Image Curation “Desires vs. Reality”
Image #1
This photograph is part of a series by Tom Hussey, titled “reflections” (2010), whereby he portrays the elderly doing everyday tasks while staring at a mirror reflecting their younger selves. This was created for an advertisement campaign for a drug treating dementia.
Although the purpose of the image differs from the topic chosen, “Desires vs Reality”, the emotional connection evoked (pathos) through this image as a persuasive appeal is something that can be applied.
The point of interest, which is the difference in the reflection, catches our attention because of the contrast created as we expect the reflection to reflect an elderly man. Inferences can be made as the elderly man (his reality) is yearning for his youth (the desire). Or it could also be him reminiscing on his past aspirations.
The image style portrays a clean, plain-colored, bathroom in various shades of white, brown and greys, and nothing in particular stands out — not even the subject of the photo. I feel that it conveys a sense of repetition and boredom that can be used to represent our daily lives, and the slight manipulation works as it fits comfortably and does not overpower the image.
Image #2
This photograph, combined with a sketch, was done by artist Ben Heine, under his series "Pencils vs Camera". This image uses the gestalt law of closure, to fit our expectations of the "whole" image, and continuation to help join the sketch and the photograph together.
By combining reality with a sketch showing an out of the ordinary scene, this technique can be applied to parallel our desires with our reality. We can use a sketch to change or alter the surroundings of a person to reflect their inner desires, in the case of this image, perhaps their desire for a more adventurous life.
The contrast between the color photograph and the black and white sketch serves as a point of interest for the viewer, and they would make comparisons and associate the sketch with the surroundings. This photograph also makes use of the one point linear perspective to draw our attention.
This photograph was highly intriguing to me because of the fantasy-like scene in the sketch was seamlessly incorporated into a typical city landscape.
