Contact Sheet
Deziree Joy Harmon – Photo Diptych Project
Concept
My project conveys the idea coined by Carl Jung as “The Shadow.” The definition that I based my project on is as follows:
“The ‘shadow’ is a concept first coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung that describes those aspects of the personality that we choose to reject and repress. For one reason or another, we all have parts of ourselves that we don’t like—or that we think society won’t like—so we push those parts down into our unconscious psyches. It is this collection of repressed aspects of our identity that Jung referred to as our shadow self" Othon, Jack. “Shadow Self and Carl Jung: The Ultimate Guide to the Human Dark Side.” HighExistence, 8 Aug. 2020, highexistence.com/carl-jung-shadow-guide-unconscious.
My intention was to convey the concept of the shadow using a diptych in which one photo shows the rejection of personality traits and the second part represents the continued repression of them.
The diptych has two co-dependent images because it makes up a storyline narrative. The first image starts representing youth and the second shows a resulting effect.
Process
Image 1
IMAGE 1
Considered using this image of image one
Considered using this image for image 1
Image 1 is meant to represent the parts of ourselves that we reject because of different experiences. I took several images some with my younger sister in a brighter light which made a more youthful and light mood. Others I took of my mom in a darker room with the same overall setup. Those photos had a more dark and eerie mood.
I chose the image with my sister because it matched my concept better. The idea that it conveys is that people reject parts of themselves in youth while they still have fresh youthful light energy. The candles are soft and warm and the colors are playful. The girl is turned away from different things that represent parts of her personality, likes, dislikes, and experiences.
The process included setting up the items and photographing them. I had trouble with getting proper lighting with the tools I have at home. I wanted the items to be clearly viewable and readable so that a viewer could spend some time looking at the different parts and interpreting what they may represent in respect to what a young girl would repress.
Image 2
IMAGE 2
Image 2 shows a silhouette of a person which contains the elements from the first photo. Additionally, it shows a grown up face looking away from it. The silhouette is meant to show that all of these things are still a part of the person pictured, they just choose to look away from them. The darker image and the lighting of the components reveals that time has passed and that the elements have a more tainted, less playful energy since they have been suppressed.
Conclusion
If I had more time I would rephotograph the first image to make the composition match better with the second image.
Final Diptych
Leave a Reply