This set answers my intent because the volleyball brings back the happiness Mr. Kumi had back then, bringing nostalgia. The lighting further expresses this: one side of his face is lit up, signifying the “good old days,” with bright warm lights representing the “good.” The dark side of his face presents a contrast to the light, highlighting how much “light” and “brightness” volleyball brought to him. The focus on his gaze clearly presents the satisfaction and the happiness of him holding the volleyball. I named this photo “Back to the Past” because the happiness on his face and with one half-lighted tells the story of memory and nostalgia of the good old days, when he won every single game in that tournament, holding the “MVP” ball from back then. This corroborates with the author, Dawoud Bay, I took inspiration from as he also uses lighting and focus on the eyes to emphasize the facial expressions and emotions that the subject possesses when in a certain scenario: in his cases the students would show emotion in a classroom, in my case Mr. Kumi shows happiness when holding the tournament ball in which he won every single game in. This photo successfully answers my intent because it brought Mr. Kumi happiness and memories, in which I aim to do (triggering nostalgia from different cultures) in my intent. The culture section will be proven in the set with Mr. K, who came from a North American culture (photos below). Since my previous experimentation set, I realize that facial expressions are essential in reaching my intent of establishing nostalgia, and thus I realized that the props that can trigger emotion are very important. Therefore, the volleyball and the shirt Mr. Kumi brought was crucial to bringing him in character with the matching facial expression of my intention in these photos, which was something I learned.
“Back to the Past”
The above photo will have the same name as the set name, and will be the introductory photo.
The above photo is called “Spinning as a Winner.” Mr. Kumi’s remarkable control of the ball signifies his capability and composure when coaching the team that won every game in that tournament.
This one is called “Shining too Bright.” He covers his face in a setting position, as if the light is shining too bright – the light in this case symbolizes the achievements his team earned from that tournament.
Critique:
Composition: All the elements, including the props and lighting, support the subject in this photo as the props match my intent to trigger nostalgia. The negative space and props causes the viewer to focus on the subject with no distractions from the background. However, the background may be too plain – Dawoud Bay’s work consists of corresponding backgrounds, which I could have utilized as well. I indeed went to overboard with amplifying facial emotions and subjects themselves, missing the opportunity to add a more interesting but not distracting background. Despite the missing opportunity, the plain background causes the viewer to initially look straight at Mr. Kumi and Mr. K, which matches my intent of highlighting the identity of the two teachers. The story that both sets tell are pretty clear: Mr. Kumi, enjoying his last year at ISB, flexes and happily explains how important that volleyball means to him and how much glory and pride that specific tournament brought him. I was astonished at how proud and happy he was when he explained the meaning of the ball to me and during the photoshoot, I would like to thank him for his dedication to this photo set.
Below is a new set from Mr. K to contrast Mr. Kumi’s set to match my intent of comparing different cultures. Mr. Kumi has a volleyball-based European identity due to his culture, while Mr. K has a music-based American identity. Similar lighting is utilized, except the point is to amplify Mr. K’s high school life being brought back: he is once again in his high school varsity baseball jacket, holding his beloved guitar, and has the cool “high school kid” face on him, matching my intent. This is supported by photographic technique, such as the amount of negative space around him, pushing him to the left of the frame so the viewers would focus on him and the guitar, the focus is on his gaze so the viewers know that they are supposed to focus on his identity, and the saturation is higher so that the photograph is not as cold, as nostalgia is meant to have a warm feel, as my experimentational set from before proved: warmer colours had a better effect when establishing nostalgia. Moreover, taken by the inspiration from the previous author whom utilizes the same lighting this set also puts the lighting on half of his face. It also utilizes the same close shots as the author I have taken inspiration from, as both utilizes props appropriately to amplify facial emotions of the person within the picture. This corresponds to what I experimented in my first set as again, the facial expression was amplified by negative space and a plain background, as well as props being crucial in triggering the sincere emotion. In Mr. K’s set, he wears his proud baseball jacket from his high school varsity team, in which he was especially proud about. His guitar represents his other hobby, and to contrast Mr. Kumi’s set, his facial expression gives him the feeling of a cool high school student: the cultural contrast is quite clear. The sports culture puts a warm smile on Mr. Kumi’s face, but pushes Mr. K to look cool and proud about it in a much different way. This contrast fullfils my intent as I aim to capture the cultural differences among the sets. When looking at Mr. Kumi’s photos, the viewer should feel warm after hearing the context and should feel happy for Mr. Kumi about all the achievements he has earned for ISB after all these years. When looking at Mr. K’s photos, the viewer should feel like they are staring at an intimidating high school jock whom excels at baseball and music.
“High School Music-Jock” 
This picture is named “Guitar Menace.” He seems to be enjoying his guitar but at the same time looking at the camera in a menacing way, as if saying “DON’T TOUCH MY GUITAR.”
This picture is named “Going Back Home.” He lifts his guitar as if he just finished a concert with a satisfied look after an amazing performance at his high school, with his proudest varsity baseball jacket on.
