Project 1a basically focus on a form of self introduction, namely 3 photos to describe me, 3 photos of a place that matters to me, and 3 photos of an object that matters to me.
For the first part on 3 photos that describes me, I chose a photo of a collection of figurines taken at SimplyToys, a photo of myself styling my hair, and a photo of a basketball rim.
The photo of the figurines was taken as I like toys and figurines. I chose to take it in a shop as I do not have the collection yet, thus taking a bigger collection in a shop would better show how much I like these. The photo is basically aligned with all the lines formed by the boxes of the figurines as it adds more symmetry despite the wide spectrum of colours.
The photo of me styling my hair shows how I am a rather vain person who is concerned with how I look most of the time. It is taken from behind me, which shows a blurred me with a sharper image in the mirror as that is the focus, and also how I see myself when I am styling my hair. It is chosen to be in black and white to bring the focus to the actions and not be distracted by random colours in the original photo. The image of me in the mirror is also aligned to the rule of thirds, with my actual body along another third.
The photo of the basketball rim was taken with flash at night, making the basketball rim stand out a lot on the pitch black background. I chose to take it at night to show how I used to play basketball a lot more often a few years back, and that nowadays I do not. The night is to signify the end of the day, like how I ended playing basketball and the fact that I do not play it anymore resonates with the idea that late at night there is no one playing it anymore. It is composed in such a way that the rim is about the middle of the picture, with the rest of the backboard and metal structures to the right and sufficient empty space on the left to show the contrast.
All three pictures show “frames” within the pictures and is what ties them together as a set.
The second part on 3 photos that show a place that matters to me, I chose home. To me, home is where the heart is. Home is a place where everything is peaceful and beautiful, calming and relaxing. No matter what happens, home is there for me to be back there to rest and recuperate from the daily hustles. It is where family is and where everyone truly cares about me.
I chose to take a set of photos featuring my home. One was taken from a low angle, from the void deck up my block. It the vertical edges leaning inwards, making the building seem very tall, which represents how it is a very secure and strong place for me. I chose to take it from this angle and at night as this is the sight I got to see whenever I return home at night. Ever since I enlisted, weekends were for me to go out and spend time with family and friends instead of staying at home doing nothing. It has become such a habit that I see this view each time I go home at night, while walking towards my lift. There is also one outstanding “white” light among all the “yellow” corridoor lights as that particular one is my unit. My dad changed the light as he likes it to be brighter, thus this special light reminds me of my home and my dad.
One photo shows a view from my room out of the window. The window grilles act as a natural border and the curtain adds a sense of familiarity and coziness, to what I call home. This is the familiar view that I like to be greeted with, as it assures me that I am back at home, in my comfort zone, in my room where I spend most of my time, be it doing work or just lazing around. It also partially shows the greenery of the park across my house, which gives a very friendly and familiar neighbourhood feel. I chose to take the photo as it is as the lines add to the symmetry and tidiness of the photo, yet the curtain stands out and breaks this neatness so that the photo does not become too dull.
One photo is then taken from afar to show my entire block before sunset. I chose to take this as it gives a very clear view of my block against green trees and blue sky, giving a feel of tranquility of home where I mentioned was away from all the daily hustles.
The last set is on an object that matters to me, and that is my handphone. I have never had a personal computer ever, until I started University education. As such, all along, my phone has acted not just as a means of communication to me, but also as a research platform, social media, gaming platform, music player, and a camera. It basically functions as all the electronic gadgets that I want to use. Thus, my phone really mean a lot to me.
The photos are arranged in a zooming in manner.
The first photo shows me standing along one third of the photo, leaning against the wall and using my phone in a very relaxed manner. This is to show how people, including me, rely heavily on the use of handphones all the time now, such as waiting for people to come or waiting for things to happen. I chose to leave a lot of empty space such that I was the main focus in the picture, using my phone.
The second photo shows me using my phone in a closer shot. It shows me typing on the screen of my phone, which further emphasizes how the phone is important to me and everyone else, like how we see people who are on their phones all the time, typing or watching videos on the go, in trains and such.
The last photo shows me putting my phone into my pocket, despite the big bulky size of a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It signifies the importance of it that I hold it dear and close to me even though it is huge and uncomfortable to be put in the pocket. Nonetheless, it is so important that I have to keep it on me, instead of inside my bag or anywhere else. I closed up on the phone to show my hand pushing the phone into my pocket, adding a sense of movement to it.
Then it was the final presentation. I arranged the pictures in simplistic vertical and horizontal lines so as not to distract the viewers with fanciful arrangements.
Through this project, I understand the importance of the composition of photos. All these include the position of the objects in the photos, as well as colours, the framing and distance, and the kind of message they bring across. There is still a lot about photography to be learnt, and I believe experimenting and exposure to taking pictures would be effectively helpful.
