For this project, I challenged myself to capture that which cannot be expressed in words or often explained in life, to depict the feeling of “joy”. The moments when we experience joy, peace, or contentment are few and far between, but can be pivotal points in our personal journeys. This project is intended to share this moment, to hold on to the feeling of joyous delight, to remind us that those times do exist, but also to see if it can be honestly and visually recreated.
Through use of light, composition, color and content, I challenged myself to show joy, peace, and contentment in these photos. I purposefully included in each photo a specific element of motion or natural movement. There is a child-like quality to the figure and the figures actions contrasting with the woman performing them. Adults often forget how have joy, how to jump, how to relax, and how to dance. The setting has personal connotations since growing up in a rural Minnesota county, nature, bare feet in the grass, and trees possess a great source of peace and joy for me. The only photo differing is the last, the dress in the bathtub, which speaks as a farewell or conclusion in this sequence, its purpose of calm and joy, I leave up to the viewers interpretation.
Shaina Sieh
10-24-2011
