My photo composition revolves around the growing belief and idea that the earth is flat. This conspiracy theory is believed to have begun around the 1950s. Even though there is evidence of pictures taken from space, these people think that this has been all a hoax. I wanted to create an environment where I could caption what this would look like. Relating to the blue marble, I decided to start my project over and change the way the earth looked.
I found the image of the earth on Adobe Images, and from there, I used a shape in order to paste to create the illusion of a flat earth. I originally had found images of clouds on adobe images, however, after the critique from my fellow classmates I ended up taking my own pictures of the clouds to create a better illusion that these are real clouds the viewer was seeing. I used the smudge tool to develop a more fluffy look. I made a dome on top of the earth, I first started with a shape and then worked in layer stye to generate the glass clear effect. The images of airplanes were also found on Adobe images, as well as the image of the moon. Last but not least, I ended up taking a picture of a wall in the university area. I used this image to create more texture towards the rocks underneath the earth. Lastly, I ended up working with shadows, curves, and brightness to bring out depth and little details to images/ objects that are not that noticeable; these can be seen within the airplanes, the rocks, the moon, the dome, and lastly, the sky. The sun and stars were created with layer style and gradients. This ties the composition together.
In Christi Montes "The Earth is Flatt???" the object that is slightly off-centered is the Earth that; isn't round but is at an angle and flat like on a piece of paper. There is a clear dome over the Earth, starting from one edge of the Earth and covering the other side; it is only noticeable because of the light reflecting from the sun on the left side of the Dome. Inside the dome, there are clouds and three planes layered and spaced out to create a 3D feel; they are floating in space between the Earth and the top part of the dome. Directly below the Earth, there are rock formations that look like mountains without snow or grass on them. The Earth is in the foreground of the photo, in the middle ground is the moon in the upper right of the composition that is smaller than the size of the Earth, and the background behind the Earth and the moon is stars and vast space. To the left of the Earth, on the left upper side of the composition, there is a source of light because of the white and yellow glow and the reflection of light on the dome, and this glow is relatively larger than the Earth in size.
ReplyDeleteFrom the image and its elements with the Earth looking so flat, and a dome on top of it. This is referring to the Earth being flat, and a dome covering us should mean that the environment inside of the dome is controlled. It is to show us that the Earth is, in fact, flat and not round. Also, because there is only the moon in the distance and light, expecting it to be the sun, we are the only planet in the solar system, and there is no extraterrestrial life around us.
It would be believable if it weren't for the rocks. Don't get me wrong, the rocks go great with the idea; I personally feel like they are a little too mountain, like just upside down. They feel like mountains you would see on Earth, just larger. Making a few of the rocks less pointy and triangle shape would push it further. I think that the work addresses the project parameters perfectly. Christi not only composited multiple photos that she had taken and used them for texture on the rock, and the clouds then used a tool to make them appear more fluffy. She also found and used multiple stock images and manipulated them to fit in the composition without having them stand out at all. She definitely utilizes compositing and the elements of blending in Photoshop.
The work exists in not only our history but also the culture of conspiracy theories. In history, people actually believed that the Earth was flat because we can see so far from one point. Also, if people would set sail and explore the ocean, the ship would reach the end of the world and fall off the surface of the Earth because they thought it was flat. The image was shared with us because although we know the Earth is round and a sphere, this brings up the fact that image and digital manipulation is becoming so advanced that it's getting harder to identify whether or not photos are being edited to make something appear as it isn't or if they are real and not edited.
In the article "The Teen Dramas That Reject Modernity" there is a quote that resonates with ideas being in both the present and the past. "TV is leaning away from the modernist imperative to make it new and toward the postmodernist fog of reassuring familiarity, which keeps both the past and the present tantalizingly out of reach." (Pg. 6) The work above hits all of the project parameters, utilizes compositing and blending modes and looks realistic but can have some adjustments.