closer to the hands so that hands are more focused by the element of “get in close.”
This photograph clearly shows my vision of identity through hands with cultural features. The addition of the tradition-based sculptures strengthens the idea of giving a sense and information of one’s identity about their ethnicity and heritage. Moreover, the Black & White tone provides a sense of isolation and darkness.
I think the audience will feel a robust sense of the culture of one’s identity by the posing, color contrast, and artistic sculptures. Even though the photograph is in a Black & White tone, which possesses a dark tone, the reflection of lights beside the hands might give the audience a brighter and positive feeling.
Least favorite picture
Most of the elements support the main subject of hands, such as Quality lights and shadows, a contrast of colors, and getting in close. However, there are distractions in the background. The background isn’t simple and plain. My artist, Bill Brandt, also made his background distracting, so I tried to follow that. However, it seems a bit taking away from the strength of this photograph. One of the reasons I have chosen this photograph as my least favorite is because of the background. Moreover, the editing skills were a bit lacking. The sleeve on the right side has a weird dark shape. My eyes are immediately drawn by the color contrast of the hands but also on the sleeve. The sleeve has an editing error that catches eyes. I want my audience to focus more on the hands because it is my main subject. It also shows smy topic and links with my artist. Yes, it would be better through a different focal length. By a longer focal length, it would be able to eliminate the background, making a focus on the element “getting in close”. The background doesn’t mean anything. The main concept of distraction in the background was inspired by my artist. Moreover, I also utilized the element of shadows to attract audiences’ attention. The element of the tone of Black & WHite covers most of the frame. I also utilized the element of getting in close to make the audience focus on the main subject. There are only two colors in this photograph, Black & White which is the tone. I have used these two colors to show the feeling of darkness and to show the cultural difference by the contrast of the colors on hands. I think the depth of field between the hands and the background is too far away. Depicting the hands closer to the background might eliminate the distractions and have a plain background by the bench. Furthermore, this photograph shows my vision but it doesn’t really show my cultural identity. It might be better next time to place an item that represents one’s ethnicity in the background. The color contrast even though shows the cultural difference by their skin colors. However, it might be depending on audiences’ interpretation.