Within this project, I wanted to chose a topic that related to my culture and the idea of cultural preservation. Both of my parents were born in Guatemala, which allowed me to grow up in a hispanic-latino household. However, growing up I didn't take much pride in my Latino roots and culture. Once I moved out and started surrounding myself with a variety of different cultures I started to take modern day, I more pride in my roots and the beauty within my culture. Through the picture, I created a self-portrait of my self within traditional Guatemalan clothing. I wanted to demonstrate the beauty within the clothing, which made me focus more on the figure rather then the background, highlighting the figure. The background is also much darker, which causes the viewer to focus on the subject. I also used images from the Library of Congress to create the borders, which was blended into the images with different brushes and textures.
This work is by Ximena Alvarado and features a young lady seated or kneeling prominently in the center of the image wearing a lovely traditional Guatemalan dress spread out around her. She is the only individual in the photograph. She appears to be sitting on concrete with logs or some form of wood behind her, and the sky appears to be dark. Perhaps the scene is a campground at night or a gathering of some sort. She has a soft and serene look with a subtle smile providing a hint of pride in addition to being content with her environment.
ReplyDeleteThis piece places the viewer’s focus directly on the individual by its clever usage of lighting and staging. The area surrounding the figure is darker while the foreground is more illuminated. The objects in the background which appear to be logs or wood of some sort, are also obscured in the darkness. Because the individual is strategically posed it appears this is an arranged photograph rather than a natural cameo capture which is consistent with the procedure used for wet plate.
The photograph appears to be set at night, and I am left wondering the reason for doing so. There is no indication to help understand the meaning that this might hold, particularly with the obvious intent to draw attention to the garments being worn and the abovementioned pride and contentment with the environment. Is she involved in a ceremony of some sort or a celebration? I am not sure what could have helped answer the question, but would adore the addition of more context, particularly capturing more essence of her heritage. The alteration of the area around where the figure is sitting to create the weathering effect, did cause a change in appearance of the ground to look more of cement or concrete. This may have been intentional, but it is worth noting if this wasn’t the case. Some small alterations to the effect may gravitate the viewer back to perceiving it as a more natural environment.
I really do enjoy this composite very much. I get a feel of serenity when looking at it and absolutely love the clothing worn. I am glad to have been able to see the dress in color which added so much beauty to it. Overall, aside from a few minor tweaks, the composite is well done and nicely executed.
-Kim