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Citizen: A Senior Listener Lyric Photographic Diptych by Eren George (2019)

My lyrical essay, entitled “New school, New class,” follows the schedule of a middle schooler joining their school’s choir when something strange begins to happen. The student notices a difference between themselves and the other students. I have learned that some kids at a young age are taught about the stereotypes associated with their identity.

The main theme of my lyrical essay was that the atmosphere of the classroom caused the main subject to feel weighed down, and I wanted to show that with this photo. I took many photos at the school but I chose this one because of the dark background around the subject, I felt as if that added more to the message that I want to convey . I also feel this photo shows the true message of my lyrical essay; you might seem fine on the outside but no one truly knows. My interviewee struggled in the beginning of middle school because of her identity and how others were unconsciously treating her, but she was able to overcome this and truly enjoy her new school and new class. The subject in the image is standing tall as they were walking, but there were some points when he was walking where he dropped his shoulders. Even though you only see him in this image frozen in place I believe that this image shows the internal struggle that my subject went through.

For the editing of my photo I added three filters; Black and White, Gradient Map, and Color Fill. The black and white turned the colored photo into the initial black and white that I used as a base layer. I then added the gradient map to make the black and white more dramatic and saturated. With the final filter, color fill, I used a dark grey filter to add more contrast between the background and the subject. Moving to the font I used a font that was bold so that it would emphasise the weight of the environment that my subject was feeling in my lyrical essay. I felt that this font conveys that message well. Related website
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