Photo Diptych

Shooting process & initial concept

I found the material from some rubbish that others threw away, a piece of transparent, glossy yarn. My friend accidentally put it on her head, and we found it really looks nice.

This “kerchief-like” effect of the yarn made me think about the TV series “the handmaid’s tale”. So I decided to shoot with similar but not identical feelings to this TV series.

The Handmaid’s Tale is an American dystopian television series. It depicted a future world full of political threats and the handmaids are regarded as a machine to give birth to new lives.

Then I found a mannequin for shooting, which only has the head part, and it makes it possible for me to have a portrait-like still-life scene.  I veiled the mannequin with the same piece of yarn, to create some sort of connection and contrast between the real human model and the non-human one.

Click HERE to view all of the photos on my contact sheet

For college, I put multiple side faces of the mannequin on one side of the photo, facing the human. The side faces with different opacities look like a cliff or wall, creating a sense of oppression. As the critics suggested if I can choose to focus whether on the mannequin or the human, using some camera language of film, the dramatic effect may be better. And creating some overlapping may also help.

There are no faces with emotion in the diptych, I want it to create a tranquil atmosphere.

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