Freestyle Academy proudly presents

Mold: A Senior Listener Lyric Photographic Diptych by Christopher Mintz (2017)

My lyrical essay “Mold” is about a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality through her school years. From the interviews I learned just how gradual this realization is and how a supporting community can help with this change, but also exacerbate the difference between your bubble and the larger community.

The passage that inspired my photography from my listener lyric was the one quote I used was a powerful quote from the interview I conducted which was “I feel most out of place when I’m pushed against the mold of who I should be.” The main word I took inspiration from was “mold” which made me think about statue, and the other thing was standing out. I looked for LGBTQ art in the area with the plan of having it shown in in a casual blending in I chose the Gay Liberation installation on Stanford campus. I ended up being there when someone was sitting down on the bench who looks very different from the stark white statues.

I didn’t use many complex techniques to create the diptych, it was mostly just selections. I used the pen tool to select the bench and the guy sitting down. I mirrored and used these selections to make the right side of the diptych and then added the text in different text boxes to fit into the bench area. Then back on the left side I made the image black and white, but used my selection of the guy to keep him in color. Finally I changed the saturation on the colored guy to make him look “restored” from the rest of the black and white photo.
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