Assignment 5: Constructed Reality

Clark Gable

Nice Doing Business With You

I wish I was....

I'd love to be....

Just be

Gathered Around The Dinner Table

Part I:

Clark Gable: I used natural lighting for this photo, it was a cloudy day, so the contrast isn't very high. My image is about a set up love scene...kind of playing on the idea that love isn't a fairy tale-the picture perfect love you see in movies has a lot of constructing that goes into it. If you zoom out from the scene, it will change your perspective completely. But I also got this idea from the song Clark Gable, by the postal service, he sings about recreating a love. Steve and Amanda, my brother and his girlfriend were my actors and they did a great job. I love their expressions.  I had the scene in front of a house because it isa young love, you get the idea that he is dropping her off at her house after a date. 

Constructed Identity Photos: The composition for these three photos was natural lighting. I had to use self timer on the camera. That was time consuming, but they turned out good enough to convey the idea. My original plan was to create dramatic characters and put them in appropriate scenes. Then I decided to relate the identities to myself. It would be a stronger concept because it means more to me. I will save constructing more dramatic identities for a time when i have means to different costumes and make up. The concept I settled on was that idea that I focus so much on the type of person I want to be that I don't  really move forward. I added the third picture with the caption, just be, because I have to remind myself that everyone has different paths in life and to focus on unique me. Not to care if I am the obvious fashionably pretty or the obvious smart free student. Focus on developing myself through my eyes and not someone else's. The I wish i was... and I'd love to be... photos represent extremes that I want to be. The third photo, just be, is a reminder to just be myself. It is a bit cheesy but something real that I struggle with. There are many other artists who focus on self development and self worth concepts that I'm sure my photos concept can be categorized with. 

Gathered Around The Dinner Table: This photo was very fun to create. I felt so achieved once I finished it because I've always been afraid of photoshop. It was very foreign to me before class started and now I know how to put four images of me into one photo! It feels good, haha. The concept was narrative with constructed identity. I was home brainstorming ideas when I thought to dress like each member of my family and sit where we always sit around the dinner table. We play cards together so I had us doing that instead of eating. This would be fun to reshoot, maybe spending more time developing my dad's character and making the rest of the family look like they are having fun. This photo was taken on self timer. I had the camera on a tripod and at an angle where all of us would be visible. The lighting was a bit yellow but very bright and good exposure so I was happy with that. 

Part II:

Clark Gable: I explained this photo before classmates talked about it. They said I conveyed the idea successfully and liked that I showed Ryan on the ladder spraying the water to make it look like rain. It would be fun to reshoot this and put more time into it by having the water directly above the kissing couple's head and having them be wet from the water. Also to show lights on either side to push the idea that it is a constructed set. I'd have the woman be dressed differently too. A jumping point could be creating photos for different songs. Putting their words into a visual. From the song artist's thoughts, to my interpretation, into a photo. I love that idea.

Constructed Identity Photos: This was interpreted by the class how i thought it would be. Someone mentioned that the little bit of text with each photo helped clarify the concept and why I chose to construct these certain identities. It is also a relatable as an internal conflict for some others in the class. A jumping point would be to continue to construct all kinds of identities, but go outside of myself and explore foreign identities. Act as a certain identity for a week and document it. You could go as far as literally changing your life style for a period of time and documenting it.

Gathered Around The Dinner Table: This was a favorite of my final photos. People interpreted the image as characters around the table, it took a quick moment for them to realize all four characters were me. A way to improve the photo would be spend more time looking like my dad, also not having moved the camera toward the end of the shoot. then I wouldn't have had to resize and place the cut out of my mom onto the layers. It would have been a touch more realistic. But this would be a fun series to continue-to dress and act like different people.