• This photo is the only B&W photo, as the lack of colour represents it being a distant memory or something of the past. Having the two people on the sides – Isabelle (L) and Maya (R) – with their arms around Youngjin, supporting her and all her endeavors being a distant memory foreshadows them falling apart and leaving her.  

• The photo is split into the rule of thirds, by having three people in the frame it’s naturally split. The trophy held by Youngjin in the center takes up lots of the frame, symbolizing the importance of her achievements in her life.  

• This photo has Isabelle and Maya looking at the trophies in disdain and jealousy, either wanting to be Youngjin or just resenting Youngjin for her accomplishments. Youngjin is looking up away from both of her “friends” unaware of their newly found feelings towards her. Maya is more jealous of Youngjin than Isabelle is, looking at her trophy and medals in disdain wanting what she has whereas Isabelle looks at the trophy like it’s just another thing. Her hand is still on Youngjin’s shoulder, representing how although the trophy has impacted her relationship with Youngjin, she’s still friends with her just not as close as before. The trophy is lifted higher in this photo due to it being more impactful on her relationship with her “friends”. Each change or little edit in the photo is made to fit the narrative better, as the story is told from an outside perspective watching the world slowly crumble around Youngjin. 

• The background colour is a lighter gray, not black or white because the gray made me feel like the relationship wasn’t completely stable, going from a strong friendship to something murkier, something where a wall of jealously is about to come out and change the course of the friendship entirely. The only change in this photo is the lighting, which I increased just barely to give a little more colour in their skin tones because the light that I used to take the photo was very bright & white which cancelled out their natural complexion.  

• I edited it so there was less negative space, because there being a lack of negative space means there’s less space for people to breathe, which creates a more tense environment especially for friendships. The focus of the photo isn’t on the trophy; it’s on the three ladies in the picture because the current issue at hand is the slow undoing of their friendship.  

• This photo shows how easy it was to replace Youngjin in their friendship, replacing her with another person who is like the two left, Isabelle and Maya. This friendship represents how important it is to many people to have an “equal” friend group, one where everyone wins or loses. The friendship with Youngjin was filled with corrupt jealousy that eventually drove them apart whereas this one everyone has nothing making it difficult to be jealous of someone else when you are all the same.  

• The people in the photo are all at various levels of happiness, and you can see very clearly that Maya is the cheeriest of the three. This is because when in her friendship with Youngjin she was obviously the most jealous. Often in a trio the middle person will change in the photos for inclusivity and fairness but throughout these photos you will see that Maya is the person in the middle constantly due to her feeling the most out of it in the friendship with Youngjin and needing that feeling of being supported by her two friends.  

• This rule of thirds is a contrast to the previous photos because instead of each of the people being in their own world or their own lanes these three are stacked on top of each other, sharing that lane together and really showing the strength of their friendship. It’s difficult to tell but there is a lot more negative space in this photo compared to the previous two. The negative space in this photo helps represent the good strong relationship they all have with each other. It also represents how there’s no tension/bad feelings being harbored against one another with plenty of space for everyone to have if they need it.  

• This is Youngjin on the podium standing in first place, holding up her trophy. The colours are vibrant yet toned down, reflecting her excitement for winning but also her loneliness that’s hidden beneath her smile.  

• The vibrant red 1 on the podium contrasts with all the blues around it, standing out significantly which makes it impossible to miss, not to mention it’s also centered. It’s glaringly obvious that she’s standing alone on the podium, all the negative space in the stands, the sky and even just right beside her. It shows that you can be sucessful but what is the price you are paying to win? 

• The angle that this photo is taken makes Youngjin look taller than the building, which adds the effect that she’s bigger than life, than the world. The euphoria of winning makes her rise higher than the building, up into the sky. This perspective also makes the trophy rise higher above the building and it shows a different message. Instead of adding the effect of being bigger than life, the small trophy represents how even the smallest thing can destroy one’s life. It makes Youngjin chase after that euphoric feeling, like an addict. Only winning can make her feel this way so there’s no other option but to continue winning.  

• This photo is shot as an over the shoulder picture, from the perspective of Youngjin on the podium looking down on the other three. Isabelle, Maya, and Ian are all looking at Youngjin with some type of disdain or annoyance at the fact she’s won once again. The different perspectives are fun to shoot because in the previous perspective photo Youngjin is taller than the buildings but in this photo these three are significantly smaller. The height in this photo while it’s not lacking it is much shorter compared to the previous photo which represents how even if you have bonds/relationships the grass feels greener on the other side, and they won’t be satisfied so long as other people are doing better than they are.  

• Youngjin takes up a significant amount of the photo, emphasizing the point that she is very much the target of these looks of disdain. It also shows how even though she isn’t friends with them anymore everything she is doing is affecting the trio, because it looks like she’s doing better without them. The person closest to Youngjin is Isabelle and the reasoning for that is because she never really resented Youngjin for winning. She followed Maya because it didn’t seem like Youngjin cared if they left her alone or not, and that’s what made her hurt. Maya is the one who seems the most disgusted, because she was the most jealous of Youngjin in the first place and it was due to her jealousy that the friendship didn’t work out. Being placed in the center means that Maya is the first thing people see and most likely the main person that they look at. Ian is the person furthest from Youngjin because he doesn’t have a part in the unraveling of the previous trio, he’s just in this new trio. He’s looking at Youngjin not with disdain or annoyance but with confusion almost where he isn’t sure why there’s a dislike of her but he’s following the crowd. 

• This photo is easy to split into three, Maya in one column, Isabelle and Youngjin in the center, and Ian in a third column. Having Isabelle in the same column as Youngjin helps represent how Isabelle still cares, she’s still thinking about the friendship she lost with Youngjin. Just like in the stacked photo of the new trio, being in the same lane shows how they still think of each other. The only difference is that there is an ocean of space between them and that’s what’s keeping them apart.  

• Youngjin is at the top, basking in her glory with the trophy whereas the trio sits together at the bottom of the barrel. Both Ian and Maya have their faces looking at the camera, in equal measures of annoyance rather than disdain and confusion. Isabelle has her face covered by the shadow of her hand, hiding her conflicting feelings about Youngjin. The space between the people speaks more than their expressions. The cool toned colours match the emotions that are being felt by each person in this image, matching the whole series. The metal bars that are covering the trio make it seem like they are trapped. Maya is trapped in her resentment; Isabelle is trapped in the conflict, and Ian is trapped in the feeling of confusion unsure how he got himself involved in something he has not part of. Youngjin doesn’t have bars covering her, but she is sandwiched between two sets of bars, doubly trapped. Trapped in this loneliness that she put herself in and trapped in the addiction that is being the best. 

• This photo is used as a closer look at how the loss of friendship has truly affected Youngjin. I used a vignette to represent the loneliness and anxiety that Youngjin has inside of her head slowly eating away at her. The vignette also serves as the constant pressure that is being put on her, whether it be by herself or an external voice. Her trophy is no longer present; having done so much damage to her relationships she no longer wants anything to do with it.  

• Youngjin stands tall among the buildings, her head fitting perfectly in line with the wires. The photo is taken at this angle to show how even with all this pressure on her, Youngjin doesn’t break keeping her head held high even as she starts drowning inside. She stands slightly off centered as to represent how she never sees herself as living up to the high standards that she is held against even if others think she has achieved those.  

• This photo we are joined by Isabelle, as she embraces Youngjin who seems to melt into the embrace. Isabelle holding Youngjin shows how she isn’t truly alone even if it feels like it. The darkness has subsided significantly in the presence of Isabelle, as though she’s the shield that protects Youngjin from the darkness. Both are taller than the clouds, but Isabelle is taller than Youngjin as though her embrace helps take the weight off of those shoulders. Isabelle being in the center of the photo is significant because it shows how she’s willing to take other people’s pressure/stress on just for them to be able to relax.  

• The colours are super bright to help emphasize the scarcity of the vignette. It also helps bring out the contrast in the clothing that the two people are wearing, Isabelle choosing to wear darker colours while Youngjin’s colour scheme is much lighter. The way that Isabelle is hugging Youngjin not only brings her into Isabelle’s side in a protective manner but also covers the ribbon that her medals hang from, showing how when Isabelle is with Youngjin she doesn’t need to be the perfection everyone is expecting, just plain old Youngjin.  

• Rule of thirds – Fence reflection + actual fence all within the same third 

• Natural use of rule thirds with the windows, me & Andy Qi in the center third 

• Contrast of environment, reflection of the playground in the window of a classroom 

• Lots of negative space – but also lots of buildings/architecture in this space adding volume to the photo 

• Use of line with the wall that the mirror is placed upon, in addition to texture 

• The person in the background helps convey the feeling of longing, with Andy look not at himself but forwards, almost like he’s looking at the person 

• Texture + shape with the upper part of the photo, the textured rock that looks like peeling/peeled paint 

• The rough of the bottom rock is also texture, as well as all the broken lines/cracks between the space, on the line with the water droplet 
• The droplet almost blends into the gap between the two parts of the photo, as if it’s not actually 

• This photo is composed completely of droplets and how the droplets look reflected in the mirror 

• The figures in the reflection are somewhat clear, though part of Andy’s head looks shapeless due to the outline of his hair 

• While there so many little droplets there are also quite a few larger droplets, ones that are more clearly defined than others 

• This photo isn’t the clearest which makes me feel like there’s something that someone can’t remember the whole picture of but small pieces of 

• This photo uses both mirror and window reflection, with the mirror reflecting Andy’s face and the window reflecting the mirror’s reflection 

• There is slight use of water reflections in the mirror that reflects the sky instead of Andy 

• The photo is cropped in this way so that it’s easier for the viewer to see the reflection of Andy’s face 

• The reflection of Andy’s face reminds me of the album cover of Vance Joy called, “Dream Your Life Away” 

• The photo makes me feel like someone is looking at themselves and trying to remember who they are after what they’ve become 

• The droplets of water cover his face but not the bottom of his body 

• The photo being cropped adds to the effect of looking back in the past because it keeps the viewer from seeing what is going on the in present 

• The main point of this photo was to take advantage of the negative space around the mirror in addition to the focus of the water droplets 

• With a slight vignette around the photo’s edges to make the image that smidge darker the image looks slightly more ominous 

• This photo utilizes layering over focus, with the overlap of 4 different mirror reflections all taken from the reflection of one mirror 

• The biggest parts of the reflections are Andy in the final mirror, and the dragon in the second mirror.  

• Only one of the mirrors contains water droplets on it and that mirror reflects a blurry image of Andy, which again adds to the theme of forgotten longing.  

• This photo is the darkest, with Andy being the darkest point of the mirror a contrast to previous photos 

• The focus in the mirror isn’t on Andy, it’s instead on the trees in the background which slightly contrast the background around the mirror, mainly contrasting the buildings that are manmade vs the trees which are natural 

• Andy isn’t looking at himself in the mirror, he’s looking towards the left side of the photo, off into the distance like he’s replaying a memory or thinking about something deeply 

Mood Board :>

Mind Map

During the photography trip to the 798-art district, my goal is to take photographs that help capture the memory and preservation through the use of reflective surfaces. I aim to capture the vibrant colours contrasting the neutral grays and brick brown, and all the in between. My goal is to have photographs reflecting all the beauty that is the 798-art district so when the art changes, and things get taken down to make way for new things such as buildings people will be able to look at my photographs and remember all the magic that was the 798-art district. 

Depth of Field 

• • For the first photo I made the yellow a higher saturation/luminance to increase the yellowness of the minion’s skin. It made the minion go from a more banana coloured yellow to a bright radioactive yellow but not fluorescent. This photo makes me feel like someone has gone from being the most important person in the room and then slowly fading into no one. I think this because the blue overalls are significantly darker than the minion’s body and because Maggie’s head is much brighter than the minion overall. I think this photo feels like how people feel when a person is used to being the spotlight/center of attention slowly fading into the background as the person in the back takes their spot.  
  • The second photo was made black and white using the White Balance editing feature. Using the “Neutral Gray” option, I moved the dial, so it created more warmth in the photograph. Even with the warmth of the Neutral Gray, the photo still was quite dark, and it made me feel like a memory stuck in time. It made me feel this because the minion is very much the darkest part of the picture, like a shadow in the frame that can’t ever leave.  

   

  

Perspective 

• For these two pictures I put the minion into a rock-climbing hold that was on the side of the giant yellow sponge structure outside of the dome.  

• The first picture I focused on changing the levels of luminance and the definition. Having no experience in editing photos at all I found this very enjoyable as I could clearly see what the changing levels of luminance did to the picture. I couldn’t find a difference in the levels of definition until I moved the marker to its maximum. Honestly this picture makes me feel like it was taken when someone was drunk and dared to do something stupid. It might be the angle that was used or the effect that the editing had on the picture but that’s what it reminds me of.  

• The second picture has a blurred middle line, I think it adds to the picture because again it reminds me of when someone is super wasted and ended up in a picture doing something they aren’t meant to. For this picture I used the selective colour and changed the darker blues which included the overalls and the rock-climbing, making the hue itself darker, adding a higher saturation and lowering the luminance.  

Balance 

• For the first picture I adjusted the amount of colour and light applied to the photo, which caused the picture to become a more still stuck in the moment image. It makes me think this because images with less colour in them immediately causes me to think of a person or moment frozen in time. The definition of the picture is also as defined as it would allow me to make it, and from what I can see it just made the shadows and dark parts of the photo more defined, adding further to the reason that it makes me feel stuck in time. 

• This second photo used similar changes to the image only in different directions. Instead of reducing the colouring of the photo I increased it slightly, making the colours pop out more. To contrast that change I altered the photo’s lighting making it darker. The image makes me feel like someone was left behind and is waiting for them to be remembered. The background being super blurred helps add to the effect because although it is super blurry you can see that it’s completely empty, everyone had gone home execpt for this person. 

Framing 

• The first image I altered the lighting of the photo, making it as bright as can be. I then changed the vingette, making it super strong and have a huge radius making a spotlight effect. There’s absolutely no softness to the vingette, meaning the shadow is as dark as can be. It makes me feel like that moment in a movie or tv show when everyone is suddenly staring and laughing at the character. The point where there’s a huge panic going on in their head and they don’t know what to do. A specific point that I’m thinking of is in the 2014 movie, Divergent. The main character Tris is facing one of her fears in the fear simulator and she’s in this glass box. All of the other initiates are looking and laughing at her and that’s what the picture makes me feel.  

• The second image is coloured black and white with the brightness setting set all the way up. Only one other thing has changed and that is the sharpness of the image. Athough I altered it so all the options are completely at the max I cannot see a difference in the image. Whether or not I move the scales up or down it still looks the exact same to me. This photo makes me feel like I’m in a horror film where the character is going to either die or get spooked really badly.  

Leading Lines 

• The first image has so many changes that I don’t know what they all do. The changes are a difference in the lighting, colouring, curves, levels, definition, noise reduction, sharpness and vingette. The two main changes I don’t understand are the levels and curves which both have something to do with colouring and the RGB levels. The colouring seems to be only slightly changed, the main change that I can see is the brightness of the picture being much brighter. This photo makes me think of someone doing something thrilling and not getting caught. The character is in the drinks cabinet of the cafeteria and you aren’t supposed to be in there so that’s what makes me think of it.  

• The second photo’s only change is the levels of luminace. From comparing the luminance levels to the change in colours I think it makes the colours dull, not just darker. The photo makes me feel like its the second picture in the sequence, the first one being the first photo the one where you do something reckless and then this one being you got caught for your recklessness. I think this because all the colour has been dulled so it’s like the colour represented the fun and excitement of the “crime” and then with all the dull colours its no longer fun or enjoyable.  

Rule of Thirds 

• For this first photo the only changes are in the light and colour levels. These two changes are very slight, but it still changes enough for there to be a difference. The colour and brightness changes enhance the yellow of the minion figure enough to make it contrast the blank background and the dark blue overalls that little bit more than the other photos. It reminds me of a modeling shoot, with that blank background to help the focal be the minion/model.  

• The second photo has a very clear difference to the first and that is thanks to the change in white balance. Changing the temperature/tint of the picture to made it feel more like it was taken in a desert. It also isn’t in focus which adds the illusion of the desert, being all windy so the camera could get a good focus. 

Negative Space 

• The first photo has a neutral gray white balance and a change of selective colour, specifically the gray of the keychain. The change of the white balance makes the picture very very wintery gray, like a scene in a movie where there’s about to be snow and the frame is frozen at that moment. Another very specific scene that the colours remind me of it in Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 2, when Katniss is decked out in her mockingjay outfit about to kill President Snow. The colours specifically in that part remind me of this photograph.  

• The next photo’s changes are also minimal. The biggest change to the photo is the vingette. With the strenght being as strong as possible at 1.0 and the radius being at 1.0 as well its quite obvious. There is the use of softness but it’s not as strong as the other two, only at .50. The picture makes me think of a target, like in a spy movie when the photo is of their target and it’s all ominous and stuff.  

Symmetry + Patterns 

• The first photo has the brightness level as decreased as allowed, in addition to the RGB curves being changed. The effect of these changes cause the photo to be more downcast and dull. Although the colours are still full the RGB curve is lowered which sucks part of the colour out of the image. This photo makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a ridiculous staring contest in a stupid comedy movie. Like the type where the camera slowly zooms in on the faces and switches every few seconds with action stare down music in the background. 
• This final photo only has one change to it and it’s the shape of the photo. I cropped the picture into a square, zooming in on the minon in the center. No brightness changes, or colour differences. It makes me feel like something someone would put on an album cover or something like that because the pattern on the wood is very chinese culture and in the center is a western minion as yellow as a banana.