Play Make Write Think

As you can see, I decided to combine a pair of scissors and a few red peppers together for my combo photo. When I first started the assignment and started looking for images, I had little idea of what I wanted to do and I knew the CC options for images were limited, so I went with the easier idea of looking up images of buildings with a plan to add some goofy figure on top of the building. However, I decided that would be too easy to accomplish, so I started thinking of more unique ways I could combine things. After a bit of thinking I got the idea of combining scissors with a pair of things that extended outwards, matching the shape of scissors. I found a pair of red scissors I though worked well, so I came up with the idea that red peppers would be a perfect match. After a bit of searching, I found a pair of peppers that were somewhat skinny and extended outward just like I wanted.

Once I had my images, using pixlr wasn’t too difficult. The main difficulty was in the beginning figuring out how to add a 2nd image by using the layering option. Every time I had an issue I couldn’t figure out (such as cutting out the peppers or stretching them out) I would struggle for a few minutes before simply looking up how to do it on Google, which never failed me.

The image turned out alright in my opinion. I thought my combination was an interesting concept I just don’t think I executed it very well: it looks a little bit off to me. I think most of this “offness” is due to the images I picked; the pixels for the pepper are much more crisp while the background of the scissors is blurry. I think the final image conveys a flawed, yet imaginative image nonetheless.

I chose the two images I combined because I originally wanted to do something with birds turning into dinosaurs because they share a common ancestry. At first, I was thinking about maybe combining a bird claw with a dinosaur hand, but that didn’t seem like it would follow the same style as Atlanta artist Stephen Mcmennamy’s “combophotos.” But I was still motivated to include hands or claws in my combophoto. So I thought to myself: What creature has really defined claws? A lobster came straight to my mind. And how cool would it be to have a claw coming out of a human hand? I searched for images for human arms and lobster claws on Flickr and I ended up finding two that fit well together. Some challenges I faced as I created my combophoto were figuring out how to morph the two images together using Photoshop. I am very new to this software, so it took many tries and lots of experimentation to finally get the two images perfectly lined up. Another challenge that I ultimately was unable to resolve was that the backgrounds of the two images are not very similar to each other, so the images do not transfer seamlessly into each other. Perhaps I can find a way to isolate one of the images and add in my own background so the images flow together better. I think my final image conveys the potential violence each person has. The original photo of the arm had a delicate, soft hand at the end of it: A hand that looked capable of no harm. However, my combophoto surprises the viewer by showing a hand that is sharp and known to hurt others. Through my combophoto, I aim to portray the potential of violence each of us has within. But it’s up to each and every individual to choose if they wish to unleash it. 

The way that I chose the two photos came from thinking about what two things go together. I began with simple things but they all seemed too boring. Combining species was a weird and funny thought that came to mind. I decided to combine a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chicken due to the chicken being the closest relative to the dinosaur. Creating the combophoto was challenging in the sense that I had to find a free picture of a T-rex and chicken that were facing the same way for the most part. I also had a difficult time shaping the chickens head to fit on the body of the T-rex. This was a tool I had never used before. The final image conveys a combination of relatives for a glimpse of what evolution could have created if worldly events happened differently.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.”
— Albert Einstein, 1955

Some of the people I look up to the most are grown-up babies. Well, every adult is, but these people’s character is the physical manifestation of the same thing found on a cat’s autopsy notes. I wanted to represent true intelligence as a product of curiosity and drive through a culturally recognizable image. Einstein’s famous tongue-out picture is one of the more relevant images of genius while ice cream is associated with youth. Through merging the photos, the intense relationship between curiosity and success is suggested.

As I created my combo-photo, I difficult challenges were two-fold. First, the image of Einstein was only available in black an white and the colorized versions looked terrible. Consequently, I had to figure out a way to alter a second photo to be monochrome. I achieved this through the mac’s photo editor where you can copy and image in Greyscale (mac version of black and white). Second, Einstein’s tongue is uniquely contorted and finding a child attacking an ice cream cone at a 19.55 degree angle was time consuming.

#sq4

The keys to creating a combination of pictures like this are shape and color alignment. When brainstorming about potential combinations, I realized I’d just need to think of two things which are shaped similarly, and also have the same color. But, after a few minutes of deliberation, I realized this is much easier said than done. After pushing my weak creative mind for a while, I realized that humans and microphones share both of the attributes I was looking for, and the combination could convey an interesting message. Firstly, we’re working with podcasts in class and I thought this could maybe be some sort of cover picture for our site (like below our title or something). Also, I think this picture represents the fact that everyone in our society shapes it by speaking their mind/thoughts. In this day and age, one of the biggest influences on people’s thoughts is the news. Whether it’s on television or in the newspaper, people listen to other’s thoughts to help craft their own. Our society, at the end of the day, especially as a democracy, is governed by people’s thoughts and “voices.”

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