Retrospection: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Mateo Kaiser (2017)

I am exploring the feeling of desperation through accepting oneself

The main elements in my photograph are the bust of an old man, his reflection in the water, and the life ring. The bust is was placed in the water to create a reflection which is significant in regards to my concept statement. The bust of the man is meant to be looking at the life ring, which isn't entirely in focus to indicate the uncertain nature of any kind of salvation. The background was meant to meld seamlessly with the water dish that the bust is standing in. I kept the lighting dark to bring out the reflection of the bust, and to enhance the shadow on the bust’s face, making him seem old.

The way I chose to approach my concept was through a lens that I was best able to personally understand. I looked at the concept of desperation through accepting oneself through the idea of becoming older and accepting that the great plans you once had for yourself never really came to fruition and that your time to achieve what you had dreamed of for yourself is running out or already has run out. I chose a bust as a central element because busts are generally commissioned to commemorate someone who achieved significant things. But the bust I chose is that of an old man, someone whose time has nearly run out. I put the bust into water to show a reflection, something which is meant to portray the act of looking at oneself and realizing that you didn’t achieve what you planned but that that's that and coming to terms with what you ended up doing.

I made relatively few alterations to the photograph in photoshop, mostly increasing the brightness, using the spot healing tool to fix the background, and making the statue a bit less yellow in color.