Connecting Essay 4

This image features a bookcase, which is filled with books and random objects, making it feel very cluttered and busy. This represents how the owner of this bookshelf organises and decorates their living space as there is not only books but ornaments, bottles and photographs. This could be a depiction of how this person lives their life, as if their bookshelf is busy, then perhaps this could be a reflection of a busy lifestyle and that maybe they do not have the time to tidy. From this, we can also tell that the owner enjoys reading as there are books piled up on the shelves and a lot of them appear very worn. This image, as a whole, allows us to see an insight into the owner's life without even seeing the person themselves.

This image was taken in my friends bedroom, during a shoot where I took pictures all around her bedroom. This was to represent the person who lives in this bedroom through their belongings and surroundings rather than by showing the person themselves. This image shows her bedside table, where we can see a slight clutter and some of her belongings. Even though this image does not show youth explicitly, we can see see a representation of rebellious youth in this through the symbolism of a red cup and a vape. We can see a pink and purple hairbrush, a pink wire and a purple bed cover in this image and so, following stereotypes, it is clear that this is a females bedroom.

The main similarity between these two photographs is that they both focus on capturing a person's living space. They both focus on how the people who live in these rooms decorate/style their room, as well as how they distribute their belongings. Another similarity is that both of these images focus on just a small part of a room - the first image a bookcase, my image a bedside table. Therefore, both images represent these people through just a small portion of their lives and yet with both we can still get an insight into who they are.

There are, however, some differences between these two pictures. As mentioned before, the first image features a bookcase, whereas my picture features a bedside table. The framing of both images is very different also. With the first image, all we can see is the contents of a portion of the bookcase. With my image, you can see more of the room as the subject has been captured from a slight distance.  It can be argued that the first image is slightly more personal than my image, as there is a photograph of a woman, who is likely to be important in the owners life.