A Lost Light

After finishing our Flash Fiction in English, we came to deisgn with a strong sense of our story and especially the primary focus, our character. In Design, we learned about the use of vignettes, lighting up darkened areas of a photo, removing unwanted elements, and vibrance! Outside of Photoshop we learned about how to take photoshoots with a model, learning things such as color the background and how that effects the feel of the photo.

As well, we learned about the position of lighting, specifically the key, front, and back light! For those who don't know, using these three lights is a technique that helps brighten up a model and helps give them definition from their background, making them not look flat in comparison to the background. After learning all these, we found a model we thought was similar to our character from the Flash Fiction and took at minimum sixty photos of the model. After much revision, I narrowed mine down to one and edited it to help make it look better and more professional. Here you can find the picture of my portrait and the artist statement to clarify why certain things are the way they are!

From learning all this, I got a much more indepth understanding of all that goes behind the scenes of a single photo shoot! Ranging from lighting angle of the camera to the pose our character was in, there was a lot to look for in a single photo! I really enjoyed learning all this and can't wait to apply it to my further creations!

My character’s name is James, a very American name. I wanted my character to seem like an every-man, facing an extraordinary problem. James’ wife died a few years back, and he’s been regretting his loss ever since, feeling as if he’s been missing a large piece of himself. Only recently, she’s been coming back to him, but not in a way he’d expect. She’s been coming back to haunt him, plaguing his life with visions and encounters with her.

In the photo, we see James scared, almost unsure of himself. Due to his recent encounters, he doesn’t know what’s really true, and what’s really just his mind playing tricks. Due to his confusion, the background is black, making him feel alone. As well, his jacket is much larger than what it really should be to represent how he’s lost in himself. His flashlight in his hand is to represent that, despite being lost, he still has some hope to find his way in the darkness.