Prehistoregg: A Senior Surreal Photo by Jordan Albert (2014)

In my piece, there is a transformation from an egg to a human being. He is breaking out of the egg, not simply hatching, but punching and throwing the shell away from himself. The egg has a prehistoric skin. It is rough, and hard, created of rocks, and other minerals. Humans do lay eggs, however, the man in the photo is being born from one. This piece was excruciating to create and used quite a few techniques. A new one I learned was black/white. This feature allowed for an addition of tints to a piece, which is how the man is slightly blue. Another technique I used was duplicating layers to give an illusion of perspective. This was done on the egg where I'd use the marquee tool to trace around the man's body, copy it, and put the egg shell over his limb to make it seems as if he is in the egg. I learned how to wrap a texture around my artwork which is how I got the gravel texture on the egg.

The theme of this piece is generations, thus I chose an egg to represent this start of a new one. I chose a compound color scheme of green, yellow and blue. All three of these colors represent a different piece in growing up. Green is the color of balance, and self-reliance, yellow, intellect and happiness, and blue, trust, as well as inner peace. The breaking of the egg represents the idea of leaving the nest, as the man has grown up. The suit he is wearing is a representation of moving up in the world, such as getting a job. Finally, the road is a symbol of life, and its span. You cannot see what's at the end as no one can predict the futures we deal with problems as they come, cherishing our successes, and learning from our failures.