Stuck: A Junior Narrative Diptych by Nathan Becker (2012)

I developed a short story for my Narrative Diptych that contained an internal conflict and an external conflict. The internal conflict was claustrophobia and the external conflict was traffic. A man was driving to work in a hurry, late for an important meeting. The cars in front of him begin to slow down and a few minutes later the traffic has come to a standstill. This triggers his claustrophobia and he feels cramped so he gets out of his car. Within a few seconds the traffic begins to start moving again. When he tries to get back into his car he realizes he locked himself out and he cannot get back in. My first photo demonstrates the feeling of claustrophobia that the man feels as a result of the traffic. I captured this by placing a large number of crickets in a small jar. I put a hot light on the jar and photographed it in a dark room, adding to the feeling of claustrophobia. My second picture represents the point of no return, when the man cannot get back into the car he had just wanted to escape. I captured this feeling of loneliness by placing a fish in a small jar next to three fish in a larger jar. The fish is alone and looking in the direction of the other fish, wishing he could be with them.