#Blog 8: Photo Diptych Documentation
Younian Liu | Photo Diptych Flying, Circus, Daydream
Concept
I don’t have wins. But I am flying like an acrobat in the circus with animals. I jumped from the top of the TV set and I am flying using breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle swimming gestures. I can feel the fraction of air. My head is about to touch the ceiling of our small department on the 14th floor. I flew through the short narrow corridor to the bedroom connected with the balcony. It’s probably spring or autumn cause the weather is comfortable and I can tell from the sunset.
The general inspiration for the Diptych is from this fake memory described above I have as a child that is so vivid that even now, it lingers in my mind and makes me wonder —Is it real?
Image I represents reality and the other photo represents the imaginary world. The reality is that the red balloon triggered my memory and make me fall into a state of daydreaming. The Image II is what I am thinking about at that moment. I used the balloon, which is a typical element of circuses, and a similar warm tone to connect the two parts. And in Image I, I am also looking at the direction where Image II lies, which adds to the connection.
Process
Image I
Image I has gone through 3 stages of recreation. The first time, I took photos in the dorm, trying to capture myself as asleep or being absent-minded in the bathroom. However, I decided not to use them because the space in the dorm is so small, so my photos seem not relaxed enough and I cannot set the light and camera as I want.
The second time, I booked a hotel room to take the photo. The difficulty I found is that when I am filming myself, I cannot look at the monitor, so many of the photos are blurred. Also, the maximum countdown time is 10 seconds, it’s quite a challenge for me to rush to the spot in 10 seconds, and to do a pleasing pose. I tried 2 kinds of scenes. One is I lean on the bed and wonder. The other one is I am absent-minded while making coffee, which is a random daily task. I didn’t use these photos because they seem to have little connection with Image II.
Finally, here comes my third version. This time, I get advice from Professor Ian that I should use similar elements in the two photos to create a strong correlation. So, I choose the very significant red balloon to be the connection. I tried three different poses and finally decide to use the left one because the pose of my hand can make people relate to the pose used in Image II most.
Image II
The aim of this image is quite clear from the beginning. The difficulties lie in the actual execution and arrangement of details. I used AI to look for inspiration.
I tried 3 different compositions for Image II. PS, unlike many online background removal tools, has a high demand for the operator to select the exact area. And because I want to incorporate all kinds of animals in this image to show the bustling and lively atmosphere of a circus, this became very hard to avoid being disordered. At last, I choose the right one to present the often times receptiveness of the performances in the circus and the classical trick.
Conclusion
If I have more time, I would try to do better execution by removing the background. I will probably borrow a graphic tablet to do it better. And I can explore more possibilities of Image I in order to have a better connection between the two images.
Fin.
Nov 7, Pusan, Younian Liu