A. Makayla Hsieh – (d1e)t
B. Concept
These two images have the same fork and body tape connecting with each other with the figure-ground concept. In picture one, an individual is holding a fork with body tape entangled. There is a casting shadow enlarging the fork and body tape, creating an ominous feeling. In picture two, the background is a nutrition chart of a sugar-free protein bar package. I decided to make the food that girls cannot eat during a diet in black and white, while putting the suggested healthy meals in color. In the mirror is a girl with a very pretty body, representing the “inspiration”/”goal” of a diet. These elements are all placed in the center so that the fork can connect to the fork in picture one.
I followed many instagram pages that posts collages for inspiration on picture two. Here are some great accounts you can follow to add some artsy photography to your feed on a daily: @pariscollagecollective, @absurdist_collageclub, @thecollageclub.
C. Process
- I knew I wanted to do something about my understanding of diet, but I didn’t know how to effectively communicate my idea. During my first photography session, I set up a tea party setting with tea, cupcakes, a mirror, and cute accessories in room 818. My initial idea was that the first picture would be delicious dessert whereas the second picture would be what’s going on in a girl’s mind when she sees this dessert. However, after the in-class criticism as well as discussing with peers, I realized that the connection wasn’t strong enough, so I decided to conduct another photography session.
Some pictures from the first photography session:
This time, I had some guidelines in mind. First, I needed to structure/stage my picture as an art piece instead of just taking pictures like a tourist. Secondly, I need to think about the gestalt theory.
During my FYD, I took pictures of the cake we bought and messed around with the concept of people pointing knives/forks towards the cake.
After that, I went to the bookstore in the mall next to our dorms and took pictures of the fork in a tiramisu as well as books on dieting. When I went back to my dorms, I asked my roommate to hold up the fork & body tape while I asked my other roommate to use her lamp to create the shadow effect shown in the picture. Finally, I took pictures of the nutrition charts of the food that I can get my hands on.
Some pictures from the second photography session:
2. For picture two, I used the camera raw filter effect to adjust the contrast, sharpness, texture, detail, and saturation of the elements. The camera raw filter is a great tool to adjust your image all at once, and I really enjoyed playing around with it. Cropping out elements was a pain at first with the magic wand as it requires intense focus and skillful hands, two things that I lack. I spent awhile trying to find a better alternative to effectively crop the elements of my picture without spending so much time and effort. I discovered the object selection tool, and this was a life savior. In addition to that, I found out that you can choose to manipulate your selected objects with the + and – button on the top left corner without having to use the paint brush to clean up the parts you don’t want. These features were my best friend when I was making my collage.
D. Conclusion
If I had more time to work on my project, I will try to make image two more abstract by using the Gestalt Theory. Right now, it is very organized, and I think there should be some abstractness.
E. Image of Diptych + Contact Sheet
