Monochromatic Color

Artist Statement

For this assignment we had the task of taking a photo that was monochromatic, or consisting of mainly one color. For my subject i used my friend mahlia. This photo was taken outside of the cumberland farms in brunswick with the solid background being my black car. For this image I used ,my phone to take it. I used my car as the background because it was a solid black color that would guarantee the black color. I also used black sunglasses as well as black clothes to create the monochromacy with the black. When editing this image I really focus on texture as well as the lighting. I turned down the exposure because that image was extremely overexposed and reflective, so in lightroom I turned down the exposure and brightness down just a little bit as well with the brilliance. I chose to make this image because black is a color that goes with everything and matched everything in my image. I tried to focus on the texture of the image, which is why it is more grainy than a typical photo because adding the texture brings out a little more excitement and tension, I also obviously focused on capturing the color black.

For this image I used the compositional techniques of formal balance as well as soft focus. When capturing it naturally came out equal and balanced as you can see in the image. For the soft focus it is edited that way so it could show the portrait, but also makes you think about the color around it and see that it is consistent. My project first started with the idea of me taking a photo of multiple things that are the same color, but I found that boring and doesn't follow my inquiry question and I really want to stick and strictly take photos of that. So I thought a solid background with the same colored clothes would be a good idea which is where this image came from. The black was also easy to match because if I picked a color such as blue, there are so many different shades of blue, to get the same blue would be extremely hard, especially with my colorblindness.

The meaning behind this image is not very deep, I just think that It was a beautiful day out and decided to take a picture. I first asked mahlia if we could stop at the gas station because she was driving behind me, and we stopped for a drink and to get gas and the lighting behind the building was very well lit so I told her to sit down in front of my car so I could get a one color, black, background for this image. This relates to my personal life because it shows how big my friends are in my life, and most of my images will be taken of them. The only thing I would change about this image is what color I would've chose for the monochromacy.

-Matthew Kempf