Roots: A Senior Surreal Photo by Quinn Beckstead (2017)

In my Surrealism I have a bunch of different images layered on top of one another. The background consists of a rainforest which I got from the internet because I did not have access to a rainforest. I also thought that the colors in the photo would be a great contrast to the other images that I was including in my piece. I then have a bunch of different images that I took around my house. Some are things that mean a lot to me and some are just random objects that I’ve never really given much thought to. I used things like a teacup, the pool in my backyard, a gnome, and mailbox to convey my message. To get the effect that I have in my piece, I had to cut out images from photos to blend them together. I used Photoshop to accomplish this. The one effect that I have is on the teacup in the mailbox to make it stand out a lot as the smallest part of the photo. I think the elements that I like the most are the water background put into the mailbox with a teacup/fish mashup.

The message that I was trying to convey with my piece was in times that are uncertain, you always have roots to cling to. This may not be something that’s immediately clear to the audience, but I have different objects directly from my home that have been there all throughout my adolescence juxtaposed with things that are completely foreign to me. I think this is a relatable piece because I think a lot of people feel a bit lost when navigating new chapters of their lives, but my piece is saying that by remembering where you come things aren’t as scary as they seem. I think this is definitely one of my favorite pieces that I’ve made this year. I even included this in my portfolio for my college applications. I really enjoyed learning how to tell a figurative narrative through different art techniques.