Yellow Light: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Ada Parnanen (2015)

Changing the positions of the objects, I played around with their spots and changed the focus of objects. I placed the keys in the front, the teddy bear to the side, and the bottle in the back which the light reflected off of. The drops of beer on everything in the photo and the darker setting both added emphasis to the point that the accident with the beer affected everything else and added a sense of depression; the accident could be associated with drunk driving or an abusive parent. I set up some tiles in my yard, so that they would act as a simple yet textured background. I took the photograph by using a mini tripod, so that I could get the camera close to the ground but not exactly on it; this angle added to the feeling of an accident since it reminded me of a crime scene photo, where the evidence was photographed, with a large focus on details. I learned how to use the pen tool more accurately and how to fix anchor points on Photoshop, which helped me select the part of the object that I wanted more precisely. The selection that I made helped add more focus to the bottle in the background, since the filter enhanced its texture and added some more attention to it.

My statement is depression caused by an accident. It can be interpreted as an abusive parent or as a drunk driving accident because of the car keys, teddy bear, and bottle. I took the photographs outside at night, with some extra lights that I set up, since depression tends to be associated with darker colors and loneliness. The teddy bear represents the innocence that was lost due to the accident, and the stillness of the photo adds to the feeling one experiences after a serious event. The bottle and key contrasted with the teddy bear, which showed the difference in ages, yet how both were affected by the accident. The teddy bear is pushed to the side, which further conveys a feeling of isolation.