THESIS STATEMENT

Over the course of my art experience at AC, photography has always been my medium of choice. I have done a lot of work with portraits and photojournalism, and this year I wanted to do something much different than I have done before. I decided to continue with some portrait work, but I combined these portraits with Adobe Photoshop techniques to morph my subjects’ faces. My thesis project explores the human facial structure and how it can be altered to appear much different.

A lot of my experience with photography has been with black and white film. It was very manual and traditional, and I did not do a lot of digital editing. Teaching myself how to successfully utilize Adobe Photoshop to create my pieces was a struggle. I experienced a lot of trial and error, but I was determined to do it. I took digital portraits of my friend, Jon, and then put them into Photoshop to see what could happen. I played around with layering, light, and illusion to create unique portraits. Although they are each of the same person, the pictures are very different from each other.

While working on this project, I learned how to edit with Adobe Photoshop. Starting with a software I had barely touched before was definitely a challenge, but it was a challenge that I had a lot of fun with. This project also allowed me to see facial structure through a different perspective, as I spent a lot of time working with different facial features. This project has inspired me to do more work with digital photography and editing in the future, and I would be interested in doing something like this again.

Jaqueline Henry

Born and raised in Rochester, Jacqueline is a senior at Allendale Columbia School. Drawn to art in all its forms as a child, she could be found drawing at any given moment (and maybe even in the not-so-given moments). Whether in her first real sketchbook or in a restaurant on the back of a paper placemat, she has always found joy in translating into real life the things from her imagination. Jacqueline has since attended many art classes inside and outside of school in order to hone her craft and has had the honor of having her work displayed in multiple shows. She was awarded two Gold Keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for ceramic sculptures “Supplicant” and “Engine Tester”, the latter work also being featured in the 32nd Annual Legislative Student Art Exhibit; photograph “Vidalia” was displayed at RIT’s Start Here 2021 exhibition. Jacqueline has dabbled in nearly every available medium, having spent time working in clay, colored pencil, charcoal, pastel, and photography. She aims to continue her exploration of art at Connecticut College this fall.