Introduction:
This Picture Story generally tells of my character, a quirky child in me that will never grow up no matter what my age is. Maybe even something more…
Component 1: Me
The inspiration for this photograph was from Sally Mann, Eyeless (1995, Immediate Family). She played with the shadows in her photograph and similarly I wanted to use the same technique to portray the quirkiness in me.
Also, the shadow on the right side of my face seems to show another “side view of a face” suggesting that despite its supposedly being a formal shot, there is some mischief.
When I was younger, I tend to look very awkward in formal shots and ended up making weird or quirky faces. So I wanted to re-enact the scene in order to showcase this peculiar side of me.
An improvement could be to crop only the area of my mouth to better show the mischievous and unique image of me.
This photograph showcases me looking through the water bottle to zoom into my eyes. When I was young, people always say I have super small eyes and I still do. Hence, I used the water bottle filled with water and took a photo through it. Another reason why I did it, is because when I was young, I often did this action to scare my friends and pretended to be a detective using it. By re-enacting this action, it felt like I was back to my childhood and could be playful, quirky and mischievous.
The light was purposefully shined from the other side to create a contrast using shadows and to bring out and highlight my eyes.
To me, when I’m truly free of judgement to be mischievous is when I was younger as a child. Hence, I wore white shoes and high white socks to showcase the primary school times and the playful state that I was in and wish to be in still.
One of the references I made was Wolfgang Tillmans to create a more “Instagram” feel.
Furthermore, I took it from a low angle to make it seem like I have fatter and wider legs just like when I was in primary school. A flash was also used to brighten up the area in contrast to my shins as I used to be slightly tanner.
Another reason why I took this photograph is also because I often make an association of my name, “Shin Yi”, to the shin bone which my friends call this idea pretty peculiar, bringing out my odd and weird character once again.
Componet 2: Object and representation of self
Object chosen was a blanket that had been with me since I was young. It has “watched” me grow up and is an important object to me. It continues to represent me due to my quirky character that still reminds me of the child I am.
The story behind this photograph is how when I was young, people often said that I had a big head and a small body. Hence, I made use of the picture on the blanket to combine both the past (small body) and present me. I also showed my face in this manner to showcase my quirky nature despite my age.
An improvement that could have been made was perhaps to showcase my expression when people told me I have a “big head and small body” instead of the quirky face as it was similar to the 1st photograph for component 1.
When I was younger, I used to want to be superman due to his super power to fly and my blanket often became my cape. Despite being older now, I wanted to re-enact the same scene and make my dreams come true using Adobe Photoshop. Although with my current knowledge, I know that it is not possible to really fly like superman, I still wanted to portray the bubbly and frisky image as a child would have.
A weird habit of mine is that I sleep beside my blanket rather than use it to cover myself. This is because when I was young, I was highly sensitive to fur and hence could not have many toys. Hence, I slept next to the teddy bear on my blanket instead as a form of company instead.
I tried to make the photograph more interesting by wearing similar vertical stripped shirt as well as imitating the bear by placing my hands upwards and showcase my playful nature even in my sleep.
Component 3: My World
The chosen location for me is East Coast Park because it was a place where I spent most time with my family as a child every Sunday where we would cycle together. Although I no longer go there as often as I use to, it still holds many memories of my childhood were I displayed my playful character and quirky ideas.
This image is a low angled image where I placed my camera into the ocean itself and let the waves submerge the camera. The canted angle was used to make the photograph seem more unusual like my odd nature. The waves also created little splashes on the lens of the camera that emphasizes the playful nature of a child to bring chaos to order as all of us know that the typical camera should be protected from water to prevent damage.
This is a small drain at East Coast Park. I took the photograph from a low angle in hopes of making one feel like they are in an enlarged drain. The back story was that when I was young, I cycled into a drain despite cycling with supporting wheels. I vividly remembered the drain that I fell into but unfortunately, the current drain was under construction and had to find another drain to replicate the actual drain I fell into.
The reason why I fell in was because I tried to cycle so fast, so I could remove my legs from the pedals. Only to realise when it was too late that I lost control of the bicycle and fell into the drain. Perhaps my playfulness went slightly over board and I got myself hurt.
The low angled photograph is generally inspired by Richard Billingham takes several low angled photographs such as Arrow, 2000 and Untitled RAL 36, 1995.
I enjoy burying my legs in the sand as the waves of the oceans gently wash and sweep across my feet. In order not to get washed away by the waves, I remember there was one time when I buried my legs in the sand to prevent myself from falling. Thinking that my plan would work, I arrogantly boasted to my sister about my brilliant plan. Only to realise that it was not all that great. As I got out of the sand, I lost balance and combined with the washing waves that gave me a slight push forward, I landed flat on my face.
I guess my quirky nature that helped my come up with this odd idea backfired at me.
This photograph was taken from a high angle down. However, the area I was standing on did not seem to be high enough to help me create a better high angle shot. This was one area I needed to improve on and this image may be similar to the previous photograph.
I used to enjoy placing my arms through the bars at the jetty at East Coast Park. The bars are now changed to fences and I can no fit my arms through. Hence, I could only look through the fences with my camera lens.
In each hole created by the fence, there is a ship respectively. As a conclusion to my quirky nature, I wanted to use this picture to say that although it is a part of me, it is not my only character. Just like how a faraway ship my look small, it is definitely not the case if you take a step closer. Therefore, if you get to know me, you will know that I’m not just girl with a childlike playful character, but something more.
An improvement could be me using framing and cropping to improve and highlight on the areas I wanted people to focus on. In this case the 3 ships through the holes of the fence.
The End of Project 1: Picture Story - Curating Self I'm very thankful for this opportunity to try out a new project like this that incorporates many different aspects of not just myself but learning and exploration of techniques as well as more artists. The learning of picture making and meaning making has made my photographs more meaningful and look beyond just simple facial expressions. The use of strategically placed items to re-enforce or complement an object or idea was also one key point that I took away through my fellow classmates' images. Although I am still unable to execute this technique well, I have gained more in depth knowledge and intend to put them in practice through my future photographs and images created. The critique session with my fellow peers has also allowed me to better myself as I set higher standards and explore more possibilities to improve.
