Monochromatic Image

Artist Statement

This image was heavily based on photo editing: the original image was one taken at the level of a table, the camera focused on the table in front of it. The flower came from a separate image of a flower laying on the ground that I took during the summer. The light in the background is overlaid from a different image as well. When editing the images together, I tried to apply the rule of thirds to the flower, the subject of the image, as well as a bit of leading lines technique to highlight the background as well. I wanted to keep the background and area around the flower simple, so I tried to limit the objects blocking things from view.

Photo editing was a huge part of this project’s evolution. Not only the monochromatic element of the photo was a result of photo editing. I used photoshop to warp the flower image to be at a similar angle as the table in order to make it a little more convincing. I also used the brush tool at a low opacity to add a glow around the flower, along with dots of light, giving off a surreal feeling. I used the spot healing tool for a few objects in the background and then blocked the wall behind the table out altogether, instead using a new layer with the image of the light shining in to fill that empty space by changing the layer blending. I tried using the blur tool to soften transitions in different edited parts of the image as well. The dodge and burn tools came in handy when trying to add some sort of lighting effect on the flower, though I don’t believe it was overly realistic and it didn’t coordinate exactly with the lighting of the other images.

This image was meant to represent symbolism through color as well as a bit of foreshadowing, relating to my personal concentration of representing literary devices through photography. The bright, golden color of this image is supposed to represent luck and a sign of something good happening in the future—a bright future. The magical quality of the flower adds to this, representing it and the light ahead of the image as a sign that life will improve. The color-related symbolism and composition were meant to exemplify this message.