"...Only Showing Fragments Of My Personality At A Time"

Jan 23, 2018
2 min read

Using the response quote " I find it hard to open up to new people, only showing fragments of my personality at a time", I brainstormed some ideas of how I could represent my model in a way which also conceals parts of her face so the spectator can only see hints of her. The word fragment reminded me of shattered glass, which then led me to think about using multiple mirrors to capture this idea.

Alessio Albi digital piece 'Carolina' gave me inspiration to experiment around with reflections and mirroring. I found his piece very calming, almost taking me away into the beauty & subtly of the image, becoming mesmerised by it. I wanted to create a series of images that uses a similar model as well as the composition that she is presented in. Though my attempt at recreating this composition was probably my least favourite as it was the weaker series compared to the rounded mirror and multiple mirror photoshoots.

I love ominous feel which the rounded mirror images give off as you can only see the models features through the reflection and not in front of the camera, as well as the sections of her face being shown, hiding her identity. The use of 3+ mirrors is also effective as you can see the model from different angles, only hinting at what she looks like but put together you can make almost the whole picture. The use of the window in the background produces another but very subtle way of creating a mirrored image or reflection. Upon the first look you may not notice it as a reflective device, but after viewing the piece for a while, you can see the slight shapes and colours appear, which adds to the softness and blurriness that the image gives off already.

The filter applied adds a warm tone to the picture which compliments the soft blur of the foreground and background as it looked quite cold beforehand as well as the copper coloured material on the mirror. This also helps the spectator focus in on the mirror which is slightly off centred. This filter has helped make the overall image look calmer, which makes me want to spend more time scanning my eyes around the picture as I feel peaceful.The bard look of the windows reinforces the idea of segregated bits of the personality seeping through, not letting the full thing pass all at once.