Empty

ralphh · Feb 9, 2013

Concept I wanted to try to shoot; to visually represent what loss feels like - either loss of a love one or loss of something you cared about; the cage was intended more as visual metaphor of emptiness, than simply representing the loss itself, though you could look at it both ways

hmmm, maybe i'm over-explaining it :lol:

Does it work?

snowbear · Feb 9, 2013

I like the concept and your interpretation. I notice you cut off the top of her head and her toes, but I'm not sure it really matters in this case.
I'm a bit confused by the halo of lighting that seems to be emanating from behind her, on her right side.

ralphh · Feb 10, 2013

snowbear said:
I like the concept and your interpretation. I notice you cut off the top of her head and her toes, but I'm not sure it really matters in this case.
I'm a bit confused by the halo of lighting that seems to be emanating from behind her, on her right side.[/QUOTE]

hmm, bad processing probably I might have another go at that

pgriz · Feb 10, 2013

I'm thinking that if there was a light gradation building up to the open cage door, it may work because that would give a visual clue to the where we're supposed to be looking. As it is at present, the image is somewhat conceptual, and you have to figure it out. The appeal to emotion works best when you can bypass the thinking part of the brain (which advertisers know very well, unfortunately). And to do so, the visual clues need to be arranged for the "meaning" to jump out at you.

ralphh · Feb 10, 2013

pgriz said:
I'm thinking that if there was a light gradation building up to the open cage door, it may work because that would give a visual clue to the where we're supposed to be looking. As it is at present, the image is somewhat conceptual, and you have to figure it out. The appeal to emotion works best when you can bypass the thinking part of the brain (which advertisers know very well, unfortunately). And to do so, the visual clues need to be arranged for the "meaning" to jump out at you.

I'm probably being dense, but i'm not sure what you mean.. if it would be quick to do and / or you have time please feel free to show me a quick edit

pgriz · Feb 10, 2013

I'm not very good at editing - my tools are very basic. However, if you look at where the bright and dark tones are, the bright tones are at the perimeter, the cage is mid-tone and separated from the bright tones by the dark areas (Girl, furniture). So in terms of flow, there isn't much. If the cage was slightly brighter (giving the visual clue that that's were we need to look), and the bright areas at the perimeter were toned down, then there would be a clearer place for the eye to go. As it is, our eyes normally to to the eyes in the image, then the brighter/sharper portions of the image, and work our way around the image using lines, shapes, contours and gradations of brightness. So even with a conceptual image, the trick is to get the eye to land on the right starting point in the image, and then provide visual clues (lines, gradations, sharpness) to allow the eye to explore the image in a "guided" manner, and in the process recognize more and more as the eye explores. At a certain point, this accumulation of bits coalesces into meaning, and may result in an "aha!" reaction.