Kajal Patel B&W Recipe- The Illumination: From Light Bulbs to Life Souls

While sitting in a bookstore in New York last week, I came across a beautifully unique light fixture towards the back of the bookstore towards the bookshelves. I had to reach into my pocket to grab my phone to capture the scene right away. I shot my photographs utilizing an IPhone 5S. I started out by taking the photograph with the color setting on but I then used the App: vscocam. I had the ability to manipulate the original image. At first, I converted the photograph to a black and white image but I thought that it did not do the picture enough justice. I tempered around with the the contrasts of the black and white, illuminating the parts I thought deserved more exposure but regardless of how I tweaked the image, I was not satisfied. I then went on to add a brown tint to the photograph. This contrast was the hidden gem for my photograph and I was able to deliver it in a way that I thought did the scene justice. Aside from the color, I decided to shoot my subjects (the hanging lights) in a very up close and personal way, allowing them to be the primary focus of the photograph. However, I purposefully left a gap of space between the ending of the lights and the end of the frame. I thought the gap allowed for there to be enough space in the picture, reducing any overexposure or noise that took away from the subjects. 

Lighting and the link of that brightness to trigger emotional responses amongst the viewers was definitely my main focus. I wanted to capture the lights in a way that would allow the brightness to appear very strong and illuminating. I think this allows for an emotional response and a deeper insight to be created. Throughout my collection, I wanted to create a sense of mystery and questioning. Questioning in the sense that aside from just questioning the subjects of the pictures and why I did what I did, I wanted the viewers to question themselves by understanding the message that the picture was trying to deliver. Even though that message is abstract and up to the discretion of the viewer, I wanted my audience to be able to engulf the picture as a part of themselves. From here on out, I will try my hardest to capture images and filter them in a way that my audience seeks personal development through them.