Junior Conceptual: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Caroline Schachter (2016)

I was inspired by my poem ''Relief'' to create this photo. I was especially motivated by the line, ''...setting fire to my crumpled ball of hurt, turn my problems to ashes.'' My concept statement for this poem was relief through loss, so I wanted to convey the message that a sense of relief can come from letting go of something, or losing a significant thing in your life that you were once holding on to.

In this case, I used a crumpled up paper ball to symbolize someone’s inner struggles. By setting fire to these problems, the paper turns to ashes. This shows relief because what was once a significant object is now gone. I also wanted the hand of the person holding the ball to be seen in the picture, to show how a person can be connected to the paper ball. My biggest issue when taking this picture was to make sure you could see the paper ball but still have the focus be on the flame and not have too much grain, since it was shot outside at night. In Photoshop, I used many different selections in the flame to make it brighter and stand out more. I also made the entire photo more red
orange toned, because it was very yellow.