Dear Abby: A Senior Mise en Scene Illustration by Lauren Salinero (2013)

The main character of my narrative is a student who writes his school newspaper's ''Dear Abby '' column. He is committed to his job to the point of obsession and ends up neglecting his friendships because of it, even though his column isn't taken seriously by most of the campus. Here, we see him in the dark, lit by his computer screen as he reads one of the first truly serious letters he's received. I chose to light the shot this way to show his singular focus on his work and I decided to make the image black and white to enhance the polarizing feeling of the moment.