Proposal - Light

Lighting is one of the biggest factors in dictating how we read an image. Whether an image is brightly lit, dimly lit, has shadows, has highlights, is saturated, or is desaturated determine our feelings towards what we see. Ominous, scary images will be darker and more sinister, more of the image concealed in ominous shadows, whereas happy images will be well-lit, warm and inviting. I want to explore the very fundamental roots of feelings through photography by breaking it down to key emotions and choosing the best lighting to portray this.

I will be using a model consistently throughout the series, to link and portray the feelings through facial and body expressions, which will be reiterated through the lighting.

After having done a first test shoot, I have decided to use a plain, urban, industrial looking background. Why? Because it’s simple enough that it can be manipulated to imply a multitude of different emotions, yet interesting enough to be of contribution to the images.

The times of my photoshoots will differ, as I plan to use different natural lighting as a base for my light study. This will be enhanced with flash lighting in the darker scenes, for highlighting and casting shadows in different parts of each image.