Photographically exploring the exam theme

Taking into account everything I have done so far towards the exam theme 'growth and evolution' I wanted to start doing some digital photography of my own. I have complied a list of things which I think about when I look at the exam theme. 

Looking at the list above I will now go out and photograph a variety of things linked to the ideas above. 

Contact Sheets

Top 10

1. I edited this image by adjusting the levels to make the colours more even and the tone simpler. Next I lowered the curves, as the image is meant to symbolise death I felt it needed to be dark but not too ominious. Finally, I made the brightness lowered and the contrast higher to keep a rich contrast within the colours. 
2. This photo showcases spring and evolution of fashion. Overall it's a happy and positive image, therefore to highlight this I made the levels and curves higher as well as adjusting the colour balance to make the whole image a lot brighter.
3. This image was about heartbreak, therefore it needs to be darker and highlight this. I therefore adjusted the brightness and contrast. I made it black and white to show how sometimes heartbreak and make you feel upset and down.
4. I chose this image because of its natural brightness. So, I simply highlighted this by slightly adjusting the levels and curves. I liked how it was to begin with so didn't want to over edit it. 
5. For this photo I merged the scales and plate to put the scale onto the plate. I did this to show how eating disorders are constantly impacting people. I made it black and white as I feel this gives it more emotion. 
6. Again this photograph was used to show eating disorders and how girls are constantly shown images of stick thin females. I feel things like this is what spurs young people to become anorexic and bulimic. I originally made the colours bright but then decided due to the subject matter it should be darker and black and white possibly. In the end I decided to make the background black and white but the mannequin colourful. 
7. This photo is showing how spring brings new bright things including new bright colours and flowers. Editing this photographs I wanted to retain that, to do this I made the vibrance high and the levels bright.
8. This image shows heartbreak and reminds others of how upsetting heartbreak can be. Therefore I wanted to use colour splash with this image. I made everything black and white and using the lasso tool kept the rose and love heart in red. 
9. This photograph shows growth of natural earth. A common colour associated with earth is green. To brighten the image up I added a green sheet overlayed on top of the image. 
10. For this photo I kept it very basic and simple. I wanted it to show nature and how that has grown over the years. Also as some of the branches are withered it shows the life cycle. I edited the levels and made the image darker around the sides but lighter in the centre. 

Best 5

1. I chose this image as it symbolises death and a key subject which I looked at for this theme was the life cycle. I feel it shows death in a respectful way. It's not too depressing or upsetting to view. I feel the colours are interesting the rotten apple look strange and almost not like its meant to. The angle is good as well as it shows the dead branches emphasising the photographs meaning. 
2. This image I feel is very lovely. Its simple structure makes it effortlessly elegant as well as showing its true meaning. Spring is meant to represent new life and happiness which I feel this does well. Also the way in which is has been presented through the floral pattern on the top combines fashion evolution as well. 
3. I like the idea of creating emotional -photograph which I feel this does. The rip down the centre and displaying underneath a rose subverts this images meaning. The tear stains give the piece emotion and meaning. 
4. I wanted this image to show how someone with an eating disorder struggles to eat as they constantly are thinking of their weight. However, I feel this could have been shown better possibly having the plate on a actual table with a small portion of food on it.
5. This image was also meant to portray how being skinny is constantly being reinforced. However having the mannequin being a bright colour contrasts how this is a serious subject which affects being seriously. 

Favourite 1

In the end I selected this image as my favourite. I did this as when it comes to producing my final exam piece I want it to be a emotional and heartful image. I feel this was a good experiment for this idea. Also the use of colour splash highlights its meaning. Having a love heart ripped in half with the words 'I'm sorry' and tearstains show its not a happy time and that this person is literally heartbroken. Also the fact there is no people only objects I feel makes it stronger as we aren't aware if this is a girl or a boy, a adult or a teenager. It allows the viewer to create their own story about this image and be drawn into this other love experience.