Júlia Mello

Curatorial Rationale

This exhibition aims to inspire others to explore their creativity and discover the importance of perspective through object photography and demonstrate the strong connection between the art world and the real world. My passion for object photography first began with an assignment for my visual arts class. All my colleagues seemed to know what angles to use immediately, but I was lost and totally out of my comfort zone. After several failed attempts, that same afternoon, while I was lying down on a table looking at my phone, I accidentally took a picture of the light above me. When I saw the image on my camera roll, I was surprised at how good it was. I felt motivated to keep going. I was surprised that a simple matter of perspective could make one object seem like something completely different. As frustrating as learning this new artistic outlet was, it reignited my passion for photography.

My passion for photography is now bigger than ever, and I seek to bring creativity into my work. From this journey, I have been learning to be persistent and realized that dedication is worthwhile. The intensive experience taught me the power of perspective, not just in photography but also in several other aspects of my life. What is there in front of us may not always convey the same message for everyone, just like the diversity surrounding us. Different backgrounds bring colors and lights that we never expected into our lives. Such richness influences how we appreciate the world.

In this exhibition, I have explored the world of object photography discovering new life in ordinary everyday objects. Object photography has been an artistic outlet for me during this pandemic, pushing me to explore my limitations.

This exhibition's theme is to explore everyday life and how it is influenced by perspective through object photography. This art form explores everyday objects from unique perspectives, bringing new light to these objects, focusing on light, which plays a significant role in everyday life and photography. The entire exhibition is composed of photography, and through the process of creating the pieces, I developed my skills in photography, exploring mainly perspective, lighting, and contrast. Additionally, as the viewers come across this exhibition, I hope there can be a relationship between the artwork and the viewer. It portrays everyday objects that the viewer is most likely used to seeing. The visual impact is brought through the lighting contrast present in most of the pieces.

After selecting my pieces and reflecting on the creation of the works, I decided to display them in order of progression. Creating an effect for the viewer that as they move across the exhibition from left to right, they see the world through a camera lens being zoomed in. I arranged all the lighting pieces to create a linear relationship as if the camera lens was focusing more and more on the object and getting closer to it, providing a zoomed-in view. I hope that the pieces will inspire viewers to activate their creativity and understand the importance of perspective in daily life because everything is a matter of perspective. Our view of the world around us plays a huge role in who we are as individuals and society.