Final Project

BONUS

For this project, I had to completely change my idea from what I originally intended to do. My original plan consisted of creating a series of photographs focusing on silhouettes and the shape of light. I created almost 20 gobos for that project, but unfortunately I must have done something wrong, as none of them worked. So, I had to come up with a new plan entirely.

This project focuses on themes of light, color, and flowers. Each images incorporates two or all of these elements and hones in on them. The first two images focus on the pink background and the shadows created by the flowers. The plastic wrap casts a unique shadow on the wall, creating an interesting color. The natural shape of the flowers creates a detailed silhouette with many angles and curves. The next two images focus more on the flowers themselves and the way light alters the color. The two photographs following are more different from the rest of the series. One is a self portrait, which I debated including for a while but ultimately I liked it. The second image is a seashell. Although it is drastically different from the rest of the subject matter, the unique color of the shell was so mesmerizing that I chose to add it anyway. The next set of images changes subjects to focus in on the pumpkin. I fell in love with the color of the plastic wrap in these images. It created such a unique color, paired with colored gels, that I couldn’t decide on which image to include. The last set of images is more dark than the others, this time focusing on light and shadow. The shoe had a delicate touch to it, the light falling so effortlessly upon it that I didn’t have to do much editing. The second pumpkin went through many changes. Ultimately I ended up settling on the one with the white flower petals, but I decided to include the other two versions since I liked them so much.

Although this project went into a totally different direction than I had originally intended, I am still satisfied with how it turned out in the end.

 

How has photography impacted your life?

When I was in high school, I spent a lot of time in my room, rarely going outside. I disliked the outdoors and avoided leaving my room if I could avoid it. Covid hit in the middle of my second semester at Stony Brook and all my classes went online, making me revert to my old habits. In my second online semester, I decided to take Intro to Photography, thinking it would be easier now that I was home and could photograph within my own home. However, every task pushed me to leave the house more and more. At some point I discovered a pretty cool place near my house that I never knew about. It became my favorite hang out place as well as one of my best locations for taking photos. I started leaving my house more often and I noticed that it improved my mental as well as physical health. I still visit that spot nearly two years later.