Exercise 3.5 Photographs from text – final edit

03rd January 2020

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

The final selection of images for this exercise can be seen below.

The image below was chosen because it gives a series of images that tell a narrative that when combined with the quote on its right lets the viewer into someones person story. In this instance, it is my world as it is a self-portrait, therfore I am giving the viewers a little of me within this piece.

The second image was chosen for its strength. There is no misinterpreting what the image is portraying. The mouth is open wide and is shouting out for all to hear a message, and that message is given to the viewer in the form of a quote which again is on the right hand side of the composition. It is then up to the viewer to interpret the two from their own perspective. What does the quote conjure up from within? What does the viewer want to shout out about so they do not die wishing they had spoken up on subjects that matter to them.

The final piece of work for this exercise uses the abstract, specifically the unknown to entice them into deciphering their own conclusion for the composition. What is hidden in the image which is important? What is hidden within them that is important? is it important enough for them to speak out about or will they just let life take its course while they stand and watch in silence?

I have enjoyed this exercise. I use text in most of my work both my cross-app photography, sculpture and 2d works. What I found the most difficult though within this exercise is finding quotes to work with that are not part of an ongoing theme I am working on, or part of an exhibition I am working towards.

I think this is why I had started with a self-portrait on the theme of abuse and then moved onto recovery as a theme, primarily because I am working on a couple of exhibitions for the future with these as themes.

I did however progress away from these themes and thought about how I could portray an image with the quote which would be neutral so any viewer that looked at the work would be able to interpret it in their own individual way.

If I had more time I would have liked to think more about the quote more, its font, sizing and positioning, maybe even its colour. This is because when coupling the text with a photograph rather than a creative piece of work or a creative photograph (manipulated), the text needs to be dynamic in its own right yet compliment the image. Both the text and image need to work together in unison so that one does not distract from the other.

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