Looking Up: A Senior Surreal Photo by Emily Blockhus (2017)

My surrealist piece centers on the idea that everyone has a choice of looking at the world in a negative or positive light. The colorful bubbles filled with miniature ships and light representing looking for the good in the world and the dark, dull gray cityscape representing the darkness in the world.

To create this image, I combined multiple photos of blowing bubbles and ships with an image of a greyscale cityscape in photoshop. Adding adjustment layers to change the photos' clarity or contrast. I used the quick selection tool to cut out the different subjects and manipulate them into place. I also painted in the water cascading off of the person's hand, placing a filter over it to give it a textured look. I enjoyed experimenting with photographing different objects in this project and learning more about surrealism.