Surrealism

1. Describe the process you used to arrive at your surreal subject matter.

I found this project a lot harder than I had originally thought. I had many ideas but when it came to actually implementing them, I was not sure how to or knew that it would take too long. 

2. Describe the shoot. Did you have to change your plans? Did you come up with new ideas as you worked through the project?

This scene was actually my "backup" idea. My original plans did not work well after I photoshopped them, but thankfully I took these photos too. This piece consists of 3 separate images. The first, of Maddie, was taken by having her lie down, on a bright background so that I could better cut her out afterwards in photoshop. The shadow of the hand was taken close up to a wall, with a bright light. And the wall/floor image was taken from the internet (Google) because I did not have an area with an enough empty wall space. After combining the images I decided to make it all black and white because I couldn't quite work out how to make the different colours/tones/exposures blend so that it was realistic. If I were to redo this, I would definitely make sure I took the photos with similar lighting so that they blended together more easily.

3. Describe the subconscious associations you personally make when looking at this photograph. What do you hope others will see/feel when seeing your image?

When you look at this photograph, it should raise question as to how the person is being held up by a shadow. I think that subconsciously the image represents to me, all of the hidden powers that have control in ones life, like fate. Or it could also have more to do with someone in ones life that is holding a person back, though perhaps it is not realized, and that is why the hand is a shadow rather than a clear hand.