Color Self Portrait

Photographed on 10/28/2022-11/2/2022

Published on 3/12/2023

This set of photos was made as part of an assignment relating to color theory in photography. Most people know the basics of color theory and complimentary colors, but very few people use and practice presentation of colors on a daily basis. This is definetly true for myself, as I have never had the best eye for pairing colors together outside of dark hues and earth tones. Because of this, I struggled with this assignment a lot.

For the assignment we were asked to submit a portrait of a person using monochromatic hues, complimentary colors, black and white, and warm or cool tones. I found it easy to do a black and white photo, and even complimentary colors were relatively easy to figure out, but understanding how to compose an image with similar colors and tones was a difficult, yet welcome challenge.

The other big challenge of this assignment, and the reason it became one of my favorites to work on, was that we had to choose a person to make a portrait of. At first I thought I'd make portraits of my friends and family, but before class was over my professor gave us some advice. He said, “In this class we focus a lot on taking pictures of others, but I encourage you to turn the camera on yourself from time to time, to appreciate the way you view yourself and play with your self-expression.” I took this to heart and was one of the few people in class to submit self-portraits for review, which was a little daunting to say the least.

I really enjoyed working with editing and composition to make some interesting and colorful images here. I feel they also exhibit aspects of my personality in unique ways that I perhaps would not have been challenged to show in the same way if I had not been challenged to fit the criteria. I wanted to capture my stress and anxiety around work, relationships, and life. I feel that shines through in my expressions, as well as the objects and colors being shown in the frame.

My personal favorite from this group is the second photo titled Connective Tissue. I really liked the way the colors turned out on this one, and although it is hard to see in the final image, I have an ethernet cord wrapped around me. I wanted this image to symbolize my obsession with connecting with others online and how that relationship can sometimes be unhealthy. I like the message in each of these photos and am proud of how they turned out. Hearing my classmate's interpretations and praise of the compositions made me feel very good and made me reflect on how I express myself as well.

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