Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Gravity: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Francesca Seni (2017)

I am exploring the feeling of remorse when managing responsibilities.

The dominant object in my photo is a number two pencil photographed using the rule of thirds. This was done very purposefully, so the viewer’s eyes would have no trouble setting on the desired object of focus. The pencil is the brightest object in the image in order to over exaggerate what the center of attention should be. Other elements that emphasizes the brightness of the pencil are the dark colored rocks that surround and burry the pencil.

When first reading my concept statement, my stomach hollowed out as the memory of disappointing my parents with grades that did not live up to their expectations filled my mind. In my image, the pencil is covered under a pile of rocks. Responsibilities carry significant weight, and it’s no easy task to juggle several at a time. The pencil is almost completely buried, the black gaps between the rocks and pencil suggesting that it still remains possible for the pencil to be pushed farther down and become completely hidden. My inability to manage everything is shown through the colors of the rocks. Besides the pencil, there is only one object that varies in color, a tinted red rock on the left side of the image. It’s easy to skip over at first, as the pencil is much brighter and demands more attention. The red rock represents my parent’s love, something that was a second thought for me as well, so its placement, that is initially easy to look over, puts greater emphasis on its meaning. Just because it wasn’t the primary focus, does not mean it’s missing. The stone doesn’t add any extra weight to the pencil, it’s simply another element of the situation that I could not see at first. When first editing in Photoshop, one can tinker with the temperature, tint, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity, vibrance, and saturation of a photo. I had to be careful when adjusting highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks, that no one color was too overpowering. The photo could not be too dark, because it would completely take out the red stone, and it could not be too bright because it would take away from the personal experience I was trying to portray. Additionally, I cropped the photo to exclude some unnecessary leaves from the photo. I also used the Smudge tool and a brush with black color to mask a leaf entirely. I would not have been able to conceal this small detail without previous lessons on how to use the Blur tool, Smudge tool, Color picker, and varying brushes.
Visitors 1183