Connecting Essay 3

Internet photograph

This is an online photograph that I found which is what I used as inspiration for my photograph in the first place. The reason this photograph caught my eye would mainly be because of the black and red theme, and the creative explosion style that makes the woman look as though she's fizzing away. Placing her in front of a white background was an effective choice of the photographers because it allows the bold foreground colours to stand out. White is an effective contrast to the black and red, which conveys this formal element as being used sufficiently in this piece. I also liked that the model is placed directly in the middle of the frame because this allows her to be the main focal point in this image. Her having her hand on her hip is also successful body language in pairing with the explosion effect on the other side because it avoids the right side of the frame from being filled with just the backdrop, if she had her hand hanging down there would be wasted space within the frame which would make this photograph less successful.

My photograph

This is my photograph that I felt was a successful outcome. Adding the explosion effect was my second attempt  in trying out this technique and I feel that it worked effectively with my face. By exploding just one side of me, this makes it look as though I am slowly and gradually fading away, rather than having all of me exploding in one go. Me not looking into the lens of the camera takes their focus away from my face, and more onto the explosion occurring to the side of me. This photo perhaps could have been improved if I was to place myself in front of a whiter background, because the ivory shade behind me perhaps isn't as effective as a white backdrop. I left only a slight empty space in the framing on the left which is acceptable because it isn't wasted, it just frames the left side of me. Overall, this photograph came out as a successful piece altogether.

The Connection

I have decided to look at these two photographs as connecting because they are very similar in many ways, where they both evidently contain the formal elements colour and pattern. Firstly, the colours composed in both of these photographs contain mainly red and black. I made sure I wore a red and light black shirt,  because after looking at the internet photograph I knew that these colours contrasted effectively with a light background and my light face. The connection shared between my photograph and the internet photograph is also evident through the composition. In the internet photograph, the model's upper half is all on show, whereas in my photograph, it is mainly my face and neck area that is filling the frame. The explosion introduced in my photograph has smaller particles than the explosion effect in the internet photograph, however both start from one side and expand to the end of that side of the frame. This conveys both pieces as fading away rather than exploding all in one go. Ultimately, these two photographs connect through the technique and the formal elements colour and pattern.