(For my final set of photos, I decided to change my theme from passing of time to discarded items. This is because the glow-in-the-dark paint wouldn’t arrive on time so I had to change a focus. However, I have experiments with the paint posted below this post.)

My final set of photographs captures the theme of discarded items through a thoughtful arrangement of discarded items such as an orange juice box and dried leaves, etc. The juxtaposition of elements of nature with human-made waste creates a powerful on visual, emphasizing the theme of the environment harmed by waste that human produce in every day life and the trash that people often throw away but are not aware of the consequences. This contrast invites the viewer to reflect on the impact of discarding items in nature.

One of the standout features of the image is the discarded plastic cover, specifically evident in the last photo, which not only serves as a reflective surface but also a hint of the core message. The reflection within the cover mirrors the discarded items, surrounded with dead leaves, creating a visually compelling layer that deepens the theme. This reflection symbolizes how discarded items that are often unnoticed by people continue to exist in our environment, pushing the audiences to reflect and make a connection. Moreover, the use of fairy lights wrapped around the discarded items introduces a contrasting element of warmness in the scene, drawing the audience’s attention towards the subject. The contrast adds a layer of visual uniqueness that softens the harsh reality of pollution. This juxtaposition creates a sense of irony, with the fairy lights evoking a feeling of comfort and the discarded items representing the waste produced by humans. The lights also highlight the waste that have been carelessly discarded.

In terms of techniques, I used a iso of 1600 and a fast shutter speed to have the items clear to see. I also had a light source at around 70 degrees in front of the scene to make it brighter, allowing the viewers to focus on the discarded items. Additionally, I also photoshopped the photos to make the subject fill the frame, with some negative space left in the frame. The negative space, specifically for the first photo, helps emphasize the main subject of the photo, which is the discarded waste, drawing the viewer’s eye to it. This further emphasizes the message of the harm of waste to the environment that I wanted to convey.

For areas of improvement, I would like to redo my paint experiments. My original idea was inspired by the work of artists Sarah Leal and Paul Lofthouse. Unfortunately, the photos didn’t turn out as I had hoped. The fake flowers I ordered didn’t arrive on time, so I had to use real flowers instead. However, the problem with real flowers is that they don’t soak up the paint and water mixture as well as fake ones do. This meant the flowers didn’t glow brightly enough to be captured clearly in the photos. I also tried adding some additional lighting to enhance the scene, but this ended up making the glow-in-the-dark paint appear dimmer. Next time, I will make sure to order my props earlier to avoid this problem.

In this experiment, I still worked with lights, but instead of glow-in-the-dark paint, I used fairy lights as the light element. Moreover, I also changed the subject into green leaves and dead leaves. I used a high iso and high shutter speed for this set of photos. I also had a light directly infront of the subject to make the subject appear brighter and more evident to see in the frame, capturing the texture of the leaves clearly. The fairy lights also adds a layer of texture to the leaves and drives the audience’s attention toward the subject.

For this first try, I experimented with glow-in-the-dark paint and sprayed it on a piece of plastic cover. I used a high iso and a fast shutter speed to capture each detail of the paint drops clearly. This camera setting is essential when taking photos in a completely dark room. I did not put any extra light source, just the paint glowing it self was enough, and the paint won’t glow as bright as it is if there was light around. For my next experiment, I would start trying with flowers.

Inspired by artists Sarah Leal and Paul Lofthouse, I combined the elements of glow-in-the-dark paint and flowers together to create a visually unique scene. For this experiment, I first soaked the flowers into water mixed with green and yellow colored glow-in-the-dark-paint. Then, I placed the flowers in a glass vase and sprayed the paint on the flowers and wall. I used a high iso and a fast shutter speed to capture each detail of the paint drops clearly. However, the set of photos did not work well because the fake flowers that I bought wouldn’t arrive in time, so instead I had to take the photos with real flowers. The problem with real flowers is that it won’t absorb the water with paint as much as fake flowers do, causing the flowers to be not bright enough to be captured clearly. I tried adding a little bit of light source but that makes the glow-in-the-dark-paint dimmer. Next time I would order my props earlier for them to arrive on time.

Statement of intent:

For my photography series, I aim to explore the theme of the passing of time. I am deeply inspired by artists Sarah Leal and Paul Lofthouse, who experiments with glow-in-the-dark paint on people and black and white roses. I would be combining the elements of neon paint, people, and roses. Moreover, I would also be using a bold contrast between the high-saturated colors of the paint and the dark background, creating a contour of the flower and the model, which would guide the audiences’ view towards the subject.  would be taking photos of wilted roses with human subjects covered in glow-in-the-dark paint. The wilted roses represent the decay of life and the passing of time, while the luminous glow of the paint life on my subjects represents the beauty that still exists as time passes. The overall atmosphere that I want the viewers to feel would be a timeless and abstract artistic style, making them connect with the fading of time but also the beauty of it.

For editing, I would I crop the subjects of the photo to have it fill the center of the frame, guiding the audience’s attention toward the model and the wilted roses. Since the photos would be taken in a dark room, I will need to adjust my camera settings to capture the scene clearly. This includes a higher ISO to allow more light to come in the lens. I might also use a wider aperture of around  f/2.8 to create a narrower depth of field, which will help to blur the background and keep the focus on the subjects and the roses. Additionally, a small LED light might be placed directly in front of the subjects to highlight the painted areas while keeping the rest of the scene dark.

The mind maps shows some of the ideas that I brainstormed for the theme of passing of time. I explored through multiple ideas that I would consider in my final photos.

Paul Lofthouse

Since there are not much information about Paul Lofthouse, I would mainly focus on his style. Paul Lofthouse is a photographer who experiments with black and white colors and roses. He uses the bold contrast between the black and white tones to portray the shadows of the rose pedals. The stark contrast and close-up technique also highlights the details of the texture of the roses. Moreover, the contrast between a dark/light background with a light/dark object creates a contour of the flower, guiding the viewers’ sight towards the rose. Additionally, Paul Lofthouse also edited the photos to make the roses be at the center of the frame, grabbing the audience’s attention. The images also display a strong depth of field, with the focus on the rose, that allows the contours and  structures of the roses to appear evidently. Most importantly, the use of this monochrome palette creates a timeless artistic feeling, emphasizing the beauty, fragility, and purity of nature.

Specifically for the last photo, Paul Lofthouse took a close-up photo of the rose. The close-up technique allows the small details of the rose pedals to be captured clearly, highlighting the texture of the pedals. Furthermore, Paul Lofthouse’s choice of using a black and white tone applies a stark contrast between the shadows and the highlights of the pedals, emphasizing the structure and patterned beauty of flowers.

Sarah Leal

Sarah Leal is a Brazilian artist known for her photography series “Glow,” which focuses on capturing aesthetic human features with glow-in-the-dark paint. Leal’s technique involves getting up close to her subjects’ faces and then cropping the photo to make the subject take up most of the frame. She also plays with light, shadow, and the elements of glowing paint. The neon colored glow-in-the-dark paint contrasts boldly with the black background, creating a contour of the model’s facial features. Inspired by neon artist Hid Saib, Leal’s work aims to highlight the connection between the human body and the details of sprayed neon paint, creating a striking and unique visual effect. Through her unique photography style, Leal’s “Glow” series explores the connection between human form and bright materials, creating a visually appealing and abstract style. For techniques, the photographer had the model photographed in a completely dark room, with the only light source coming from the neon paint. In this case, a high ISO would be needed in order to capture the scene clearly.

To expand, the 3rd photo above shows a person laying on the floor with pink, green, and blue glow-in-the-dark paint covering the model. The luminous glow-in-the-dark paint highlights a evident contrast between the dark background and the bright paint, emphasizing the contour and structure of the person. Additionally, the facial features and expression of the model, including his hollow black eyes expresses a haunted, mysterious, and timeless artistic feeling.

Leaves: 

For this set of photos, we placed the leaves on a lighting backboard to make the fibers on the leaves bold, highlighting the texture of the leaves. We used the technique of a lower ISO and a higher shutter speed for this effect. Then, I cropped the photos to zoom-in on the detail of the leaves, minimizing blank background.

Mandela: 

For this set of photos, I aimed to capture the aesthetics of the Mandela art.  For some of the photos, I took closeups of the art that the artists are working on. I felt like the details of the colored sand would be interesting to focus on, highlighting the texture and uniqueness of this form of art. For the other photos, I focused on a further distance and a birds-eye view to capture the entire art piece, and the round shape of the art, which is one of the key elements of Mandela.

Street:

For the street photography at Houhai, I experimented with long exposure techniques, which I have not tried before. I used a low shutter speed and a lower ISO for this effect. I also chose to take the pictures facing the window to have the lights evident with the background.

My final set of photos focus on capturing movement, emphasizing the beauty of movement through a series of poses.  I am deeply inspired by photographers Jim and Betsy Wilson, who are known for exploring movement in their works. Their ability to have multiple actions in one single frame stood out to me. I wanted to follow their technique while adding my perspective, focusing different movements and a black and white shade. The use of a black background highlights the movements by creating a contrast between the subject and the dark background, drawing the viewer’s attention towards the subject.

I took this set of photos in the studio with the lights closed. For this setup, I utilized a combination of high ISO and fast shutter speed settings to ensure clarity and sharpness of the movements of my models, preventing a blurred image since I took the photos in a dark room. Additionally, I positioned the lights to the side of the model to highlight the contours of the model and create depth, while also reducing shadows in the background. This setup allowed me to focus on the details of each pose, emphasizing the beauty of movement. I captured several images of each model performing different movements, aiming to portray the fluidity of their actions after photoshopping them together. After taking each frame of the movements, I photoshopped the photos to combine multiple poses into one image. By adjusting the opacity and positioning of each shot, I created a layered effect that highlights the transitions between movements.

To elaborate specifically on the first photo of my set, I hade the postures of the model positioned like her arms are reaching up. She could be reaching up, symbolizing desire or hope, or she could be putting her hands down, representing a sense of calmness. This depends on the perspective of the audience. These different ideas is what makes the photos interesting, by encouraging the audience to have their own interpretations and engage in the meaning of the photo in a deeper level. Moreover, for this specific photo, I have frame of the model’s face looking up appear the boldest in the photo, creating a unique composition. This makes the model look like she is looking up at her hands, guiding the audience’s attention towards the movement of her arms and allowing the audience to connect with the photos.

For areas of improvement in my next project, I would like to expand my focus by incorporating a wider variety of activities and performances. Specifically, I aim to find individuals who can showcase different forms of dance, as well as other dynamic activities, such as acrobatics, martial arts, or even traditional sports. By making the range of movements more diverse, I can create a more visually engaging set of photographs. Additionally, I would like to take more photos of dancers from various styles, including ballet or hip-hop. This would highlight the unique beauty of them. A variety of diverse activities would provide different movements to my photos, allowing me to explore the contrasts between different movement styles.

In this experiment, I focused on different angled lighting and effects. In the photographs below, I experimented with side and direct lighting in front of the model. I chose to use side lighting for the photos that focus mainly on the model. Side lighting casts a clear shadow on the model, creating a strong contrast between light and dark. This contrast in shades creates depth by adding shadows to the subject, making the dark side of the model blend in with the back background, creating an interesting appearance. For the fabric photos, I photoshopped them into my experiment photos to add texture to the photos. I asked Jungyoon the hold the fabric and then let go. I changed the shutter speed faster and the ISO higher for this set of photos, which makes sure that the fabric would be clear and on focus in the air. I also changed the camera into the multi-shot mode to capture multiple photos of the fabric dropping, which gives me multiple choices to to chose the best photos.

For this set of photos, I shot them in the studio with lights closed. I used a higher iso and a faster shutter speed to make sure the model isn’t blurry. I had a light angled in front of the model to minimize the shadows in the frame. For the photo below, I took 7 photos with the model in different postures and then photoshopped them together in one black background to show the different movements.  For the first photoshopped photo, I put of of the shots into one black background and then moved them to make the arms in a staggered composition. Then, I lowered the opacity of each photo to make the arms overlap, creating a unique composition.

For my set of photographs, I would be focusing on the capturing the different movements of distinct people. For example, some of the people I would be photographing would be a person dancing, a person doing martial arts, or a person playing sports. I would be photoshopping multiple shots with the model doing different movements in one frame to emphasize a the movement traces. I would be setting up a light shooting from the side of the model to define contours and exaggerate depth of the model and to avoid shadows on the background. I am deeply inspired by artists Jim and Betsy Wilson, who are two photographers that worked together and experimented with the movement of people. Similarly, I would also focus on having multiple movements of people in one frame, illustrating the different postures. I would also utilize a contrast between the subject and the black background to highlight the different positions of the model. My intent would be to make the audience feel a connection between the movements of the model, making focus on the beauty of different activities.