Two edited pictures

Although I don't know which images I will use for my final project just yet, the first thing to do is to think off my design specifications. There are a number of things my final portrait must include. Some of them have been given to us by our teacher:

• The portrait must use mixed medias
• The original picture must be altered in a photo editing program
• There can't be anyone else than yourself on the photograph
• The image must express who you are

Here are a few I would like to add for my own portrait. These are not essential design specifications but they would be desirable:

• I must be able to recognize myself on the portrait
• The photograph must be one I have taken myself
• The final work should be neat and completely finished
• It should be the result of me working at my hardest
• I should be proud of the result.
• This image should show more about myself than I think it does.
• It should be visually pleasant.

Some of these design specifications are very easy to check, but some require a longer test to make sure I have met my design specification. When I have finished my project, I will be completing the tests below:

• Am I using at least 5 different materials on my portrait?
• Am I able to explain the class the actual meaning of each material I have used?
• Can at least 5 persons see the difference between my original image and my altered version?
• Looking at it, is there anyone other than myself in the image? (that's an easy one...)
• If I show my image to 5 random people at the end of the unit, can they all tell that it's me on the picture?
• Is the photograph I'm using my own? Do I have the original file for it?
• Do I want to hang up this picture in my bedroom or am I not happy enough with the result?
• If I write ten things I think this picture tells about myself, would a list of 10 things written by two other people match or would they find some things I didn't try telling about myself but ended up doing anyway?
• If I ask 2 people a list of 10 words describing me in general, how many of those 10 words are also shown in my picture?
• Would I want to show this image to other people or am I not particularly proud of it?

With these tests, it should be pretty easy for me to tell if I have matched all of my design specifications.

I have started editing pictures already. My homework was to alter a photo of me on:
http://www.picnik.com/
http://www.splashup.com/
http://www.flauntr.com/
http://www.photoflex.com/
http://www.prixr.com/
and of course, the old faithful Photoshop.

Here are my two edited pictures! I did one on Picnik, a website I'd often heard about but more than seldom used, and Photoshop, my ordinary tool of choice when it comes to photo editing.

• The original picture must be altered in a photo editing program - YES
  
• There can't be anyone else than yourself on the photograph - YES
  
• The image must express who you are - ??
  
• I must be able to recognize myself on the portrait - YES
  
• The photograph must be one I have taken myself - YES
  
• The final work should be neat and completely finished - YES
  
• It should be the result of me working at my hardest - YES
  
• I should be proud of the result - YES
  
• This image should show more about myself than I think it does - ??
  
• It should be visually pleasant - YES

The great thing about Picnik is its simplicity of use. In just a few minutes, I was playing with filters and experimenting with crazy color combinations that would've been a lot longer to get anywhere else. I also liked that the website didn't require registration, a fastidious step in many cases. I chose a picture that I took a few days ago on my webcam. I really like taking portraits - and I have yet to find someone who knows exactly which expression or pose I want better than myself. I also can't pose in front of others, so if I want a decent picture, I need to take it on my own. This is why it's one of my design specifications.

After a little bit of fiddling around, here is what I got:

Design specifications checklist - Design 1

• The original picture must be altered in a photo editing program - yes
  
• There can't be anyone else than yourself on the photograph - yes
  
• The image must express who you are - yes
  
• I must be able to recognize myself on the portrait - yes
  
• The photograph must be one I have taken myself - yes
  
• The final work should be neat and completely finished - yes
  
• It should be the result of me working at my hardest - yes
  
• I should be proud of the result - yes
  
• This image should show more about myself than I think it does - yes
  
• It should be visually pleasant - yes

This is a very simple edited image that gives me freedom to express myself through the mixed media more than the original picture itself, but I think that through its simplicity it draws more attention to my own image. You can learn a lot more about someone through their expression than through more complicated edits around it, and I love how this image remains mysterious even after looking at it a number of times. The people I've asked all had different opinions about what it meant. For example, my mother said that it really showed two sides of me, very shy or very open at times. I hadn't really thought of that but I guess it's quite true.

The second image I did in Photoshop. It's a harder program but I have used it numerous times, so I get it to do what I want by now. This image was hard to work with because the background wasn't plain, but I really enjoyed working on it. The result is more surrealistic than the first one but it also represents me a lot better.

Design specifications checklist - Design 2

• The original picture must be altered in a photo editing program - yes
  
• There can't be anyone else than yourself on the photograph - yes
  
• The image must express who you are - yes
  
• I must be able to recognize myself on the portrait - yes
  
• The photograph must be one I have taken myself - yes
  
• The final work should be neat and completely finished - yes
  
• It should be the result of me working at my hardest - yes
  
• I should be proud of the result - yes
  
• This image should show more about myself than I think it does - ??
  
• It should be visually pleasant - yes

The right side of the photograph is entirely black, which symbolizes my past - I have had some hard times before coming to my present school and they have made me who I am today. The light on the left side is my present and future, which are much brighter than the past. My hand is embedded with text because I love reading - when I was little, I was more often told not to read too much because books are expensive, than I was ever asked to read. All of this reading is part of me, so I felt like it should be embedded in my skin. The other thing I added to this image is a block of ASCII codes. Over the past years, I've developed a strong interest in computers and technology, because I like the mysteries behind them. Putting this interest in the black part of the image was just as natural as embedding the text in my skin.