Fade

The photograph reflects a one-way mirror, reflecting Wontaek’s face. The reflection and blurriness of the picture create a foggy mood in the image, and the sunlight beaming on the mirror makes orangish yellow colors, creating a warm and firm tone. The mirror itself causes a shadow of Wontaek’s face, showing a pattern within the picture. Wontaek’s face and the background have a distinct contrast. The value of the background is lighter, and Wontaek’s face is portrayed with darker colors, spotlighting Wontaek in the photograph. The texture in the picture is smooth, and audiences may interpret the portraiture as boring and straightforward as it is when Wontaek looks at himself through the mirrors. However, the deeper meaning of the photograph is revealed when we stare into Wontaek’s face. Wontaek’s eyes are glaring through the reflection, showing he is not scared to look into himself through the mirror. The closed mouth, chin up, and calmness portray Wontaek as brave, strong, and confident. The dark shadows and the mirroring effects cause Wontaek to look as if he is cloning, adding more dominance and power to Wontaek’s emotions and facial expressions. Also, the photograph is taken from a close angle, not capturing Wontaek’s whole body. This makes audiences wonder what Wontaek’s gesture and stance would be under the covers. Would it be strong and prominent like his face, or full of shame and awkwardness?

Next time, I would have done better if I tried capturing Wontaek’s whole body. If I could capture Wontaek’s prominent stance and confident gestures, it would have better emphasized the theme: real beauty comes from the mindset and inner feelings, not the beauty standards and artificial life on social media. It purely represents being who you are and who you want to be. However, by only capturing the face, I was limited from provoking these emotions, and it was unclear to the audience what message I was trying to deliver. Also, I might have considered making the photograph monochrome, not using the lighting and colors that can interfere with what the audiences see in the portraiture. I want to represent the theme of beauty without including colors but by capturing Wontaek’s confident facial expressions, firm stances, and dominant gestures within the image.

Portraiture 1

Yellow: I tried to focus on capturing Wontaek’s facial expressions and movements. A few of them missed the themes of dominance and bravery. This happened because Wontaek was in action (running, walking, staring), making it tricky to find the perfect harmony and synchronization of action and emotions in the frame. Also, some photographs weren’t close-ups because I was trying to portray pictures with action (running and walking). Equally, the background sometimes did not match the theme of bravery. There were too many crops, and they were secondary colors, not fulfilling my intentions to take portrait photos on a bland background.

Portraiture 2

After checking if the background matched the mood of my theme and if the movements and facial expressions had perfect harmony and synchronization, I began to dive deeper by looking at the facial expressions and the action he was taking. From them, I found some of them matched the theme of dominance, as Wontaek was glaring with his eyes, mouth shut, and an upright posture, while some of them were clanky and unorganized, such as Wontaek awkwardly smiling or even his body gestures and language not being prominent and strong.

Portraiture 3

The photographs all capture a common theme: Dominance over insecurity. Wontaek is not physically buff or looks like a Hollywood star, but dares to be brave and strong. Strength and beauty don’t all come from appearances and outside; they come from inner feelings and the physiological way you think. The way you feel is the way you interpret it in real life. Wontaek has characteristics that he is not afraid to feel ashamed or criticized for his looks, but he firmly believes if he is proud and appreciative of who he is and how he looks in the mirror, that is where real beauty comes from. No one can interfere with your way of looking; you get to decide, so have a strong heart and mindset. I used bright colors and contrast between Wontaek and the background in the photograph to capture dominance and prominence. Wontaek’s stance and gestures are strong, and the glare in his eye looking into the camera lenses shows confidence. The photograph is taken from a down angle, adding power and dominance to Wontaek’s body language and gestures. Not only is Wontaek not wearing anything special or decorating himself to look more beautiful, but he is being his pure self. He believes beauty doesn’t come from decorating yourself to be a fake self but instead just being yourself and appreciating it. The value surrounding him and the bland background make Wontaek spotlighted in the photograph, making him look full of power and bravery.

Title: On top of the world

Brave, confident, and passionate. The figure in the photograph lies on top of a giant hand, showing prominence in power and strength. Even though the person isn’t visibly muscular, the firm stances, such as the broadened shoulder and hands laying back on the giant hand, show eternal beauty by purely showing what the person has, not editing and cropping on social media to meet the beauty standards. Also, the body language, such as the intentional tilt of the neck to one side and legs around the fingers of the giant hand, shows the person’s confidence and appreciation of the appearance and identity as the person is very relaxed and symbolizes a theme: This is me. The camera angle is tilted, focusing on the person’s gestures and facial expressions. The person looks more dominant because portraiture has a tilt angle to symbolize strength and dominance. Shifting the focus to the face, the person looks like an ordinary teenager with acne and sloppy hair. But, the eyes are looking down as if it is gazing, showing passion. The relaxed eyes, nose, and low brows show confidence. This symbolizes that no matter the identity and appearance, everyone has eternal beauty if they can be more confident, inspiring, engaging, kind, and unique. Shifting the focus to the background, the background is bland with blue skies and trees, showing nature. This symbolizes that people should understand that beauty standards on social media aren’t all and that nature is where real beauty comes from. Lastly, the photographer purposely edited the photograph to be overwhelmed with primary colors, like yellowish orange, to express dominance and further emphasize the confidence and passion of the person, symbolizing everyone has specialties and values.

The title of my project will be “Insecurity and Beauty.” After COVID-19, our world has entered an “anxious generation,” where children feel absolute insecurity and discomfort when facing people and communicating in person. The chase for fake beauty on social media has led to body dysmorphia. It is interesting how social media can change a child’s psychological thoughts in such a short period. It is funny how the algorithm on social media makes children inhumane. It is so frustrating how social media is changing the beauty standards of children, making society lose eternal beauty and appreciation for the surroundings. I want my audience to realize that beauty isn’t from the first looks; it all comes from the heart, emotions, and attitude. Leave the fake social media life behind and let yourself shine from the inside out. A person’s looks may not satisfy the beauty standards on social media, but affection and heart can make the world a better place. Be more confident, inspiring, engaging, kind, and unique. As an inspiration, I’ll look at photographs that express dominant facial expressions such as a gazed eye, low brows, and weak chins. Also, body features such as muscular, straight postures, and firm stances, and body language such as adopting open and erect stances. Equally, the camera’s angle will be a tilting shot, and the person will be elevated on top of something to show dominance over something. Lastly, the theme of the clothes and background should be primary colors like red, yellow, or orange to express dominance. I want photographs that express dominance to show that everyone has specialties and values,  so don’t fear the beauty standards on social media, and be confident and express eternal beauty.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGhYk-ZPxg/jHYRcp9KG7jR345UGLfcIQ/edit?utm_content=DAGhYk-ZPxg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Annie Leibovitz explores many themes using staged settings, superb lighting, and vivid color. Specifically, the photograph that inspired me the most was Rihanna’s pregnancy. Rihanna, a world-renowned celebrity, loses her values and faces insecurity due to her appearance during pregnancy. But Annie uses this as an opportunity to express that beauty doesn’t only come from appearance but comes from confidence. As seen in Rihanna’s face, she is full of dominance and power. The eyes are staring, showing intensity. The red dress also adds distinctive strength to her appearance, and her intentionally standing sideways, putting her hands on hips, and posing shows her strong mindset of having an appearance that many people may feel insecure about.

Phaidon. “Annie Leibovitz Photographs Rihanna for Vogue | Photography | Agenda | Phaidon.” Phaidon.com, 2022, www.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/2022/April/03/annie-leibovitz-photographs-rihanna-for-vogue/. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

‌

As a photographer, I would like to explore eternal beauty. We depend on perfection and beauty, continuing to further the people with special abilities from society and living an inhuman life on social media. In reality, all humans will never achieve perfection. So, we must appreciate our confidence, appearance, and abilities because that is where real eternal beauty comes from. The theme of “eternal beauty” portraits is to let humanity understand we all are unique and should be included.

https://app.mindmup.com/map/new/1741331283263

1. A portrait photograph is the subject of identity, personality, or story using light exposure, composition, posing, and expression.
2. Selfies are another form of portraiture. In a selfie, the main elements are light exposure, frame, angle, and expressionism. Both selfies and portraits have control over our images because they have the freedom to explore many variations and moods. For example, the photographer can make vintage, emotional complexity, psychological tension, loss, and mortality, or a bizarre mix of serenity and suffocation.
3. Firstly, portraits must need a facial expression. Facial expressions can explain or emphasize a mood, concept, or photograph’s theme. The elements of facial expression are the central symbolism of portraiture. Also, portraits should not include any attention-seeking backgrounds. A portrait relies on emotions and facial expressions, but if the background grabs the viewers’ attention, they won’t be able to see the small details and symbolism of what the artwork is trying to possess.
4. The definition of a “good portrait” is never to be revealed, but the photographer’s intentions, values, and symbolism make the perfect portrait. Photographers should decide on their portraits rather than listen to what the people say. An ideal portrait comes when the photographer tries to break the rules, attempting new viewpoints of photography, trying out different forms of art elements, and finding the symbolism and theme of the portrait.
5. An ideal portrait form would be to close up the photograph and take shots of the small details of a facial expression, like the eyes, mouth, ears, and nose. However, it is never wrong to attempt taking portrait photographs from different angles and not only focus on facial expressions because photographs are never wrong; it’s just it has found itself in another form of trend and fashion, just as John Baldessari once said, “I will no  make any more boring art.”
6. Again, there is nothing wrong with photographs. So, why not try blurring, cropping, changing the tone, and making it look ripped or faded. If all portrait photos are focused on such a traditional form of taking a clear close-up photograph of a person’s face, photography will lose its uniqueness and value. Trying these new forms of abstract representation on portraits is strongly recommended, as it will create new vibes and trends in art.
7. Another form of attraction of portrait photographs can be represented through the arrangement of inanimate objects to visually represent someone’s expression. Why not? The pattern, lines, shapes, colors, textures, and values of the objects could perfectly replace a facial expression, just in a different form or version. Overall, it can still symbolize and deliver the theme the photographer tries to possess.
8.  A portrait does not need to be in a single photograph. Rather, splitting a portrait into sections may help further emphasize and explain a detail like texture, color, or pattern included in the portrait, helping to reveal a deeper symbolism or theme the portrait tries to exhibit.