Junior Conceptual: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Christopher Mintz (2016)

'Passing through sulfurous smokey city bustling around us, lush forests with endless crannies waiting to be explored, chilling oceans that let us see to end end of the earth in all directions, yet hide deep mysteries. Realize how you have been shaped from each, and how you have been shaping each. Quantum Cloud VIII has us remember that everything which makes us now, was used to make something before, and will be used again.'' Was my response to the piece Quantum Cloud VIII a sculpture of a man made out of sticks. Shooting this piece I wanted to show how everything in the universe is made from what was something else, and how it will be recycled and used again. The face that is emerging from the sand, yet simultaneously falling apart to show this feeling. Looking into the distance it is both longing to find something new in life while also knowing in death it will provide for another.

I chose a face in sand because I thought it got off the feeling of being and individual, yet shows how everything that makes you is still there and contributing but is not solely yours. To make the face I got a cheap halloween mask and filled the face with wet sand, then the rest with dry sand so that the face would be noticeable, but would still blend into the sand in the background. I found if I pressed the eyes I could give make the face seem to be staring into the distance, and at the same time make it look older. I took the photo on a foggy morning so in Photoshop I made it redder, and gave it darker shadows in the eyes to look like it had a more wise
pained expression. I also added a filter that made the sand blend together more, yet still seem separate and distinct. The biggest hurdle for me was timing. Originally I had planned to have much longer shadows on the faces I took pictures of, however fiddling with face building techniques so by the time I was getting good pictures the sun had go down. The morning I took the photos there was an overcast so there were practically no shadows, and lots of white light.