The objects in my photograph are a topographic hiking map of Desolation Wilderness and a piece of dark green twine. The photo is taken from above to further exemplify the feeling of anxiety, and the objects take up almost the whole photograph for the same reason. I chose the map because I went backpacking in Desolation Wilderness and thought a lot about the contrast between the beautiful granite, lakes, and wildflowers paired with such a dire adjective, which I thought went well with my concept statement. I chose the twine because it shows the feeling of anxiety while looking good with the other elements of the image.
The map represents nature, being a map of a national forest, while also representing rationality and reality, which is covered by anxiety. The twine represents anxiety, because it’s long, tangled and confusing, obscuring the map underneath it, much like anxiety can obscure rational thoughts.
In Photoshop, I first duplicated the photo and made the background invisible so that my editing was non-destructive before doing some minor cropping. Then, I applied a curves layer to add contrast. I also increased the vibrancy and exposure. This helped to lighten the image and make the colors brighter. Finally, I added a vignette to darken the edges.
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