Project Statement
The directive of this project was to take portraits, not only of oneself in a multitude of fashions but also of others; the other people could have been family, friends, or strangers. My goal within this project was to present an underlying meaning with every photograph; within each portrait, whether it was a self-portrait or a portrait of another person, the environment or depicted subject matter should indicate some information on the individual within the portrait. As I feel if a portrait does not display something about the person within the photo through intrinsic meaning what is the purpose of the photo? To me, the whole essence of a portrait is to showcase a person’s individuality, to relay to the viewer through one photograph or a series, what represents this person. Portraits should convey an intrinsic meaning, and this is what I attempted to do.
Reflection
When working through this project, it became very apparent that one of the most fundamental aspects that contribute to the message of a photograph is its framing, along with the composition of the photo. These two things make or break the effectiveness of an image. Therefore, when taking many of my photos I made a very concerted effort to display individuals in a way or in a setting that not only compliments them but did not draw attention away from them as they are the intended subject. Also within this project, I was heavily interested in the idea that a portrait did not need to contain a person at all but rather things that represent them, a physical manifestation of my interpretation of a portrait. I attempted to create photos like this and found that it is all about fabricating your scene, creating your setting with props or other objects you feel display your creative mind. It was not something I was entirely familiar with but something that I enjoyed after a few attempts.
