These are the photos I took about my sister who is 9 right now, who is being portrayed as a the younger version of the character from the previous set of photos. The one who still had the ability to be free and choose what they are wishing to do. The theme is still the imbalances between male and female bodies in the ancient times. The character in this set is set as a nine year old who is allowed to move around the gardens and inside the palace walls. Being allowed to enjoy her life as a naive child. Not needing to understand or be bound to most of the rules that will be given to them in the future when they turn around 12.

improvements:

• lighting
• focuses
• the facial expression – this however can still be improved a lot

main critique:

The main problems I had while taking these photos is the facial expression and the inability to understand and preform the poses i wish the character can be posed as. This resulted me having to use mostly side views and half of the face as the top photos. The facial expression needs the most improvements as the person looks too stiff and not being able to express heart felt laughters, smiles and the carefreeness as wanted to be described. But overall, the photos that were taken still depicts the feelings of freedom and some relaxing atmospheres.

1.

In this photo, the young character is portrayed as someone who enjoys a small amount of carefree freedom, reminiscent of the older version’s childhood dreams. The young character is allowed to venture outside, alike a small bird in a larger cage, embodying the innocence of a child who has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom. Even as the character grows older, she still struggles to comprehend the essence of freedom. How can a person define freedom without having experienced it themselves? As a young child, the character is depicted gazing curiously and intently at the river below, captivated by something within its depths. The colors of her dress symbolize the depth of her emotions. In contrast, the older version of this person only wears white, allowing others to paint over them with different colors, reflecting the hopelessness of their emotions and life. However, the younger version still wears colorful clothes, signifying a desire to seek freedom. The photo utilizes shades and grids in the center to depict the character as the main point, emphasizing her centrality in her world. This portrayal captures the innocence, charm, and emotive expressions of the subject.

2.

In this photo, the younger version of the character finds herself in the woods after sneaking out of her house, drawn to the beauty of nature. So focused on plucking flowers, she gazes intently at them, embodying a sense of curiosity and a yearning for freedom and happiness. Her actions reflect a desire to explore and satisfy her own curiosities about the world beyond the confines of her home. This act of defiance, sneaking out to experience the unknown, showcases her youthful courage and determination, traits that the older self seems to have left behind and forgotten. The photo captures the essence of courage as the strength to embrace one’s true self and pursue aspirations fearlessly, highlighting that without courage, one may never reach their full potential.

The character is positioned towards the right side of the screen, her face occupying the upper grid, drawing attention to her expressions and movements that show playfulness and stubbornness. The camera focuses on her, emphasizing her spirited nature and inner resolve. The photographer’s inspiration is evident in the composition, posture, and use of props, such as the act of plucking plants, which adds depth and authenticity to the character’s portrayal.

3.

In this photo, the character appears to be gazing at something just out of the frame, her attention captured by the allure of the unknown. Perhaps she is drawn to the beauty of nature or curious by something else unseen. The character’s expression shows happiness and contentment, suggesting that she may be lost in a daydream. The photo captures a sense of wonder and possibility, as if she is envisioning a world filled with joy and excitement.

The character’s posture, with most of her body weight leaning against the wooden fence, places her at the center of the photo, emphasizing her presence in the scene. This choice shows that the style of the photographers who inspired me, as they often position children at the center of their photos to highlight their innocence and charm. The character’s smile and dreamy gaze invite viewers to imagine the wonders that she sees beyond the frame, evoking a sense delight and happiness.

These are the photos that I took of my friend Michelle. The theme of the images is the imbalance between male and female-bodied people in ancient times and how the lives of children and girls back in ancient China were always written down and planned from the beginning when they were born by the status of the families. So this set of photos of people our age shows the chain their families have chained them in for their entire lives. In their lives, it shows all the studies the people must do, learning how to write beautiful poems to entertain their husbands in the future and the complicated system of rules in the palaces they must follow. It shows the feelings of the girls who are forced to learn these systems to be used as objects in the future and the sadness and anger it brings to them having to be unable to have freedom. 

Improvements from the 41 photos:
– lighting improvement
– angle + grids become better and makes sure the main focus is there

– the eyes have light in them, they can tell a story (pupils have light in them that contrasts the dark pupils to make her eyes look dull but also have small lights shinning through them)

Main Critique:

The main problem that I had with these photos was the lighting system. Some lighting was too dark, and the color contrast could have been better. The poses of the images were ideal, but the angles I tried to depict the poses in were lacking for me. Some of the angles did not portray the main focus, which is the character in the center either upwards in the photos where in a way that looks a bit uncomfortable in my opinion (ways that too zoomed in our zoomed out, the zoomed out photos in some of them make the clothes to be the center of attention and not the face and the emotions that is trying to be shown). But overall, the photos were able to depict the sense of being forced to follow the planned route of their lives and the sadness that is in them. 

1.

This photo shows the stress, sadness, and hopelessness of being stuck in a room with nothing, with many scrolls and paper keeping you company. The main character sleeps on the ground with scrolls lying beneath and around her. She keeps on practicing and practicing to make it better. The tiredness around her eyes and the ripped paper on top of her shows the stress she has had trying to improve herself to become the most talented woman in the city to be able to help her family by entertaining the emperor and other people, able to win favors for her family, to be the object the family shows off all the time. For outstanding people, others cannot often see how hard they work behind the scenes. That is one of the things I am trying to show here. But to be this outstanding person, she was forced to take away her freedom and be used, while the men in the society needed to sit there and be entertained and have the freedom to choose their lives. The semi-close-up of the angles and the dark lighting shows that the room is tiny and dim, making it feel like she has been locked in there and forced to study. The blueish lighting also depicts the sadness and tiredness of the girl who has spent her whole day inside that room. Living the life she doesn’t want. 

2.

The happiness in the characters eyes as she is reminiscing her childhood. Back in the olden days, young children that are girls around the age from 0-6 were allowed to play around and act as normal children, while still having the freedom to do whatever they want inside of their homes and gardens. Rather than being confined to a small room for studying, they were granted a larger space, than to an expanded cage. Still, they continued to be taken away of the freedom to venture outside and carve out their own lives. In this photograph, the character reflects on her cherished memories of the past, basking in the happiness and carefreeness that accompanied her outdoor adventures and playful endeavors. The handheld fan she holds serves as a symbol of her childhood, evoking a sense of nostalgia. While a sense of contentment and happiness is shown on her face, it is important to recognize that true freedom escaped her. Despite this, the character finds sadness in the limited freedom she possessed, and even the slightest bit of freedom brought her immense satisfaction. The lighting in this photograph emanates a softer, brighter glow, deliberately designed to accentuate the pink of the delicate pink fan and illuminate the patterns on it.

3.

In this photo, the character is tearing pieces of paper. Imagine studying in a small space for hours on end. Being forced to be creative and read scrolls about the rules of the palaces and concubines. The character has became so bored that they are tearing up paper that hasn’t been written over yet. They are never allowed to leave the room, they have to become perfect. The photo shows the lighting in their pupils that are dimming, just like the light to their freedom, their eyes being dull and colorless, being trained to become a machine rather than an actual person. The lighting here is white, and the contrasts between the different white colors bring depth to the photo.

All of these photos show the freedom that has been taken away from these young girls who are just the same age as we are, they are forced through vigorous studying sessions to become perfect being to be seen in public, freedom is no option for them.

The connection from this to the photographers that I was inspired by is that they they both have the same type of inspiration of the feeling of overwhelmingness, however, I changed the style a bit since the photographers’ style is more elegant and less about the stories they are trying to tell. Since the first thing you see in the photos are the elegancy from the models. So I did include some elegancy but my photos are more about trying to communicate the story about freedom rather than the elegancy in the photos.

One of the inspirations is a photography studio in China called 三春山奈. Their photos have a similar design I want to replicate with feeling of sadness balanced with elegancy. They have a detailed description of how to take the photos with a lot of different examples. Many of the photos from my mood board came from them. Their photos include the type of hanfu i want my model to wear as well as the props and background that will be used.  I have also found inspirational images of textures and and still life scenes that emphasize the kind of quiet atmosphere I want to achieve in my portraits. I want to play with light to give the viewer a feeling of mystery as well as isolation.

The title of this project is 云淡风轻. The societal/cultural issue I want to explore with my photographs is ancient Chinese hanfu and the isolation that this dress represented in the past. I want my audience to feel and understand the sadness of being trapped like a bird in a cage, which was the reality for many Chinese women in history when hanfu was required dress. I want the audience compare this isolation and repression women experienced in the past to the freedom they have had when they were little. I will get inspiration and develop my ideas by looking for photographs that depict a feeling of abandonment and sadness while also having a lot of elegancy and composure represented in the figure and the composition. It will be important for me to find ways to contrast sadness with elegancy, not only in the figure’s expression and posture but also the visual elements I arrange in my composition, including light and shadow as well as texture and negative space.

The style I am going for is ancient Chinese aesthetics, which is the use of people wearing Hanfu, an ancient Chinese type of clothing like a dress with huge sleeves. The context of the style I am choosing is inspired by novels I have read about the stories of ancient Chinese families. In the olden days, girls were not allowed to leave their homes. There were a lot of rules containing them.

The only time they had some freedom was when they were children. And it will only continue to get worse when they get married off when they are becoming the birds in cages. When the children become, they will be forced to learn how to write poems, dance, and make music. Some noble families will be strict with their children since they want their girls to be chosen to become one of the concubines in the palace of the emperor. So, the focus of people my age is to convey the loneliness of being forced into a dark room and studying. And also the journey of exploring, sometimes dull and sometimes being proud of the stories and things they have learned.

As for people of different ages, I have chosen young children since they can portray a story of how joyful and cheerful their childhoods can be, not being bound to the rules, which is a massive contrast to the children of our age.

A photograph is a portrait when the subject is the center of attention, and facial expression and intention are apparent in the photo.

Yes, selfies are portraits since they portray a person as the main character in the photo, and they have a story and a facial expression. It can relate to one of the not-really formal versions of portraits. They should be excluded from a picture because there are no rules in taking portraits since some intentionally have perfect rule-breaking photos. It’s mainly about a person’s creative intent.

A

good portrait should have an intention and a story/narrative—the different lighting and shadows and having a unique perspective and creativity.

Yes, a portrait should have small details, like a close-up. While portraits traditionally focus on capturing a person’s face, zooming in on specific information gives a sense of identity, emotion, or narrative.

Even if the person or object is blurred, it is still part of portraiture because it might be a style a person is trying to convey, and there might be a concept in their work. Even if the person isnot there in the portrait, it still represents their daily life, and that is still part of a human as if it is very symbolic to a human. I feel like a portrait is not limited to a single photograph; it can have a series since, for example, it can be them working at a place, and there are certain times that they do different things while they are working, and if they want to present them in their works.

inspired artists:
Thomas Ruff:

Haus Nr. 7 (1988)

I chose Thomas Ruff’s photograph because my photos have similar architectural forms that are similar to Thomas Ruff’s photography. In his photograph, Haus Nr. 7 (1988), Thomas Ruff chose to show an architectural forms that have similar shades of dull creams. There is a lot of repeated things, such as the windows of the buildings are all the same size, shape, and the position on each floor. He has created a very mysterious image of the city life. I think Haus Nr. 7 (1988) is important because it shows the architecture can be very machine-like (which is basically too perfect) and everything is all shaped exactly the same. The photograph makes it feel like everyone has abandoned the place which create a sense of abandonment. Thomas Ruff’s photographs are abstract because of the use of elements such as repetition as well as different shapes. The buildings are rectangles that have smaller rectangles for windows, and street and lamp are sharp lines. Thomas Ruff’s style does not quite have any bright colors, which makes an weird mood that makes the houses seem abandoned and dull (in a good way).

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Looking through my selection of photographs, the reason why I excluded most of them is because some of their backgrounds tend to be too busy and didn’t make the architecture stand out. I wanted to make sure that, there is a lot of negative space in the photos so that the architecture would be more visible. Other photographs I discarded beacuse they are a bit boring, and the frames and angles doesn’t look good, making them feel weird.

For the three photos I selected, I was hoping to create pictures of architecture in a way that made the buildings appear abandoned, creating feelings of loneliness and emptiness, while adding a bit of a darker shade to the scene to make everything look mysterious. My success criteria was making everything gloomy and abandoned, making people feel uneasy while looking at it, as well as seeing the buildings more as abstract shapes such as squares and rectangles and lines as well as architectural structures. It was also important to me that I use negative space in a way that Thomas Ruff also uses in his photography, showing the gray sky as a flat background mostly showing the architectural forms. I was also interested in the way that buildings forms to show repetition, as different floors of a building have similar shapes for windows and outdoor staircases. I wanted to have older buildings that have a specific texture, mostly older brick textures that are worn out and not even, in order to show feelings of gloom and bleakness associated with abandonment.

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Photo One: Insignificance

I chose the first photo, “Insignificance,” because of the loneliness and the feeling of abandonment it shows, since there is only one of the chimney left, as well as the sky being gray, using the tone and color of this negative space to create a really dense and depressing mood. The chimney stands in the photo almost as if it was a person standing all alone by themselves. I shot the chimney so that its base is out of the frame, mostly because we were too close to the chimney to take the entire one (￣ー￣), but because of that the cropped image creates a sense of looking up and being alone underneath a great nothingness. I want the viewers to feel that the chimney, usually seen as something large and massive, can also be framed as something small and insignificant.

Photo Two: Time-Worn

The second photo, “Time-Worn,” I believe is quite similar to the photo from Thomas Ruff because the side of the building I took has been turned into basic repeating shapes such as the windows being rectangles as well as having patterns of the windows. It also has a similarly dull, grayish mood, continuing to use of the gray sky as negative space, while also creating a sense of abandonment, as the windows show nothing about the interiors of it. The photo creates a sense of the materials that are worn out on the building, as the it captures the texture of the worn out bricks that have lost their color.  This building, along with the others, were once part of a complex that helped produce heat when coal was burned (at least I think they were), but now it no longer serves this function. Its purpose has been lost. Having an especially dull tone in the photograph, I’m able to show the coldness that is left after time has worn out the building.

Photo Three: Desertion

The third photo, “Desertion,” continues to show the same style of the second photo,  the lines and sharp contrast of the stairs contrasts against the dull, shadowed wall creating a sense of absence and emptiness. It was important for me that the background would only have a gray, flat sky, like in Thomas Ruff’s photograph, again continuing the use of negative space that ties the everything together. Having a solid, gray sky, I was able to make the buildings stand out.  Desertion means to leave something or someone behind, and I wanted the stairs in this photograph to be important, since they suggest a departure. Abandonment requires departures, and the visual form of the stairs shows leaving something behind, especially as the stairs lead out of the frame so its endless. I also made sure that the door at the top of the stairs is not clearly visible in the photograph. It creates the idea that, even if someone wanted to go up the stairs, there wouldn’t be any way to enter the building since in the point of view of the photo, the door is covered. The building is deserted, and there’s no way to go back inside and give it new life.

The reason why I selected these photos is because they all have a dull mood through negative space, worn out textures, and architectural shapes. The buildings and the chimney in these photos are not buildings that are new, and the ages from the buildings and other objects help show that when people look at the photos, they experience feelings of gloom associated with abandonment.

The reason why i chose these photos was because i was trying to imitate Antoine d’Agata’s style of dark aesthetic which are photos that have a high contract of color photographies. It conveys a sense of darkness and intensity. which he has very extreme closeups and blurred images to convey a sense of uneasiness and tension. As well as trying to create a feeling of self destruction. And the reason i chose these photos is because the photos have the stark color contrast as well.

The reason why i chose these top 10 is because this compared to the other 30 mainly signifies the sense of uneasiness and darkness, as well as having a more deeper concept for abstract art as it has shapes, texture and patterns.

These are my top three choices because mainly of Antoine d’Agata’s photos have feelings of darkness and different taboos, such as social norms that have controversies such as drugs and self destruction. The darkness of my photos are very unease and very intense. The first photo is kind of similar to his photo of the windows, where it is kind of blurry and the contrast between the colors are very intense. The second photo also includes the darkness aesthetic in his photos as well as trying to replicated the taboo of drugs (which we don’t have in the school) with the paint containers in the art room. The last one is also inspired by the high contrats black and white or color photographs that convey a sense of darkness and intensity in his photography. As well as adding patterns of circles and rectangles with lines and texture.

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5 characteristics:

Tone (dark, gray)

Texture (the texture of the blurred faces)

Pattern (the background, the windows)

focus (the blurred faces)

Lines (veins)

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Evaluate an image:

Last picture:

The reason why i chose the last picture because for one of the pictures, or most things i want to focus on is the face. i want that when i take the pictures, I want the tone of the colors and the focus to be the same. As well as focusing on blurring and covering the face as well.

The things that i have found surprising of the artists is that his choice of style. The style that he chooses to portray is really dark and isn’t very pretty in a way for people to see. The pictures that he took, well at least most of them surprised me a lot when i first saw them when i got introduced to this artist.

I guess the most important element in the photograph is Tone. And the reason is because the tone makes everything look more depressed and scary. It makes the artist’s ideas look even more creepier and depressing which i think is what he wants to highlight in the photo. And without the tone, the face that he blurred would look really strange and out of place. So the tone really shapes everything together and tells and makes people see an even darker story of what the artist may have been trying to portray.

The ways that the artist i have chosen is abstract is the elements he uses. He mainly focuses on tone as well as the focus, and also uses pattern, he has photographs of all the different elements that make things abstract. I like the style that he uses because he uses very dark themes to portray very sad stories that are the truth and sometimes can be really hard to face (in most of his more friendly photos which is the photos i looked at). And that i think is really cool, I have always been interested in the dark themes of the world, so i guess its a good way to think and show the dark emotions of reality. And how i will adapt his style into my photography is, one of the things i am most interested in is the way he blurs and makes the faces look unrealistic, by changing its shape and making it unnatural. And i feel like negative emotions are usually like, making things look unrealistic is disoriented. I also liked how the uses the tone and focus. The way that he focuses on the person and sometimes the background allows the photos to tell a story and in my opinion makes things look more beautiful in the pictures since the goal is to make everything look depressing. As for the tone, the tone is needs to be dark themed, so gray, white and black, no other colors involved except for maybe trying to portray something else, to grab the audiences attention.