My statement of intent for this unit is to show the theme of the overuse of technology. And the name of this project is “Behind the filter”. I chose this title because in social media, we can see people using camera filters to take photos or videos. So, I want to take the realistic photos of people behind those filters, and seek out who they really are. The idea I am expressing shows that a lot of people overuse their phones and is not able to focus on their work, and gets too focused in the social media world from their devices.
Image 1:
This photo shows a girl staring at her phone while lying on the couch, and the cold and blue light of the phone radiates onto the left side of her face. There is also a yellow and warm light on the right, which shines onto the girl’s jacket and also onto the right side of her face. This contrast between the cold lighting from the phone and the warm lighting from the other light source has an interesting composition and technique. The viewer’s gaze in this photograph is drawn to the subject’s face, as the lighting creates a leading line toward the subject, and both light sources lead to the face. In addition, the focus of the photo is the face of the subject, and I think the lighting and the composition have helped to do that. The distracting elements in this photo would be the phone the subject is holding, but it also helps to improve the composition. The warm lighting of warm light in the right fully shines on the jacket, so because it is really bright, it might distract the eye from looking at that. The background of the picture is fully black, but as the light of the phone shines into the foreground, we can merely see that the subject is lying on the sofa. One interesting composition in this photo would be the imaginary triangle between the phone(cold light), the face, and the warm light. This triangle between these elements helps create a fascinating composition technique and also emphasizes the face, which is the main subject.
Image 2:
This image illustrates a girl also staring at her phone, but this time sitting on something and in front of a wall. The photo also has a contrast between the cold and warm lighting, as the warm lighting is shining on the right side of the face, and the cold and blue light is radiated from the phone onto the left side of the face, combined with some parts of the shoulders. Moreover, on the walls behind the subject, there is a clash between the warm and cold colors; however, it not only does not affect the whole composition, but improves the composition as there are three colors that make up the background, blue, yellow, and black at the top. In addition, behind the subject, the light from the phone creates an oval highlight on the wall, which helps to create an interesting composition. The empty space in this photo creates negative space, helps to define the boundaries, and helps the photo to seem more balanced, and also helps to emphasize the subject. There are also no distracting elements in this photo, which makes the picture look clean and helps to emphasize the subject more. Another interesting composition element that is in the photo is the triangle composition, which, from the photo, is the cold color on the bottom left, the warm yellow light on the bottom right, then the head of the subject. This helps to add structure and depth to the photo, and also guides the eye through the frame. This photo and the one above it really expresses the theme of the overuse of technology. This is because the warm light in this scenario symbolizes their normal life and what they do away from the technology, and the cold light represents the technology. As we can see from both photos, the cold light dominates most of their face, which also represents that technology now dominates what we think, and it takes away a lot of our time. This contrast of the warm and cold light refers to that people nowadays are too hooked onto their devices and social media platforms, which causes them to not being able to focus on their work and everyday life.
Image 3:
This photo illustrates a woman sitting on a bean bag, in front of a fireplace, with a book on the woman’s lap, and she’s staring at her phone. There is a contrast between cold and warm colors on the face and the body of the subject, the warm light from the fireplace, and the cold light from the phone. This creates a contrast between the colors and helps to emphasize the subject. Furthermore, there are some elements that might seem interesting to the subject, for example, the fireplace and the reflection of the fireplace, which gives off a mood of calmness in the environment. One prominent element in this picture I would want to talk about is the theme of the picture. As you can see in the photo, the woman has a book in her lap, and in books, you usually read that people read books comfortably close to the fireplace, and it feels cozy and comfortable. But unlike that situation, in this case, the subject is looking and scrolling on her phone, and this conveys the theme of the overuse of technology, as the subject now no longer focused on the book but gets distracted by her phone. This clearly showcases the theme of the overuse of technologies nowadays, as people put down their usual habits and get distracted by social media on their devices.