Reflection of the Heart.
About.
‘Reflections of the Heart' is a diptych illustrating the journey of acceptance and love. Using Photoshop and photography skills, this piece features an image of a girl (me!) and a skeleton, exploring the transformative power of love to reveal inner beauty beyond physical appearance
The Process
My piece may be what you would call unconventional. It depicts an image of a girl (me!) and a skeleton. At first glance, it may be difficult to discern the meaning of the two pieces, even seeming a bit whimsical. However, this diptych project delves into important concepts that I believe we can all relate to.
The narrative within the diptych illustrates the journey of acceptance and love. It begins with the girl’s initial perception of the skeleton as merely a physical form, representing a sub-theme of life and death. She sees him at face value, as a man with skin and bones, very ordinary. However, she starts to delve deeper into who the skeleton is as a person. As she peers more profoundly into the reflection, she embarks on a “Journey of Acceptance,” gradually perceiving the skeleton’s inner beauty and soul, symbolized by the transformation of the reflection as the skeleton assumes more human attributes. In the second image, she fully comprehends who the skeleton truly is, and her love breathes life into the skeleton, bridging the gap between life and death.
The overarching message it conveys is how transformative love can be. It enables the acceptance of a person’s essence beyond their physical appearance. What people may perceive at face value does not tell the whole story of an individual. The diptych tells a profound story of growth, acceptance, and the power of love to bridge the gap between life and death, ultimately revealing the inner beauty that exists within each of us.
As we all know, I took these photos on a whim, without any initial intention of using them in my final piece. I roamed around, capturing images of objects that piqued my interest, ones I believed I could manipulate effectively. Although I possessed a basic understanding of photography principles, such as the rule of thirds, my approach lacked a unified vision since I had not planned on incorporating these images into a cohesive contact sheet.
During the shoot that eventually became my first image, my primary objective was to practice for another project. I experimented with the skeleton, treating it as though it were a real subject, rehearsing the staging for future shots. I had no preconceived intention of including these photos in my final work. However, upon reviewing the images and discussing them with peers and my professor, I realized that some of them held potential for an intriguing narrative. The more I contemplated it, the clearer it became that incorporating these skeleton photos could yield a unique and relatable story.
For this semester, I had been inclined to explore the theme of love. I felt that offering a fresh perspective on this theme would be invigorating for this project. To start, I set out to enrich the background of my original photo. I was dissatisfied with its plain and vacuous appearance. My initial step was to edit the original photo using elements from the same image without introducing any additional components from my contact sheet. I aimed to lend depth to the background, as this image would serve as the foundation for the second part of the diptych project. I edited elements of the photo surrounding the background, incorporating aspects of my face, the skeleton’s visage, and even my features onto the skeleton. I believe these additions generated a sense of transformation as if everything were caught in a whirlwind. Additionally, the merging of the skeletons and my faces symbolized a shift in perception. As the girl gazes into the mirror, she starts recognizing the inner beauty and humanity of the skeleton. This transformation embodies the concept that love and acceptance can unveil a person’s true essence beyond their external appearance.
Once the background was filled, I began incorporating other images from my contact sheet into the composition. I initiated this process by adding the skeleton’s hand to the lower part of the screen. I achieved this by isolating his hand from a full skeleton image and creating the impression that it was pushing up against the screen, reaching out both to the audience and to himself. The significance of the outstretched hand is open to interpretation, but from my perspective, it symbolizes the skeleton reaching out to himself and the girl in response to her touch. He begins to recognize who he is after the girl’s love has breathed life into him, and he is overjoyed that someone finally sees his true self. I also superimposed elements of my hand over his, aiming to emphasize the mutual transformation taking place. This mirrors my thought process behind including the girl’s hand on the skeleton’s cheek. I consider the hand on his cheek as an endearing gesture, symbolizing her presence, her understanding of him, and her role in infusing life into him. The ring I added on her finger signifies their eternal connection.
Next, I introduced another finger with a ring around the skeleton’s heart. This element serves to reinforce their enduring connection and underscores how the girl brings him to life by not only seeing his heart but also physically touching it. Her everlasting love keeps him “beating” as he gradually transforms to appear more human.
Lastly, I integrated images of the two figures holding hands. Initially, they were depicted with a single finger interlocked, signifying her initial hesitation as she had yet to see the real him. However, their hands eventually interlock once she fully accepts and truly sees him for who he is.
I was determined to introduce an element into the second image, one that would transform the girl’s eyes into hearts. The purpose of this alteration was to accentuate the depth of her newfound love for the skeleton. However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to make it work! I exhausted all my efforts, attempting every technique I knew, but the task of converting the eyes into heart shapes proved to be exceptionally challenging. Even when I came close to achieving it, the results were barely noticeable because the eye areas in the original photo were quite dark. I eventually had to settle for the best outcome I could attain. At present, the eyes have been subtly altered to resemble hearts, but the final result remains rather dim and challenging to see.
Overall, I am quite happy with how everything turned out. I believe the message I aimed to convey is expressed clearly, even though it’s a rather intricate concept, which initially concerned me. If I had more time to work on it, I think I would experiment more with colors. Since I primarily focused on seamlessly integrating various photos from my contact sheet into my original image, I didn’t have the opportunity to explore different color editing and lighting. It would be intriguing to consider making my original photo black and white while keeping the second photo in color, as this would emphasize how she is breathing life into him. Adding elements of color like this would be very interesting and if I had a chance in the future I would love to explore those aspects.
