Photography Summative

For this project, I wanted to show the 'me' I present to people I'm unfamiliar with, and the 'me' that I am with family and close friends. My inspiration for the 'me' that I show the world was what I put on Instagram. My Instagram consists of a lot of my art and photos of myself, which is why I decided to have myself painting on my face. For the regular 'me', I talked to my close friends and asked them what they thought was the most different about me.

The painted face is the parts of me I let most people see. It has a neutral face and a flattering angle. I am also looking away from the camera with my head tilted upwards, which a friend of mine recently told my is my best angle. I'm also not making any expression, because I have an odd tendency to speak in a monotone voice to people I am only slightly familiar with. To contrast that, the painted face is very bright and colourful, with warm and cool lighting, because I tend to over-express myself when talking to people I feel I need to impress, like an authoritative figure or potential future boss. I also really wanted part of my hair to be painted, as I've recently developed quite a hair routine so that it doesn't wave in the way it does naturally.

The underlying face -- which is the actual me -- is making a strained facial expression, like I'm trying to see my face in a mirror to paint it on. I also boosted the contrast on her face so that the circles under my eyes are more prominent. I have very dark eyes, so the contrast emphasizes that a lot, and really point out how tired I can be. I made sure my eyebrow is raised in the underlying photo because that is something I do quite often, involuntarily, but I don't normally let myself do that in photos. I also am rarely looking at the camera in photos, so the painted 'me' is looking away and the real one is looking forward. I'm only wearing a tank top to draw more attention to the colourful face, instead of to a sweater with varying tones.

I wanted this photo not to represent makeup, but the false personality we put on in the morning to impress the world. A lot of people thought I was trying to say that I wear a lot of makeup, but I don't. Honestly, if I had the energy to put on makeup every morning, the two 'me's' would look a lot more different. Additionally, to me, wearing makeup is a personal choice, and people don't feel pressure to wear it like they do with the way they act. I did want it to remind the viewer of putting on makeup, however. I think there's something about morning routines -- putting on makeup, getting dressed -- that remind us how false we can be. Every morning, the person I see when I first look in the mirror is entirely different to the person I see before I leave the house. I always have dark circles under my eyes, bad posture, un-brushed hair and an unwashed face, and baggy pyjamas. When I leave, I'm smiling, dressed, clean, and standing up straight. I wanted people to think of that when they see my photo, but in a different context: personality and presentation rather than clothes.