Patryk Zarzycki
Cyborg- Rationale
For this assignment we had to
produce an A3 photographic composition consisting of our own images or images
found in the internet. The main theme of the project was a ‘Cyborg’ and we were
supposed to present it from a utopian or dystopian viewpoint. We were asked to consider all aspects of
today’s technological development and all impacts that it has on people. The
main aim of this module was to familiarize all students with popular programs
such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom and also to have a look at current trends
in image manipulation.
My initial idea for this project was
to create a ‘Cyborg’ female as a symbol of today’s teenager absorbed by the
world of computerization and the era of the internet. I decided to use my own
photograph as I am not used to manipulate photographs of others. I can state
that the manipulation process of this photograph had two main stages. First of
all I strongly manipulated my photograph turning it into more ‘computer
graphic-like’ image (e.g. smoothing skin, increasing contrast and tonal range ,
changing the ambient light to more controlled one-direction light using Photoshop
tools such as ‘dodge & burn’ tool). Second stage of my manipulation process
was a turning my model into a cyborg. To achieve it, I decided to use images
from the Internet of car engines, electronic devices and ‘grunge’ textures. I
built my ‘cyborg’ composition by pasting well considered elements in
intentional parts of the body. I adapted all elements by changing their size,
opacity, colours and tones. By applying masks on layers I had a full control of
what I want to be visible in my composition.
The reason for my choice of the
model was her attractiveness (presenting human aspiration to visual perfection)
and also her body arrangement, especially her hands. When I first looked at
this photograph, first thing I noticed were her hands and I knew that if I
manipulate this images and turn it into a cyborg those hands will be a strong
element in this composition. And I personally think that the black glove made
with carbon texture and the blue ‘cyborg’ hand work pretty well.
In terms of interpretation my work
presents an idea of Cyborg from dystopian point of view. The issue that I
raised through my work is that computerization kills traditional ways of human
activities and recreation and also leads to disappearance of
interpersonal relationships and life values (e.g. disappearance of sentiments
to physical objects (diaries, family albums), stronger confidence when chatting
on facebook with mates and strangers).
By looking at my
work we can see two cables sticking out from the models back. The first one
(red) leads to slaved heart covered with steel. This portraits the fact that
Internet, phones etc. became an inherent part of some people lives and
technology is something they breathe in everyday. The second cable (green)
looks like it has been broken for long time cutting of the connection with
traditional aspects of life.
I am directing my
final outcome mainly to young people as a reflective piece of work to show that
life offers something more than what we see on screens of our computers. I
don’t mean to present computer/technology as something completely bad but I
just wanted to raise a problem of bad approach of those who sacrifice their
lives for useless sitting behind the computer.
