Almost There
Iris W.
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This photo was taken in a tunnel along a trail in Marin, where I was going to walk and decided to bring my camera in case there were any interesting photos to take. I had this idea because the light shining through the tunnel was really striking and I also thought that a concept of the "light at the end of the tunnel" was interesting to include. I always put a lot of thought into the meaning behind my photos and this one is representative of getting near to reaching that light at the end of the tunnel, although I always like to leave it up to interpretation.
The existence of the photograph is nevertheless one of my proudest artistic creations because I was able to express myself without burdening or troubling my family or friends with my issues during a time in which everybody was struggling with different issues as a result of the pandemic. My artistic process was extremely spur of the moment; it was taken as part of a photography unit in an art class. I didn't think much of it. My photography partner/classmate and I felt it may be a good idea for a photo to climb up to a window and capture a quick photo - we needed to meet a quota for the assignment. I didn't think about the photo for weeks.
When another collaborative assignment came up in the same class, involving minimal editing of hue, saturation, and color balance to enhance photography, my classmate and I realized the photograph's potential for emotional appeal and impact. By skewing the color balance of my body, and doing the same for the rest of the photo (the setting/background) I created an impression of isolation, loneliness, and parallelism to the world around me. I was able to reflect my feelings of the time, that the rest of the world had recovered from their stagnant social skills and connections as a result of the pandemic, yet I hadn't. Like I was falling behind. However, the project and the past feelings it reminds me of have reminded me how much progress I have made since this period in my life, and that I was never sitting still or falling behind others; everybody dealt with the pandemic and its implications at their own pace, in their own way.
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It is a way to express myself and my thoughts and emotions in more detail than I could if I spoke or wrote them. My art helps me think as well at helps to get me through difficult situations. I do both photography and drawing in pencil and both mean a lot to me.
