Zigler+A-Texture

Final: "The past becomes a texture, an ambience to our present." -Paul Scott. During my texture combined 3 project, I wanted to reveal something that everyone has to face and no one can escape: death. After taking pictures with my camera, I had to make a few changes to my photos to do this... These included cropping Katie (1), flipping the cropped picture of Katie (2), cropping the skull (3), cropping the background image (4), changing the hue of the cropped picture of Katie to a darker color (5), cropping the statue of Mary (6), cropping the tombstone (7), changing the hue of the tombstone using the auto feature (8), putting the background image over my final picture (9), cropping the background image in front of both tombstones and the statue of Mary (10), changing opacity of the cropped background image (11) and cropping different trees from a copied background image to put in front of the tombstones to make them look part of the picture instead of just cropped over (12). The composition techniques I used were asymmetrical balance, rule of thirds and framing. The two sides of the picture are not the same on both sides, making the picture have asymmetrical balance, but it is still arranged so there is a sense of balance between the background with the objects and Katie. I chose to use asymmetrical balance to create the effect of the balance between life and death but also to place emphasis on the texture and complexity of Katie (specifically her hair), who represents life and its complexity before death. Her larger, darker form toward the edge and intense color of her hair's texture and complexity balances with the smaller, lighter, smoother and simpler objects in the background, further emphasizing this effect. I also used the rule of thirds to avoid simply placing my subject in the middle of the picture. The edge of Katie's head is on the vertical line dividing the right third from the other two thirds of the picture. The right tombstone and the skull also are in points of intersection between two lines. Besides creating interest to the piece, I wanted to incorporate the rule of thirds to make the piece flow and appealing to the eye. By placing Katie where I did, the viewer can follow her perception down the path, forcing them to face (like Katie) the inevitable. Finally, I used framing, with the trees framing the path. Again, this was to cause the viewer's eyes to go down the single path. This framing also makes my piece more aesthetically pleasing. In addition, I used elements and principles of design to enhance my piece. These included color, texture and perspective. I changed the hue on some of my cropped images to create a sullen and gloomy mood. With photographing on cloudy days and in the cemetery, it was easy to create this dark feel that fit with my concept of death. I picked Katie to be my subject because her blue hair, which helped to create the mood but also symbolizes inner security and confidence, which is what you need to have before accepting fate. Like previously mentioned, I emphasized the texture of Katie's hair in my photo. This texture helped create the asymmetrical balance and symbolized the complexity of life and human beings. Besides this, it also helped the piece flow by looking like the scraggly trees that were in the background image. The perspective of Katie facing the trail fit nicely with my overall concept, as well. By having her face towards the trail, I caused the viewer to face the trail, which symbolizes the path of life finally leading towards death. This represents the inevitability of death with everyone, including Katie, facing it. However, this piece is not meant to be morbid or have anything to do with Katie in particular. Again, my concept was inspired by the conditions and places we photographed. I wanted to symbolize life vs. death and how everyone has to face it because, while we were in the cemetery, I realized how little I've actually noticed it before or thought anything of it. Like the concept of death and dying, I was aware of the cemetery but never really faced it and thought about all of the people buried in it. However, while we were there I found a tombstone where two young children were buried. This made me think about how sad it was and what might've happened to them. I became inspired by this concept of no one really thinking about death or the cemetery but everyone knowing it was there. I felt like this was an important aspect of life that I wanted to show and I felt that I incorporated this very well. In fact, I am actually impressed with myself as I haven't used Photoshop or had an art class in a year. However, because I wanted to focus on texture, I took a lot of close-up photos, which I really didn't know what to do with when having to combine my pictures. Therefore, next time I would like to have a concept and idea in mind before each photo-shoot to avoid this. Still, I felt like I did very well with incorporating texture into my concept and final piece. I like my concept, the texture and the way I used and learned a lot about Photoshop to make my picture more realistic, however, I would like to improve my picture by using the rule of thirds more clearly and further developing my skills in Photoshop to make my cropped images look even more realistic in the final photo. Finally, with my photo, I hope that I could cause the reader to feel the texture and complexity of their past and use it in their present as they became aware of the inevitable.