Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Erin Ravenwood: A Senior Profile Portrait by Tara Swan (2011)

Erin Ravenwood is a young adult living in the rundown post apocalyptic world of Brooklyn, New York. Being one of the younger siblings in her harsh family among older boys, she was always told be tough and to take care of herself. From her unforgiving and harsh family, she grew up to be a rough character who is used to fending for herself and fighting to survive. Along with this hard-to-break-through shell and tough character, she shows many feminine and teenage qualities of always being outgoing, getting thrills out of anything that she can, and taking large risks. While this is a personality that others out in the community usually see, she wears this as a mask of the quieter, wary side of her character who likes to spend time alone while indulging herself in photography or isolating herself in a world of music. The only peaceful aspect of her life in this hectic lifestyle where/when she feels totally safe and somewhat protected is being with her combat/police group of which she is a part. Being one of the best personnel for going out into New York, she and a group of two other girls and the chief of the team go out and take care of ''In the slums'' crimes that normal police and other government officials either don't know about or don't bother themselves with. She takes the job very seriously showing a third side to her personality where she is very serious and stern. She tries to help create brighter futures for people living in the run down areas when there was no one to do the same while she was growing up. While in her fighting gear of night vision goggles, dusty denim jacket, combat boots, torn jeans, and shoulder bag, she is all business. One thing does not change though to either of these sides of her character. No matter what circumstances and no matter where, Erin is always seen with ear buds in her ears, listening to all sorts of genres of music as a playlist to every aspect of her life. Taking this photo, I wanted to show her more serious moods while being in her fighting gear. She is looking up into a light part of the frame with the light on her face. She has a slight, hard-to-see smile on her face peeking out from under her tough, fighter girl attitude. I used this look with the lighting and the expression on the model's face to show her past. The light within the pictures brightens and pin points on her face to reveal her subtle reaction of believing that things will get better. That all the work and fighting she has done has come good use. Her stance in the shot is not away from the camera to hide herself, she is standing up front with her hand on her hip in a strong stance. She shows strength in her body language to show pure confidence. She stands in a dark, harsh, and structured setting but still stands in the minimal light. Even though she is dirty and lives in the slums of this corrupted New York, she still stands strong and keeps herself up even though inside she might be tired.
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