The forest, a place that is seen as so luscious and green, full of animals and peaceful sounds of birds chirping and trees swaying in the wind. I often see myself escaping to this place when times are tough, it’s a place to think and clear the mind. I believe we take our environment for granted and don’t appreciate what it has to offer. I find something so peaceful and relaxing about the forest. It is a place to think and breathe with no interruptions. So I am going to work on creating 3 images of people and nature and the connection we can have with it. I want to create images that are atmospheric and have the ability to draw the viewer in. I am interested in using the symbolic nature of green and its association to nature.
The focus and subject matter through out the design process will be based on my environment surroundings around North East Victoria pine and native forests.
My choice to work with photography has evolved over the years because it is a way for me to record ‘the present’ for the future. In past works I have used photography as a starting point, a reference for drawing. Over the past few years I have created many small animations and had to learn to use the camera properly which has helped me and inspired me to work with photography.
I will work in colour as opposed to black and white as I want my final piece to have a positive effect on the viewer. I believe if I use shades such as black and white instead of colour’s I wont get the right message across to the viewers/audience. I want to explore the possibilities of colour and the effect that it can have on an image. Because I am focusing a lot on the colour green I want my final piece to have a subtle green tone within the photograph, I will achieve this by using the gradient tool to manipulate the colours to look slightly green also I may have to adjust the brightness and contrast to help with the density of the image considering the time of day when taking the original photos.
My sources of inspiration for the design process have come from contemporary magazines, instagram and tumblr. After gathering a range of photographs from Frankie magazines I noticed that a lot of the images I chose related to each other and portrayed a sense of being alone and having that space that we all need from time to time. These images have inspired me and given an idea to focus on taking photos of forests and pine trees and other places that may represent peace and freedom. Recently I followed a peer on Instagram named Bry Robins, who photographs images of forests, rivers, mountains, beaches and anything else to do with being outdoors. I recently got in contact with him and asked him if he knows of any good places to take photos of pine trees and forests he said that he took his photos in Stanley and I will also use this as a location for my imagery. Its important to get the right lighting when taking these photographs so I intend on taking a light reflection board so the figure in the foreground is lit up.
The reason I have chosen to use muted greens is that the deep green colours send a strong message. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness and lushness. The colour green also has a strong emotional resemblance with safety. Green is the most restful colour for the human eye. I am interested in composing symmetrical images as I find these more pleasing and they suggest greater calm and order.
