The rational of ‘Righteous Ink’

Introduction

‘Righteous Ink’ is a photographic series that I devised based on a fictional character. It depicts the emotional journey of a morally grey character visually.   

Morality Vs Humanity   

A morally grey character is an individual whose decisions vary in terms of morals and what is constituted as good. The reason for specifically picking to craft a morally grey character resides in the fact that it is closer to humans than a complete hero would be as real life is complex and often individuals make decisions that would be classed as morally questionable, thus allowing the audience to resonate with the images which create a connection (Livingston, A. 2021).  

With regards to my own personal interest, my main interest lies in the characters can be crafted so complexly that they can appear as real and I believe this is achieved by mirroring a version of human emotion but manipulating it in order to portray my message to the audience that moral greyness is the basis of humanity.

Research     

Introspection (Wundt, W. 1879) is a psychological theory devised by a German psychologist named Wilhelm Wundt. The theory entails becoming aware of your own emotions and looking into your mind (McLeod, S. A. 2008). This theory provided essential inspiration for my photographic concept and allowed me to delve into the concept of emotional manipulation and versions of reality.

In terms of photographers that I looked at to help inform my choice, Taryn Simon was a photographer whom I looked at, specifically focusing on his work ‘An occupation of loss’ in order to gain insight into how to visually depict emotional range.

Method

In order to communicate the emotional and moral journey I shall employ one main model whom the shoot shall focus around. Though I may bring in one secondary model in order to help convey certain emotions eg love. The model I plan to use shall be a male.

With regards to the fantasy aspect of the piece, I will be creating Elf-themed costumes, drawing inspiration from the fantasy series ‘A Court Of Thorns And Roses’. My model shall wear a similar costume in all of the shots, but his coat shall be various shades of one colour to reflect the change in emotions or different colours that have connotations of emotions.

The actual shots will be taken in a studio setting over the course of three hours. Ideally at the end of October as it would give me enough time to properly make all the costumes.

Conclusion

The next few weeks shall be focused on getting the costumes sorted and I shall post updates of my progress.

References

Livingston, A. (2021). “Sympathy for the Devil: A Compassionate Approach to Morally Reprehensible Characters in Drama” Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-. 522.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/522

 McLeod, S. A. (2008). Wilhelm Wundt. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/wundt.html Wooldridge, Duncan. (2022). An Occupation of Loss https://www.1000wordsmag.com/taryn-simon/