Explanation: as you can see, I have only selected photos from my first set. This is because I believe that the second set is less intense and interesting than the first, meaning my identity as the theme is less interesting than the social issue as the theme. “rock isn’t just drugs and booze”. The photos I have chosen are very similar, in fact they were taking in one go. So, I will only give it one title, and the title will be: The Smash. This series of photos were experimentations conducted by me, I had the idea to do a motion capture photo and did many attempt before I got this one, I did turned on the “10 photos” function, that function is very fast, so I had to swing my guitar very fast to get it captured by the photo, one time I almost actually smashed my guitar. For the photos in the first unit, I just took photos of the same location with different effects and edits. For the earlier photos in this set, I just took the same photos and edited some of them. So I think the series is a good addition to the photo collection.
My idea for the format of presentation is the very simple. I don’t want my photo to be in separate canvas, because I meant for them to be viewed together in the first place. (like in a book where you flip the pages and it creates an illusion of movement) If my work was to be displayed, than it’s going to be tightly packed in chronological order. These photo weren’t particularly inspired by any artist, the idea was my own. But if I had to link this to one of the artists, it would be Steve McCurry, some of Steve McCurry’s photos were planned, and taken with the character staring directly at the photo. But other photos are spontaneous photo taken at any place, – maybe they were planned, but it didn’t feel like it – these other photos are usually someone or a few people in motion, without showing signs of noticing the camera, these seemingly natural reactions and moments are what best represents my intent. What I did was develop the concept even further.
Final Critique:
Composition: My composition is not the best, due to the limited resources and time, I wasn’t able to find any background object that can strengthen the photo’s meaning, my background was picked from my room. And there are random objects lying on the side without any context for the photo. There was no detail anywhere in the photo, and I bet everything on my motion to be so captivating that people don’t recognize the bland background. If I could go back and change something, I would have put something on the bed, something like a cigarette, prop drugs, or some alcohol bottle.
Eyes: My eye were focused on “target” of the guitar smash, it would have been weird if I stared at the camera and smashed my guitar. This goes back to Steve McCurry’s capturing moments in time where the character “didn’t notice” the camera, If anyone ever posed for a photo, they would know that pretending to smile is pretty difficult, but pretending to be angry or violent is very easy. Maybe it’s because of natural evolution and the need for intimidation. But because of that, my decision to pose as violent was very easy to achieve. It’s convincing and it also makes me look cool.
Distractions: There are no distractions in this photo, I edited so that I am the main subject. I am also the biggest object in the room. Only if a viewer decides to look carefully will they actually find the random out-of-context objects in the background. The only possible distraction could be the highly contrasted air ventilation system high up on the walls. But that’s not important, because it’s not significant and has no meaning, people won’t linger on the vent even for a second. They might first see the vent, and immediately move on to the main subject – which is me -because viewers won’t care about the vent.
Story: Since my photos are captured motion, it’s very easy to tell the story of it, in the viewpoint of a viewer. It’s just a man swinging his guitar due to stress and anger, as show by my face and actions. The problem with trying to tell a story with this is: people won’t figure out the broader context of why I am actually smashing my guitar, if they were guessing, it could be any reason: grades, arguments or even breakup. So this again, is to blame the fact that I didn’t put any context driven hints in the background.