So, for Written Communications we had to write an essay about a piece of artwork we had done in the past. I decided to write mine about this photgraph of my sister, Hannah. We had to address the process of making the piece, what significance it had to us, and why it is art. Mine is not completely finished yet, I have to add a bit more, but here it is so far.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am writing this to you, Hannah.
You are an incredibly amazing person in my life, and I have no idea where I
would be without you. You have supported me in all my endeavors like no one
else could ever do. You think I can do no wrong; you compliment me all the
time, and make me smile like no one ever could. I took this photograph to show
you that you are beautiful, no matter what you may think.
The piece of artwork I am writing about is a black and white photograph that I
took of my twin sister, Hannah. We were by the kitchen sink, talking. An then I noticed how the light coming in from the large
window was hitting her face at an angle that made the front part of her profile
almost melt away. We stopped talking and looked out the window, into the
backyard where there were birds and squirrels flying and playing. I had my 35mm
camera with me, as I had just shot twenty photographs for a school project.
There were only four shots left, and I decided to take
2.
them of my sister. She noticed I had my camera pointed at her, and immediately
hid behind her hands, saying that she didn’t want her picture taken. After much
persuading on my part, I finally got her to agree. I told her that she didn’t
have to look at the camera, just out the window or away from me. She looked
out the window, and I fell in love with the way her face took on a beautiful
pensive and contemplating look. I had her move several times so I could get the light the way I
wanted, so that it would be a profile shot, as opposed to a full face one.
When I got to school the next day, I hurried to develop the film and see
what sort of photographs I had gotten. Hannah’s was my favourite. I decided
that I would make it a very high contrast print, so you could see the darkness
of the lines around her nose and mouth. With the enlarger, I focused her
eyelashes as the clearest point of the photograph, leaving the rest a bit
blurry. At first, I had a very difficult time deciding whether or not I wanted
it to be a high or low contrast print. I did several tests, and came to the
conclusion that high contrast was the way I wanted to go. I used a number six
filter and f16 stop. That way, it would have a nice range of grays even though
it was so highly contrasted. I printed it onto fiber paper, which, in my
opinion, is the best paper for printing photographs. I decided to leave a
black outline all around the photograph so the image would really pop out. Your eyes are drawn to her
eye, and then down at some unseen object.
3.
This is one of my absolute favourite photographs that I have ever taken.
It is different from a normal snapshot, because of the expression on Hannah’s
face. It makes you question what she is looking at, thinking, or hoping. A
snapshot does not convey those emotions. It is also very carefully planned out,
without meaning to be. It was a spur of the moment photograph, yet has many
more details than a quick picture of a funny face. I took this photograph to
show my sister how truly beautiful she is. I did not expect it to be this
way. I was merely taking a photograph of my sister, but it turned out to be a
work of art.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
This was a fairly difficult writing assignment for me to do. I am not used to writing about my artwork in such
detail, let alone describing why I did what I did to create/ produce it. For
revising it, I think I may go into more detail on the reasoning of using my
sister as a model, and why I chose to do a profile instead of a full-face
portrait.
You are an incredibly amazing person in my life, and I have no idea where I
would be without you. You have supported me in all my endeavors like no one
else could ever do. You think I can do no wrong; you compliment me all the
time, and make me smile like no one ever could. I took this photograph to show
you that you are beautiful, no matter what you may think.
The piece of artwork I am writing about is a black and white photograph that I
took of my twin sister, Hannah. We were by the kitchen sink, talking. An then I noticed how the light coming in from the large
window was hitting her face at an angle that made the front part of her profile
almost melt away. We stopped talking and looked out the window, into the
backyard where there were birds and squirrels flying and playing. I had my 35mm
camera with me, as I had just shot twenty photographs for a school project.
There were only four shots left, and I decided to take
2.
them of my sister. She noticed I had my camera pointed at her, and immediately
hid behind her hands, saying that she didn’t want her picture taken. After much
persuading on my part, I finally got her to agree. I told her that she didn’t
have to look at the camera, just out the window or away from me. She looked
out the window, and I fell in love with the way her face took on a beautiful
pensive and contemplating look. I had her move several times so I could get the light the way I
wanted, so that it would be a profile shot, as opposed to a full face one.
When I got to school the next day, I hurried to develop the film and see
what sort of photographs I had gotten. Hannah’s was my favourite. I decided
that I would make it a very high contrast print, so you could see the darkness
of the lines around her nose and mouth. With the enlarger, I focused her
eyelashes as the clearest point of the photograph, leaving the rest a bit
blurry. At first, I had a very difficult time deciding whether or not I wanted
it to be a high or low contrast print. I did several tests, and came to the
conclusion that high contrast was the way I wanted to go. I used a number six
filter and f16 stop. That way, it would have a nice range of grays even though
it was so highly contrasted. I printed it onto fiber paper, which, in my
opinion, is the best paper for printing photographs. I decided to leave a
black outline all around the photograph so the image would really pop out. Your eyes are drawn to her
eye, and then down at some unseen object.
3.
This is one of my absolute favourite photographs that I have ever taken.
It is different from a normal snapshot, because of the expression on Hannah’s
face. It makes you question what she is looking at, thinking, or hoping. A
snapshot does not convey those emotions. It is also very carefully planned out,
without meaning to be. It was a spur of the moment photograph, yet has many
more details than a quick picture of a funny face. I took this photograph to
show my sister how truly beautiful she is. I did not expect it to be this
way. I was merely taking a photograph of my sister, but it turned out to be a
work of art.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
This was a fairly difficult writing assignment for me to do. I am not used to writing about my artwork in such
detail, let alone describing why I did what I did to create/ produce it. For
revising it, I think I may go into more detail on the reasoning of using my
sister as a model, and why I chose to do a profile instead of a full-face
portrait.
3 comments:
Beautiful picture! I think your explanations about what you were trying to do and why you chose to do it that way are particularly interesting. It helps me see more when I look at the photograph.
I'm so glad you've started a blog -- I'll be checking in regularly!
Dear Lizzie,
It warmed my soul to read what you said about Hannah. She's always on your side--as so many of us are! You must believe in YOURSELF!
You can do it, yes you can!
OXOX
Lizzie-I have always loved this photo. It hung in our kitchen for about six months until a funny thing happened: it disappeared! Your piece about Han was every sister's dream to read. I can't wait to see some of your work that you have been doing recently. Love, S. xoxoxoxoxoxoox
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