Re-Genesis

[Alexisphotography]

The picture illustrates the end of the battle between the rebel, atheist side of man and his religion, attributed to him by the parents.
The main character holds a canvas on which you can see Christ’s face, painted in gold, and from between the man and the canvas they appear, a woman’s legs on a side, and her hand, holding a golden apple, on the other side.
The man wears something that seems to be a white beak and towards the edges of the picture you can see seven hands painted with gold paint.
The floor that imitates a chessboard symbolizes the existence of a battle: the character had answered to all his questions regarding his belief and embraced the deism. The beak symbolizes the release from tradition and fanaticism and the hands that seem to retreat from the scene, are symbolizing the seven sins, the preconceptions and manipulation. The canvas representing Jesus Christ and the golden apple indicate that although the main character changed his religion, he still accepts God as his creator and liberator.



Manual
Shutter Speed: 0,62 sec.
Aperture: f/4
ISO 64

Question: what feeling does it transmit to you and is there something you would change regarding the composition?

[windrider86]

You have a truly great imagination but to be honest I dont really see any of what you are describing.
At any rate, the hand at the very top seems to be out of place. I'd probably bring it in closer to the guy and maybe even add a nother hand or two. crop the whole image down a tad. Too much space above him takes away from him being the focal point.
The hand with the golden apple will need to be be more prominet as it took me awhile to find it and still havent figured out where the legs are.
Love the lighting you did on this!

[natek313]

Originally Posted by windrider86

You have a truly great imagination but to be honest I dont really see any of what you are describing.
At any rate, the hand at the very top seems to be out of place. I'd probably bring it in closer to the guy and maybe even add a nother hand or two. crop the whole image down a tad. Too much space above him takes away from him being the focal point.
The hand with the golden apple will need to be be more prominet as it took me awhile to find it and still havent figured out where the legs are.
Love the lighting you did on this!

This.

I don't see the connection you're making with all the symbolism.

I very much agree about the hand on top appearing out of place. I would position all the hands around the bottom half of the photo - something like three along the bottom edge of the photo and two near the bottom of the left and right edges of the photo.

The hand with the apple looks too much like his hand. At least that's what I thought at first. I can't find the woman's legs either.

But, to answer your specific question: I don't know. I'm not really sure what I feel when I see it. It's a "darker" photo, but that's not necessarily a feeling. After reading your commentary, I just thought, "Huh?"

[Alexisphotography]

Thank you all for your critique

The legs, well, they were in the initial plan, sorry for forgeting them and sorry for not correcting the description. As for the symbolism, I'll try harder to express my ideas better

[Sterling]

I think your symbolism involves far too much conclusion to be clear to a viewer. For example:

The beak symbolizes the release from tradition and fanaticism ...

Why would a beak symbolize that?

The canvas representing Jesus Christ and the golden apple indicate that although the main character changed his religion, he still accepts God as his creator and liberator.

How can that conclusion be drawn from Christ on a canvas and a golden apple?

...the hands that seem to retreat from the scene, are symbolizing the seven sins, the preconceptions and manipulation.

The hands appear to me to be intruding into the scene, not retreating. Preconceptions?

Frankly, I wouldn't have known the yellow on the canvas was a representation of Christ without your description and as was said above, I had to search for the apple after reading about it.

No disrespect intended, but on first glance, I thought of Criss Angel doing a magic trick.

[WVCoalMiner]

Originally Posted by Sterling

on first glance, I thought of Criss Angel doing a magic trick.

I thought that also LOL

[Japaslavian]

You have to remember that photographs in of themselves are often times symbols for something, but trying to cram in and force out as many double-meanings as you possibly can will almost always either lose the viewer, or just not interest them.

Symbolism is a difficult thing to work with sometimes, because there may or may not be an already developed symbolic meaning for something. For instance, the color red alludes to dozens of things because it is a commonly used element in both literary and pictorial imagery. The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Scarlet Letter, The Red Badge of Courage, The 6th Sense, "love is like a red red rose..." the list could go on forever. We are accustomed to red, so it makes sense when you use it metaphorically, but when you say something like, "The beak symbolizes the release from tradition and fanaticism" I'm sitting here thinking... "wait, what?" The only thing I could come up with is thinking the beak represents a bird, which can fly and is therefore free, in a sense, from things we as humans cannot necessarily escape, but that is really a stretch, and is far from obvious to a normal, casual viewer, especially since people will not necessarily get to hear or read your explanation. And that is what makes this image unsuccessful. The symbolism is not understood, nor does it outshine some of the technical flaws that have been mentioned already.

[GeorgiaPeach]

I definitely agree with the other posters, especially regarding the symbolism. From an art history perspective, I automatically think first of the Veil of Veronica when I see the face of Christ on a cloth. A golden apple makes me think of foremost of the Judgment of Paris, though I know golden apples are associated with other myths, as well. I think for your photo with symbols to be effective it shouldn't have to be explained so thoroughly.

That said, you did an amazing amount of work setting this up and you do have a creative mind.

[Alexisphotography]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeach

I definitely agree with the other posters, especially regarding the symbolism. From an art history perspective, I automatically think first of the Veil of Veronica when I see the face of Christ on a cloth. A golden apple makes me think of foremost of the Judgment of Paris, though I know golden apples are associated with other myths, as well. I think for your photo with symbols to be effective it shouldn't have to be explained so thoroughly.

That said, you did an amazing amount of work setting this up and you do have a creative mind.

Thanks I'm not lucky enough to follow an arts school and i don't have the money to hire a studio, i'm self-taught and (still) a teenager... And still learning.

p.s: yes, I was somehow inspired by the veil of Veronica when I sketched the picture in my mind..

[GeorgiaPeach]

Originally Posted by Alexisphotography

p.s: yes, I was somehow inspired by the veil of Veronica when I sketched the picture in my mind..

Have you considered doing a series of photos using only one, recurring symbol or theme? I think you could more effectively convey your point of view that way...