Concealing

A diptych is a creation of two images juxtaposed side by side on another. For this project we were supposed ot put two photo that we had taken with our Canon DSLRs next to one another to create a metaphorical meaning. We used photoshop to edit our pictures and more specifically used curves, brightness, photo fliters, and contrast to create the effects of our images. The most difficult task was rezising our photos so they would align nicely with one another. We did this by cropping and using the photo resize tools.

The metaphor for the left side of my diptych was based on the line in my poem: “The euphoric rush feels like you’re floating on cloud nine.” Feathers and water symbolize the word “floating.” Water represents floating because lightweight objects are suspended on the surface. Feathers are representative of floating because they hover in the air when they fall. A rainbow effect in the reflection of the water shows a sense of euphoria. I used white feathers because they symbolize purity and they provide a visual connection to the white sheet I used on my model. For the right side of my diptych, I used the line in my poem: “We wear them to conceal our true identity.” When I originally chose this line, I was going to use a mask, but I felt that was too cliché. Instead, I used a white drape over a model to hide the individual. I also blurred the image, so one cannot see the object being shot, thus “concealing” it. For the left side of my diptych, I used a standard Nikon D5200 lens. I used a low depth of field and the macro setting so that I could zoom in on the feathers without distorting the image. For lighting, I used afternoon sun captured through a window, which created a rainbow effect in the water. I positioned the feathers in different clusters and positions. When I knocked down the feathers, I captured the perfect suspension effect to support the left side of my diptych. For the right side of my diptych, I captured a person draped in a white cloth. I used a high depth of field so most of what I was shooting was in focus, and a very low shutter speed of 5 seconds to create a blurred effect. I used a tripod to make sure nothing other than my subject was moving. I let more light into my shot so that I would have an interesting shadow effect on my image. Lastly, I decided on the motion that I wanted my model to portray. At first I had my model running across my background, but the blur was too intense. Finally, I had my model spin and swing their arms, which captured the concealed image I was looking for to support the right side of my diptych.