Artwork 05: Stop right there...nostalgia/ No turning back...(fill in the blank)

Stop right there...nostalgia, December 2011, photography

This was a photograph I took while in Japan on a holiday trip. It was an unintentional yet, I found, thought provoking picture. 

In this urban life, we rush everywhere, even from the moment we're born, we're already being trained and being honed to become the best in whatever we do, and soon enough, we miss out on the days of our youth. So much just goes by without us noticing, and when we finally do grow up, we suddenly come to this realisation that we've let our youth pass us by, and we try to use whatever means we have to get it back. Through our false sense of preservation, we let ourselves slip into this subconscious thinking that we can still go back to our childhood and youth. Yet, we're unable to deny that we are getting old, and we can't possibly reverse time. 

No turning back...(fill in the blank), December 2011, photography

This is the second photograph in this series.

Since we cannot turn time back, let us look towards the future, which is full of our own choices. But what choices will we make? How will it all end?

The eyes convey so much emotion, and that's what I always found so amazing. I really liked how the photograph really captured the moment in time which showed the deep thought of the subject matter... I think the composition of both pictures are very apt, also because the green background relaxes the atmosphere of the entire picture. If the background was red, it would have set a very different mood. Furthermore, it also is juxtaposed against the warmer colour of the skin, and focus is truly set on the emotion being brought out as the background has been blurred in comparison to the clarity of the features of the eye.

I also think the message has been brought out very clearly, especially since the use of mascara in this sense would represent the longing for youth again, yet, one can also see very clearly the wrinkles formed at the side of the eye, almost making the use of makeup ironic in a way, which is what also brought out the emotion especially in Stop right there...nostalgia so wonderfully.