8 Best Portrait Photos

 The Mysterious Stranger
The main purpose of taking this picture (aside from the obvious completion of the assignment) was to create a dramatic photograph with as little resources as possible. To do this, I had a flash point toward my model from above, and made sure his face was obscured, in order to recreate the allure of the unknown often portrayed in roguish characters often portrayed in fiction. While some variation of background may have been appreciated, the photograph itself was a general success.

 

 Happiness is Mandatory
This photo was perhaps an intimate reference to one of my most beloved table top game; Paranoid, in which a psychotic AI of the cold war era rules a post apocalyptic world. My model is supposed to represent the madness and pure cynicism the inhabitants have to suffer in the dark setting of the story, while they are surrounded by the eyes of the computer. The lines that go through the model’s face depicts how, no matter how much the inhabitants struggle, they are still inevitably brainwashed, and limited by the world that molds them.

 

Loneliness
This picture was taken directly as a challenge against my photographic teacher’s demands to not use the pink walls for the photographs, and I did this by making sure that the very same walls were able to complement the portrait as a whole. In order to do this, I had my subject cover around 80% of the camera, making it look as if the pink wall is like an aura that hangs around a lonely soul of a girl, who has a hood to conceal her sadness.

 

 Escape
This picture is in many ways a continuation of the picture Happiness is Mandatory, in which the objective of some of the oppressed inhabitants is to escape the grasps of the rabid AI. In the original game, this is the ultimate act of triumph and skill, so, in order to portray that, the subject was made to give a smug grin at the camera, which supposedly is one of the surveillance cameras belonging to the AI.

 

 TCG Addiction Overload
The reaction of confused ecstasy shown in the subject is perhaps a reflection of my opinions when it comes to card games, and my complete inability to control myself. To portray the definite lack of control, I made the photo itself rather shaky.

 

 Indecision
This portrait reflects upon my occasionally happy contemplation on what I would like to play with, as rare as those situations come by. Notice the extremely serious nature of my model’s face, which reflects the ridiculous amount of tension I tend to exert upon seemingly such trivial matters.

 

 Ug Lee
As I came to realize that most of my peers were attempting to take the prettiest pictures of themselves as possible, I decided to take the alternate pathway, and instead take a picture of myself in the most hideous manner possible. I regret this decision, as it came out to be horribly right. I wish that I’d never taken this picture, as I am now unable to delete such a precious piece of visual comedy.

 

 Ignorance
The picture depicts the results of ourselves forcing upon ignorance, as we are are often unable to accept different opinions. The ridiculousness of the picture is intended, as the person is technically choking and killing themselves, when they can clearly stop such an act, and be able to see again for all it is worth.