For this project, I'm making a photo essay. This is going to be a set of 8-12 photos showing a narrative. I will research, plan, and shoot this task in the space of a few weeks.

For the essay i aim to do create emotions in the viewer but am not sure how yet.

Jaír Coll ​​​​​​​

Jaír Coll is a photographer in Bogotá. He created a photo essay about Gabriela Brito, a young 12 year old girl who is creating a big image for herself in the rap scene. 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jul/07/lela-brito-rapper-colombia

The photographer goes on to talk about Gabriela's life and why she began to rap, to bring in money for her family as that is what her father did. She began at age 7 but continues to rap now, vowing to buy her family a home when she can. 

This photo essay shows the people living in much better conditions that this is what they could've had to live in if they weren't so lucky. We are shown that while they may enjoy jobs, such as Gabriela and rap, they earn very little to keep themselves housed and fed and are left needing their kids helping out making ends meet. We feel sympathetic seeing this story play out and feel a sense of guilt, especially when we see the scars left on Gabriela and her brother after an accident. I think the photographer does an amazing job creating a mood for this essay and really connects with the audience (people living in better conditions). Jaír Coll​ has created many pieces about culture and social transformation that have been exhibited at the Photo Vogue Festival in 2021 and was selected in the ninth edition of the New York Portfolio Review, and rightfully so. His work beautifully tells a story and you can see the passion in the images. His images inspired how i want to take mine as he takes advantage of shadows and takes photos inside the home.

For the shoots, I want to create an emotion. I want to make people seem sympathetic for a story that they don't even know fully but fill in the blanks for themselves. I want to do this by showing situations that I myself have been in and know what happened without telling the story behind them. Doing this successfully, I should be able to make the viewer feel sad or guilty for looking but interested in what else is going on. I plan to do this by using underexposure to my advantage and leaving a lot of the background as blurry and noisy as to bring the attention to the foreground. I plan on taking 4 different shoots for these and all will take place in my bedroom as that is where these thoughts and feelings have all occurred for me. I don't want to heavily edit my photos but i may decrease the lighting to create the feeling of being surrounded by darkness and being stuck in a dark place that I couldn't leave. 

These are all small writings from thoughts I have had in my life at one point or another. I was left confused and scared so writing these down left me feeling a lot better and a lot sounder of mind. I feel that they all create the emotion of confusion and makes the viewer wonder what was behind these images.

these images show off my sister cleaning her window. when i was her age i cleaned religiously to try and give myself a safe clean area to do kid stuff. as far as i can remember i have always been resourceful in what i do and making do with what i had instead of asking for the tool best suited simply because i was scared of being told know and not knowing what to do after the no. this is shown by my sister using a toothbrush to get into the small gaps instead of using something else that she would have to ask for.

for these images i used my brother. when i was young i liked hiding in a space to calm myself down when i was sad. i believe this is shown quite well in these three images as i framed him centre screen. the fact that he didn't enjoy these shoots i believe created a hidden anger that he very eagerly expressed throughout.

as a final image i took this. i always watched the sunset as a kid and it always looked so bright and beautiful but now it is murky and blue instead of warm and red. i dont think this image directly shows an emotion but there is something off about it. it isnt how we remember it looking as a child and thats ok. im growing up and so view things differently now.

Ive chosen to sequence them this way for many reasons. the small writings i believe create a very strong opening that hook the viewer instantly and give a good idea for whats to come. the 3 of my sister come next as she is who i see as a little me now as she shows many signs of me in her and as the oldest, i go first. my brother is next as it shows a later version of me that comes after my excessive cleaning stage. last but not least is the strange sunset to show whats changed in me and as it is a sunset, there is going to be a sunrise tomorrow and i will be a new person again as i mature and grow.

all in all, i believe that my photo essay has turned out quite well. i created the emotions i aimed for but could have added a few different ideas rather then adding different ones of the same concept.