Essay on 12 Final Images

        The main idea of my concentration series is the domestic abuse many women go through at some point in their lives. Because I am a woman, there is a possibility that this will happen to me, and there are women I am close to who have had to learn to break away from this type of abuse. My concentration series follows the cycle of domestic violence. In my concentration series, I wanted explore the feelings and thoughts of women who are abused, and who are fighting to survive and to learn to escape. Using my pictures, I wanted to show that women who go through domestic abuse often times turn a blind eye to the reality of what is happening to them. Because of their manipulative and abusive partners, the victims many times feel mute, like they have no voice, and no one who will hear them. These women feel scared and trapped, not knowing that they are strong enough to rip the cage open and escape from these terrible experiences. To show this in my images, I used strong lighting, value, contrast, and color in an attempt to transmit a mood.

            My first group of photographs is black and white. It shows the thoughts of a person who believes the world is divided in black and white, the good and the evil. The third photograph in this image is a black and white portrait of a woman layered with an image of an orchard. This image is layered to show that we are now beginning to see into the thoughts of that person, and the suffering that she must face. The crossed arms show that she is used to always hiding, and her defiant expression shows that she is a strong woman who has gone through much suffering. However, she is not looking into the camera, which tells us that she is afraid, but does not want to accept that she is trapped. The contrast and strong lighting used in this image show what she prefers to think her life is like: bright and full of happiness, and the dark reality that her life really is. The dark lines of branches and shadows in this image show that she is trapped in a cage.

            In my second group of images, I have added color, and my pictures are simply layered portraits. I did this to show the moods the victim is feeling as she fights with herself to find the courage to escape. This group of images begins with a bruised, blind, scared, and mute girl who does not accept her situation as a victim, who is scared because of the situation she is living, and who is mute because she feels she is not able to go to anyone for help. The bruises on her body are revealed when the disguise of happiness and invincibility is stripped away. The last group of colored and layered images, beginning with image number eight, shows her beginning to understand and to really see her situation, and she realizes how strong she really is. It also shows her thinking of the options she has, and the realization that she has the choice to escape her cage and fly away towards freedom (image number 9).  My last image from this group is the picture of the girl layered with a purple and orange image of a plant. The girl is now looking straight into the camera, with a fierce expression, which signifies that she has finally realized the situation that she was in. The scars of her past will only remind her of her success to solve a problem, and will remind her that she is strong and able to break free from any cage. To me, she looks like a tiger, a survivor and a strong animal that is always able to land on her feet when she falls.

            My last two images are colored, layered, and photo story photographs. The first diptych is an image of a smiling woman looking into the camera. The background image that I used to layer the portrait is an image of a rose with warm colors. This layered portrait shows the hope of a bright future and a new beginning for the woman. The bottom image of the photograph is a picture of the woman driving. This image shows the success of the woman to begin a new and successful life away from the dark abuses of her ex-partner.

            My process for this concentration was long and stressful. I initially did not know what I wanted my idea for my concentration to be. I only knew that my images would be layered and in the photo story form. I began by taking portrait, close up, setting, and action images. I also took images of pictures that I could use to layer my portraits. I then began to edit my images using Photoshop, first making them black and white, then adding background images to my portraits. I created some diptychs and photo stories. When I began to find a pattern in the moods my images brought to me, I finally realized what I wanted my concentration to be. I finished editing my images, and chose my final twelve.