Feet

Artist Statement

To capture the above photo, I had my younger sister stand on the floor of our half-finished basement, most of the lights turned off except for a bright phone flashlight facing towards her at an angle pointing down at her feet. This cast a shadow on the floor behind her, which later served as my outline for photo editing. I tried to make the most noticeable feature of the photo be the feet, connecting with the shadow. It is that connection between the feet and the beginning of the shadow that contributes most to the meaning of the photo. Playing around with lighting and which angle I took the photo/had my sister stand at was quite difficult, as I needed to think about my photo editing (which the meaning is centered around) along with my current situation of trying to capture the image. With my equipment being a couple of boxes, a phone, and limited space of the floor (I didn't want to capture any other background objects that took away from the focus of the image), it was a challenge.

This project I had a clear vision for, and I found that staying true to that vision proved difficult with the materials I had and the reality of my photo editing skills. I had to play around with what photo I edited over the shadow, as I wanted it to stand out, but not to the point where it did not blend in at all. I also wanted it to be somewhat select color—I wanted the shadow's color to stand out against a dull background and subject, but I found putting it in complete black and white seemed like too much. I tried to crop the photo correctly to apply the rule of thirds, putting the connection between the feet and the shadow on one of the most noticeable spots of the image. I tried to keep the photo as balanced as I could, as well.

What I was trying to convey with this image is the connection and contrast between humans and the earth/outdoors (this is why I was trying to emphasize the point where the shadow and the feet connect). The feet, in this image, connect the person to the earth, and even though we all live in a world with very advanced technology and many industrialized countries, there is value in retaining the beauty of where life started before changed by human-made structures. It can also portray the dull, human-made world we're familiar with in contrast with the more vivid outdoors. This is important to me personally not only because of the value I place on the environment, but even more so because I feel as if I personally never get to be outside. Because of that fact, the juxtaposition between these two worlds is emphasized. I would have liked to try this concept with improved photo editing, however, I'm still relatively new to it and struggling with getting back into creating images.