Connecting essay 3

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Connecting Essay 3: - My surrealist image. - Photography by Jerry Uelsmann. For my surrealist image I combined two images from my first and second shoots to place the facial features across the bridge. It was kind of inspired by the typical fairytale story of the trolls that live under the bridge, but instead, it is like the troll is the bridge. I centered the bridge within the composition, as I liked how it added depth for the viewers’ eye line. The straight lines within the bridge also add an interesting pattern, which contrasts nicely with the business of the background. I chose to keep the image black and white as I felt that the tone added a sense of severity and realism to the image. It also added a darker, slightly evil feeling to the photograph. Jerry Uelsmann famously uses multiple images and compresses them together to create his well-know surrealist photographs. He has placed the image of the lips on the path that is leading through the forest, to give the impression that an unknown character is watching over the location. The use of black and white tones gives the entire image an eerie, spooky feeling, which suits the forest location really well. The lines in the path add extra depth the further back they go, whilst they also interesting contrast with the vertical lines within the surrounding trees. I also like the shadows within the lips as it makes the entire image look more real and also adds texture and shape to that section of the image. Obviously, both of our images connect because the construction is very similar. We have both used the idea

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Connecting Essay 3:

- My surrealist image. - Photography by Jerry Uelsmann.

For my surrealist image I combined two images from my first and second shoots to place the facial features across the bridge. It was kind of inspired by the

typical fairytale story of the trolls that live under the bridge, but instead, it is like the troll is the bridge. I centered the bridge within the composition, as I liked

how it added depth for the viewers’ eye line. The straight lines within the bridge also add an interesting pattern, which contrasts nicely with the business of the

background. I chose to keep the image black and white as I felt that the tone added a sense of severity and realism to the image. It also added a darker,

slightly evil feeling to the photograph.

Jerry Uelsmann famously uses multiple images and compresses them together to create his well-know surrealist photographs. He has placed the image of the lips

on the path that is leading through the forest, to give the impression that an unknown character is watching over the location. The use of black and white tones gives the entire image an eerie, spooky feeling, which suits the forest

location really well. The lines in the path add extra depth the further back they go, whilst they also interesting contrast with the vertical lines within the

surrounding trees. I also like the shadows within the lips as it makes the entire image look more real and also adds texture and shape to that section of the

image.

Obviously, both of our images connect because the construction is very similar. We have both used the idea of facial features – particularly the lips – to create a character that is virtually living as part of the forest within the floor, giving the impression of a fantasy character or monster. We have both also used the black

and white tones, as I feel this is more appropriate with a surrealist image, especially within the forest as it adds to the eeriness associated with such a

setting. Whilst I prefer my image for having a more central direction with the bridge in the composition, I prefer Jerry’s technique as the lips actually have more depth themselves because they still have shadows and it creates more shape, which contrasts with the basicness of the surrounding background. I actually think I should have made my image lighter; now looking at Jerry’s

example, as I think it makes the idea look more realistic, whilst my image looks like it has been created for a Fantasy purpose.