Conceptual: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Marisa Novotarski (2017)

I am exploring the feeling of nostalgia through the experience of dancing.

The objects I chose to use in my photographs were a tape that was submerged in water. I chose the tape to represent nostalgia and the water to represent dancing. I made the water move with the tape to create a sense of action and movement. I tried to bring the tape in focus by using a white spotlight in contrast to the warmer light in the surrounding water. The objects were meant to interact in harmony. The movement of the water was supposed to show how the dancing was what led to a nostalgic feeling as it was engulfing the nostalgic item. The image I used showed both the movement of the water and the tape, successfully showing them moving (or dancing) together. The lighting helps to instill warmth in the photo. I used this warmth to pair with the tape and remind the viewer of the comfort that often comes with memories. The light splitting in the water also showed how the memory could be distorted or refrained as time goes on. The water dancing represents how dance can often be something very nostalgic, and is often used in various art forms to represent nostalgia or memory. I chose the image that slightly warped the tape to emphasize the change and distortion of memory.

In Photoshop, I tried to bring more contrast between the body of the tape and the surrounding water. This gave the body more depth and interest, drawing the eye more centrally to the tape. I also brought down the exposure to add more contrast between the bright warmth of the water and the darkness of the tape. To add more contrast, I selected the flowing tape and made it more of a deep red-orange. Finally, I placed a blue photo filter over the image to make it colder and a little bit more color to a fairly flat image. I used the blue to take the warmth originally present in the photo that represented comfort to bring in a contrast of cold and sadness that can also come with nostalgia.