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Conceptual: A Junior Design Student Conceptual Project by Maria Haggart (2017)

I shot in darkness, with flashlights to illuminate the objects, to create a darker and more gloomy feeling to the photo. The lighting adds to the feeling of being overwhelmed by depression. The blanket was surrounding the speaker, as feelings often blanket the person and make them feel hidden and invisible to the outside world. The blanket doubled as a backdrop as well, adding to the significance of the colors of the blanket.

The speaker in the photo is symbolic of standing up for oneself. The speaker projects music or other audio files at a louder volume, similar to how speaking up for yourself voices your beliefs and ideals to the outside world at a louder volume. The colors of the blanket, blue and purple with streaks of black running through the two colors, creates a darker mood for the photo. As the speaker was surrounded by the blanket, the feelings a person is surrounded by can overwhelm a person, even as they stand up for themselves.

In Photoshop, I used the spot healing brush tool to get rid of the light on the speaker, as it was on when I was shooting. Afterwards, I selected the speaker and inverted the selection. I applied a warming filter, which allowed the colors of the blanket to pop out more and made them a tiny bit darker as well. These edits took away elements that distracted the eye, as well as furthered the mood. During this process, I strengthened my knowledge on selections, how to save them, as well as how to invert them. I also experimented with other filters, allowing me to understand what each filter did to the photo. This knowledge allowed me to see what fit the concept statement and looked the best with the speaker’s silver color.
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