4. Photomontage: The Day After

Previously, i presented this artwork to the class.

My idea of 'The Day After' then did not literally mean the next day, instead, it meant like in the future. I wanted to take a photo of a home, to portray what the day after would be like for the people living in the home. What would their day after be like ? Like, will the orphans get adopted, will the old folks get to stay with their family again?

So i did a montage on just the home. However, the whole building was somehow too overwhelming, and didn't seem to portray what i wanted to show. Suggestions were given to include old people / orphans in the photo. I couldn't manage to get photos of them, so i scrapped the whole idea.

Later on, i thought about exploring suicides, especially those over breakups.


I got this inspiration from a friend, who a few years back, had a long distance relationship turned bad, and she attempted to end her life. Promises that at first, brought light to her heart turned out to be empty. I personally feel that the guy is a freaking coward for just sending a letter. (but, that's not the point here) Anyways, that's why i chose to put a letter instead. In my opinion, letters are more personal and bring about greater emotions to the person who receives it.

Doing a photomontage is really emotionally and mentally taxing; constantly testing the limits of my patience. Especially when the computer hangs and all. I took several shots of this image, close ups on the letter, on the hand, blood, etc and pieced them together. I found that areas which had shadows, are especially difficult to create a nice blend. Although, i did kinda like it when the colors of the 'squares' don't totally blend nicely. (which is more like my previous attempt)

I like Shena's work, especially how she magnified certain details in the photo to bring attention to them. The colors and feel of the montage is also perfect.

I rate her work a perfect 10.
Based on hers, i give my new work an 8.5