That weird title aside, I decided that I would like to focus on what was interesting about books. More specifically, making the interaction between myself and the characters in the books physical- as if they’ve escaped the confines of the novels and into reality.
I originally wanted to create shadows through digital manipulation but after misinterpreting Prof Vladimir’s suggestion of using papercuts instead (Sorry Prof ><“), I used the actual paper cut in the picture instead of using the papercut to make a shadow. (I only cleared up this misunderstanding just before submission so I only had time to make one trial run using the paper cut shadow)
Thus, my project is focused on how books have been my constant companions and refuge in times of loneliness and confusion. Through my imagination, they are able to escape the pages of the books and slip into reality, allowing me to interact with them. The project is also meant to be more whimsical in nature, with fantastical creatures and people entering our world. In a way it’s also meant to be a series of ‘what if’ photos, allowing people to think about what would happen if such a thing truly occurred in real life.
(Some initial pictures that I wanted to add in but decided to reject after realising that there was too much visual noise in them)
I wanted to imitate the idea of a dragon sleeping on top of his treasure- so I tried to mimic the posture with my own body as I (uncomfortably) sprawled myself out on top of my books. I rejected this picture later on because it seemed like there were too many distractions and the dragon cut-out looked too small in the background.
I wanted to show myself interacting with the paper cut out, but the excessive visual noise led me to put this picture aside.
I had to reject this photo as well due to the visual noise. The cut out of the girl was too small as well.
(The pictures that made the final cut)
I decided to use this picture from the previous WIP as the basis of my final piece. After interacting with the books and the shadows in the books, my ‘lonely shadow’ never appeared again in the rest of the pictures.
I decided not to show my full face in the pictures- instead having shots of my eyes or only of my body. This was to focus on the playfulness of the shadows and how absorbed I was in them rather than on myself.
I liked the idea of spiders crawling out of the book and interacting with my food.
This was the only work that involved the shadow of the paper cut- mostly because I only had time to shoot one paper cut (as this one shoot took two hours and over 60 photographs).
I really liked the idea of the dragon’s shadow curling around my sleeping figure. It was meant to be more protective but after getting feedback from my friends, it looks a little aggressive and threatening. (Something to keep in mind in the future!)
The composition that I used for my photographs- I wanted to create the effect of me wanting ‘more’, before progressing to the fiction shadow pictures (so I created the gap to show the disconnection)
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