Minimalism

Artist Statement:

The subject of this photo is my betta fish, Casper, in his tank. I used my Canon camera proped up on a container with its flash on to take this photo. I chose to create this photo because I like the way he looks, and I felt that the flash would capture his details (it did). This photo contains the elements and principles of line, because he has many lines on his fins, shape, because he is his own shape and has fins, scales, and gills; color, because although he's white, he has hints of pink and blue around him; value, because you can see all his shadows and highlights on him; texture, because he is very textured and the value accentuates that; emphasis, because I think the black background makes him pop out a lot; movement, because you can tell he's swimming; and unity, because he seems unifyed all by himself. This photo was simpily composed of my fish in his tank.

I used the following composition rules/techniques in this photo: rule of thirds, because he is in the required places for the rule; informal balance, because it seems balanced although it isn't perfectly; selective focus, because it is focused selectively on just Casper; and low key lighting, because it is super dark other than him and his shadows. Originally, for this assignment I was going to do something that had to do with fruit or vegtables and cut one in half and place it on a plain background. When I was taking this photo, it took a couple takes because he doesn't stop moving and is really shy.

This photo is meaningful because Casper is my fish. I took this photo because he is really pretty and I thought he would be good for this assignment. I really like this photo because it is super focused, sharp and clear. You can see all of his details and he's very majestic. If I could change one thing about this photo to make it stronger, I would make the background completely black, instead of having faint parts of his tank in the background. This photo relates to my concentration of Nature/Natural and Organic Forms, because he is a part of nature, and has very organic textures.