Choices

 

The boy in the first photo and the young man in the second are the meant to be same, and I meant to depict a person who takes what is given to him and lets go of what is taken away. In the first photo he is holding a pilot's helmet and wearing an oversize camouflage jacket. He is not yet old enough to know that he does not want what his parents is leaning him towards but he will go if it means he will avoid a fight - his father is shaping him to be a soldier, and he is resignedly taking his fate. In the second photo, the young man is not being forced into anything this time, but his child is being taken away. He has made a mistake but the child's mother is carrying it away and the man has to make a choice - is he going to stand by this time and let himself be pushed around? His whole world is at stake - he could let his child disappear, or he could fight for something real for the first time in his life.

 

The first photo is obviously in the past, which is why i gave the photo a sort of sepia-like old time coloring to enhance the feeling that this somewhat innocent persona is long gone. Also I took the first photograph at sunset when the light was darkening and indicating a sort of closure on the boy's youth. The second photo has a high contrast of light and dark to heighten the tension of the scene. I wanted most of the light to be on the young man and the head of the baby, with the woman slightly darker than the rest, because she is of minimal importance compared to the young man's situation.

 

 

 

Don't

 

In this illustration, the girl is obviously engaged in a serious mental conflict. The dark man is walking away, and the vanishing point of the road implies that where his destination is unknown. It is veiled by the storm clouds ahead. It's obvious the girl doesn't seem to know what she wants: the explosion suggests that two opinions in her mind are clashing in the strongest way. The words "don't come any closer" are spiked and sharp because they represent her fearful thoughts. On the flip side, "but don't go any farther" are wavy and small, and nearly hidden, because it is the girl's subconscious speaking - the part that she doesn't want to admit, but that cannot be quieted entirely nonetheless.