thesecretlifeofweenies

     “Money Costs Too Much.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The inspiration to this photograph came from the axiom, “Money is the root of all evil”. However, slowly it became more than that as the photograph evolved. The idea of money being a force of evil is expressed through the photograph itself, the colors and the texture.
The Devil, a figure associated with evil, is often represented with a malicious façade and horns. That is why Mr. Washington has those scribbles all over his face. The hand appears to be reaching out for help (or is it to gain more power?) because of the Devil that has become a part of it.
As for the colors, the background is complete black to signify the darkness of the situation and to give contrast to the picture. The hand is slightly yellowed to symbolize that the hand is diseased.
Splattered across the hand are splotches that look like blood or fresh bruises. Perhaps the power of money can be damaging; so damaging in fact that it could rip a hole in you, get inside of you and gain control of you.
I chose to use this picture in the melee gallery because I feel it expresses a very powerful and controversial point. Money is everywhere and everyone has a certain emotion towards money, whether it’s the one expressed in the picture or it’s a powerful desire for money.
Personally, I don’t like money because of the ideas represented in the photograph, but I don’t feel safe without a reasonable amount of it.

edit:
translation: je=i, toi=you (grammatically incorrect, the photo reads “I love you” in French, with the heart on the lips representing “love”. grammatically correct would be “je t’aime”, ergo, the title of the photo :])

Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”:

As I walk through this wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside
There’s one thing I wanna know
What’s so funny ’bout peace, love & understanding?
What’s so funny ’bout peace, love & understanding?

And as I walked on through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes

So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry
What’s so funny ’bout peace, love & understanding?
What’s so funny ’bout peace, love & understanding?

Three Original Pictures:
Soldier Crying, Bush, Peace Girls

Critique

            My photo is a creative way to express the idea of hypochondria. The model has an intense look of pain on her face, and yet there appears to be nothing physically wrong with her aside from her smearing PAINt on her face (which could be a symbol for a false or feigned illness).

            The lines draw you to the girl’s PAINted face which is the focus. However, aside from being a tool to draw attention, the lines also give the photograph its feeling. The lines look like something is pulling her down or pushing her down, making whatever is in the lines’ way weak. That’s why there are lines on the hand as well. Not only do they bring attention to the hands, but the lines make the hands seem like they’re being pulled down, like it hurts to touch her face. The lighting also acts in greatly the same ways. The spotlight affect not only brings attention to the face, but it gives the photo a darker, more somber feeling.

            I chose this picture to be my black and white photo because I believe that black and white really brings out the emotion in a picture because there are no distractions of colour. However, I also believe that colour can work to one’s advantage, which is why I didn’t desaturate the picture entirely—you can see the blue in the PAINt, the blood under her skin. These small details of colour bring out the emotion and idea of my picture.

            If I could change this picture, I would choose to make it not so emotional. I feel like it became a little too much and became too emotional. If I could do it again, I would leave out the lines and the noise. I would also back up a little more so it’s even less busy and gives the picture a darker, heavier look. Also, how the picture was taken seems a little bland. Perhaps a higher or lower angle or taken from the side, it would have been more interesting.

  Critique:

            My first self-portrait photo is of me in front of the sunset. I wanted to do this not only because sunsets are great things to photograph, but because I love the outdoors so I thought I’d get a picture of myself in front of something that really depicts the beauty of nature. I like how the light looks but I’m not so sure about the pink lens flare that’s over my T-shirt. It’s a little distracting. In my picture the focus is centered, but because there are two (myself and the sunset) it makes it a bit interesting. The lines that the sun reflects point towards it, and the railing I am sitting on points to me.

            My second one is the photo that represents something of my character. I’ve been told that I can be pretty nice so I thought I’d get a picture that has a heart in it. Ergo, I carved out the inside of an apple and put a light behind it. I like how the picture ended up, but if I could I would take it again so that the top of the apple wasn’t cut off and there were more black background around it so the apple was more in the lower left corner. However, it still seems to follow the rule of thirds, or more so my focus is not in the center of the photograph. The background is very empty, so it makes the focus stand out even more.

            In both pictures, the lighting is rather dim aside from a single but bright source of light.