Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Change: A Senior Surreal Photo by Rachel Uyeda (2014)

I love photos that emanate nostalgia. What I mean is, I appreciate photos whose scenery, lighting, and composition exude an air of calm; quiet. The background, or canvas for this project, does just that. I took a picture of a field nearby my house. The field, blanketed by purple and yellow wild flowers, a withered tree, and a decrepit barn, sets the surrealist scene perfectly. The hand in the top left corner is pouring a jar of sand. As the sand travels down the page, it slowly turns into words, and as the words hit the umbrella, they are then dispersed onto the ground. The words keep pouring out and they don't seem to stop. I used a texture mapping tool and displacement to wrap the words around the umbrella, shot both the hand and the field pictures in high definition range (HDR), and used the type tool to make the words follow a curvature and add more interest. All of the components were created in Photoshop.

To me, this photo speaks to the emotions and feelings of a second semester senior. It can feel like everything is changing, falling apart, or morphing. This semester my relationships with friends, parents and myself have been tested, each one a recipient of an outpouring of emotions. The fluidity of the sand, which morphs into words, is representative of my changing relationships and turbulent emotions. The color scheme, an analogous one that uses different hues of yellows and greens, also reflects emotions. All the while the background remains the same, a testament to how I've been able to withstand the past few weeks, thanks to a few unwavering relationships. No matter how much things change, some always manage to stay the same.
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