In this presentation, the subject, the photograph in the center, was supported by the 8 surrounding photographs via their similar theme and same technique – mirror. The presentation’s focus would be pretty much scattered – however, that was intended. When the audience looks at the photographs, wherever they look first, they will all get the message of inner reflection and look at the center, which is what I intend the audience to do. However, the audience could also be confused if they failed to understand what I am trying to communicate here – and that failure might be because of the abstract representation of the photographs, as the interpretations were only meant to represent my own opinions.

The contact sheet:

I have taken this/these photos in the style of Vivian as the photographs all focus on the reflections of the subjects I wish to capture instead of the actual subject. The pictures also emphasize the reflections of people’s inner side, as every one of them uses a mirror’s reflection to reflect another entirely different view of a certain object/people/surroundings.

Yellow/Blue selections:

I’ve set a very low standard for my yellow selections. My yellow selections are basically every single image under the same condition, but I choose the best ones out of all these repeating photographs.

Green selections:

My green selections, also my “present” photograph selection, use 9 images, with 8 of the photos using a mirror to reflect something only visible in the mirror to represent the duality of humanity, while the center image represents people’s inner self, touching with their “outer” self. The photographs were chosen to best represent the duality of humanity.

Red selections:

These red photographs match my vision because they strongly contrast with the reflection and surroundings. This contrast presents the difference between people’s inner selves and their surroundings. When seen, people pretend to be another person and hide who they are. In these images, a skeleton behind a room, a plant that cannot be fully seen unless in the mirror, and an empty vessel in the crowed legos. Together, the strength of these photographs is that they reveal a common fact in society now – people hide their true selves, only presenting parts of themself. To capture these photographs, I’ve used the past skills that I’ve learned – and that was basically everything. If you look back at my first blog, I realize I really did come into this class blindly, now knowing anything, anything, about photography – the rules, the skills, and what it is. However, as I progressed, I began to consider more and more elements of photography when capturing photographs. I have used shapes and repetitions of the legos and the mirror; I have used texture and focus on the skeleton; and I have used lighting (street photography) and framing + working around the scene in every single one of these photographs. Something that works well about/these images is that their reflection and framing all matched my vision and intent, my idea of revealing the duality of humanity. However, I could improve in the next set by setting the mirror’s position better and working around the scene more to get more quality photographs. Furthermore, I could use better lighting, as I manually set no lights in this photograph – they all came from nature or electricity light sources.

Critique:

Although this is my favorite image, my eyes were still drawn to a distracting element – the tower at the back. The tower consistently distracts me from focusing on the actual subject and the strong contrast it provides. In fact, to decrease the distraction level, I’ve cut 1/4 of the photograph just to get rid of the majority of the tower. The reason why I love this photograph is because of the strong contrast between the background and the subject. The background is a color of soft, light white, and blue, while the ground in the mirror reflects a sharp, hard, deep green and brown. This contrast generates a very attractive hierarchy and represents my vision perfectly as the ground represents people’s inner self while the outside, their outer self, is an entirely different surrounding, “character.” This photograph enables the audience to feel the deep contrast between the ground and the sky, acknowledging them of this social phenomenon.

This photograph is awful. It has poor resolution, poor exposure, and poor focus. The subject was not in the middle, the background was too distracting from all the blackness and shapes it possesses, and the skull appeared inside the photograph, covering almost 1/2 of the actual subject. The blocking skull couldn’t even be cut out due to the mass area it covers. The photograph lacked balance, as one element covered another, making it very hard to focus, thus unable to create contrast and chaos. This photograph would be more appropriate in the “Wrong!” unit as it violates many rules and contains no story or theme close to my vision.

Common Traits:

• Same tone
• The same position of mirror placement
• Only captures the subject through mirrors
• Hierarchy
• Self-portraits

Her intent:

A common trope in Vivian’s photographs takes a double portrait of a single subject. She often tried multiplying and manipulating her image through mirrors, causing her appearance within a frame twice or even thrice. Even though Vivian did not specifically state what her intent was, suspicion believed that her photographs enable people to negotiate their present conditions, inspiring them to recognize their own reflection alienated in the mirror, thus enlightening them to a self-discovery – understanding their place within the world. Furthermore, another reason why Vivian takes photography is for her to betray an affinity for the poor.

Style:

Vivian Maier often uses reflections in windows and other surfaces of reflecting objects, such as a mirror, to create compositions and to add layers of mystery to her images. For example, looking at the 4 images, Maier would portray herself in the photograph without actually capturing herself via mirrors. She uses this method to discover & explore identity and self-awareness.

Furthermore, most of the time, Vivian centers herself & on the mirror, creating a hierarchy that grabs the audience’s attention.

Choice:

I chose Vivian’s style for future images. Although Vivian’s intent was to inspire and enlighten people, I personally, when looking at her photographs, received a sense of isolation & contrast of two worlds instead because of our glance at her without actually looking at her; we can only see “reflections” of her. This feeling highly matches my intention and vision of the Identity Project – to demonstrate the duality of human nature through moments of life.

Content:

The photo depicts Vivian wearing a plaid shirt and taking a self-portrait through a mirror with her hair in a bun. Although blurred, we can identify trees and a wooden structure in the background.

Genre:

The photograph’s tone is black and white. The clear and bright reflections of the mirror contrast with the dark and dim surroundings around the mirror, thus emphasizing the mirror calls the audience’s attention to the center, the subject. Then, by photographing the sky and the ground, Vivian uses juxtaposition to create contrast again. Together, they generate a hierarchy that grabs the audience’s attention to the subject.

Attributes:

Here, Vivian looks down and captures the mirror that reflects herself. She uses contrast (explained before) to grab our attention and creates a hierarchy to emphasize the mirror and her. With this hierarchy, Vivian ensures that when the audiences look at this photograph, they focus more on the subject, her, and the mirror instead of the surroundings or the surrounding lights.

Meaning:

To better understand the style of “reflections”, I gathered some identity photography photographs from different artists. Each one of them, I believe, conveys multiple themes and hides a story behind it.

Artist research(Vivian Maier):

Artist research(Saul Leiter):

Artist research(Paolo Roversi):

https://isbeijing.padlet.org/anthony_huang1/my-luminous-padlet-2s0ekclnrmeeass1

What is a portrait? A portrait is a representation that goes beyond mere appearance, capturing and symbolizing the essence of a person. Sometimes it depicts a subject directly, but a portrait can also take more abstract forms, such as artworks featuring meaningful objects, colors, or even someone else reenacting gestures or actions that reflect the individual. Selfies, for instance, are a form of self-representation and can be considered portraits, but I believe they tell only part of the story. A strong portrait should be more than just the subject’s image; it should consist of elements that speak to their identity and world. These could include objects they hold dear, animals they cherish, or scenes that evoke their passions and memories, or even in abstract forms. A portrait doesn’t always require the physical presence of the individual to represent them. Sometimes, a thoughtful arrangement of objects—a favorite book, a beloved instrument, or symbolic items—can evoke the identity of a person without them being in the frame. For example, a blurred or faded image could be an identity of somebody if it captures and represents something that echos their character or story.