For my project I wanted to take pictures of my friends however most of them do not like their pictures taken so I came up with the idea of taking pictures of friends and family covering their faces with either an object or their hands. As most people now are so used to getting their photos taken, often without their consent through the large use of smartphones and CCTV people assume that others are okay with having their picture taken. In the age of photo sharing apps such as Instagram, it has encouraged people to become narcissistic. However, many actually hate it and become very shy or anxious when a camera is pointed in their direction. One picture of my mum that I took doesn’t give the warm feeling that the other of my pieces do. Although people in this situation may seem unfriendly I have decided to make my pieces seem friendly to show that it is perfectly fine to not want your picture taken.

My first idea was to just have a range of different object and hand positions covering the faces of my friends and family members however I then built up this idea by adding a tattoo or sticker like “no camera” sign onto the object or the hand that is being used to hide the face, I then wanted to make the picture black and white to create a depressing or anxious feel as this is how the person would feel when their picture is being taken. I changed this so only one colour in the picture was showing to make the picture more interesting. I also made the no camera sign the selected colour I had chosen for each picture to make it stand out more so when looking at my pictures the meaning is clear. I also took a picture of myself using a mirror with the camera covering my face to also show that those scared of having their pictures taken may hide behind the camera instead to avoid it. In the end I found it very difficult to add the sticker like sign onto my pictures as it was very time consuming and I struggled to get the gradient that goes from the sign to the object or hand the subject is using to cover their face however, I left one of the pictures with it on to show what I originally wanted to do. In one of the pictures of my dad I coloured the picture that was in the background. The picture is of a family trip to LEGOLAND a few years ago. I did this to show that we accept pictures for memories even if we are not happy with our picture being taken at all.