In this essay i am going to discuss and analyse the image that I have created using the formal elements and Panofsky's Trichotomy. For this assignment we were each given a scenario from a classmate and we had to re enact that scenario in a photograph using the appropriate flowers to convey emotions. My scenario was a man walking in on his partner having an affair with another man. To do this I took a photograph of two of my fellow classmates in an intimate embrace using the studio. I then took a photograph of another classmate looking shocked, also in the studio. I obtained a photograph of a bedroom off of the Internet and put all three images together on Photoshop. When I had placed my models in the photograph of the bedroom, I gathered various images of flower called Redbud which symbolises betrayal, and placed them in photo frames around the room. I got some criticism for this image such as the models were too big,they looked like they were floating and the images on the walls didn't look real. Following this, I added shadows to my models so that it didn't look like they were floating anymore. There was nothing I could do about their sizes as I had already flattened the image. I adjusted the colour and shadows on the images on the walls to make them look more realistic and I think I did a fairly good job.
I have used line in my image to constantly lead the viewers eye back to the main focus of my image, which is the couple in an intimate embrace. When you see that Jed is looking at the couple in the corner, your eyes will follow the implied line created by his eyes. Once you are looking at the couple, the images on the wall leads you up toward the ceiling. The ceiling leads you to the images on the next wall, which leads you back to Jed, and over and over again like a full circle. I also used tone to direct the viewers eye to the couple. In the image by making the right side of the image darker than the left. As the right side is darker and there is more going on on that side of the image, most of the viewers attention will be on the right hand side of the image. The way that Jed is standing is relevant to the theme of the image as it is the gesture that represents shock, which I thought was the most appropriate gesture for the scenario at hand, especially as the flowers on the walls represent betrayal.
I think that this image is a Window as it is detailing an event that happened at a specific place, although there was no specific time allocated in the story, and the image doesn't reflect me in any way, therefore it cannot be a Mirror.
In conclusion, I believe that I have used formal elements such as line and tone effectively to direct the viewers eye to the main focus, around the image, and back to the main focus in a continuous circle . I think that I have successfully used Photoshop in creating an image that looks realistic and I also believe that I have used gesture and flowers correctly to triumphantly portray shock and betrayal, the message I intended to convey to the viewer.
