Jack Morrison
Final Portfolio
Picture #10

Hard Work

This picture from the portrait assignment is from my best friend Kevin Chappell doing work in his room in the dark. This picture is especially touching to me for many reasons. I wanted to definitely do a picture of Kevin for the portrait portion of the project I just didn’t know how to go about it and with how this came out I couldn’t be more pleased. Kevin is in his room with the lights off, with one light shining artificial light on his work and his face. This was the actual setting of the picture when I walked into the room so I didn’t have to mess with it too much. I did have to move the light slightly to capture the image and have the lighting where I wanted in the picture. One of my favorite parts of the image is definitely the Bob Marley tapestry you can faintly see in the background. The reason this picture is so effective is because of the stories it tells about Kevin. Kevin’s mom was diagnosed with cancer his freshman year and the entire year he struggled coping with the fact that the cancer was terminal and his mother would eventually pass away. Kevin’s mom eventually passed away in May of 2011 and it was a terrible time in all of our lives. But what this picture shows isn’t that it is what Kevin has done to better himself and this is why I love this picture so much. This year he has a 3.8 this semester and is working out everyday, rather than dwell on a loss and his going out and living his mom’s life for her. This picture is so touching to me since I have seen how far Kevin really has come since I was his roommate for all of last year. The Bob Marley I captured in the background is also a nice touch because Bob Marley is one of Kevin’s favorite musicians and has helped him get through such a tough time in his life. This picture really shouts out how he is determined for the future and is now a stronger person. He is studying in the dark, which adds a sort of gloomy feel, but the light is powerful and makes the image solely about him, his work, and Bob Marley and nothing else that surrounds it. This image not only meets the requirements in the portrait assignment, but it also has many other great qualities to it. The black and white color adds a more serious theme to the photo and also adds emphasis on the strong lighting coming from the right side of the picture. Books, papers, a computer, a calculator surround Kevin, so it is evident that he is really working hard at what he is trying to accomplish. The composition and point of view are perfectly and precisely setup to create an effect as if someone is looking over him or just looking at him and analyzing him, which is pretty much what we are actually doing. I am very proud of this carefully composed piece and I think it is one of the strongest that I have completed all year, not only because of the story that runs in line with the picture, but simply because the picture and gorgeous and really does a great job of capturing Kevin in a perfect, serious and hard-working state.