Week 8: Make a Statement

           Extra Credit: Photojournalism

           Caption: "it hurts, but that's ok.. I'm used to it."

Eight: Make a Statement          There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer. -- Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees

          This week was quite the challenge. It's no easy task capturing an image that can "make a statement" without including a few words to convey what you're trying to portray. This was made even harder with the extra credit being photojournalism. I spent almost four days researching photojournalistic images, social issues captures, and so forth. Eventually, I settled on a simple portrait that would include some words and soft lighting to convey my chosen topic, "depression." 

        The above image was inspired by a striking image I came across while browsing through depression related photography. I tried to recreate the image as closely as I could, while adding a bit more of my personal touch to the final edit. I used a large softbox to light the model and canvas. The softbox was positioned to the model's right, thereby allowing for the shadow on her left. I shot approximately fifty images. Quite a few involved the model experimenting with facial expressions and hand gestures. Here's two takes that were my runner-ups for this week.

             The final image was edited in Lightroom to decrease saturation, adjust clarity and grain, with some tweaks to the RGB curve and color tones. The full bodied colored shot was my first take! The bluish-black image was my second to last take.

Special thanks to my amazing sister for induling me (as always). 

Photo Specs: