An Eye For An Eye- Straight images

The images in this series were all shot against a black background in the studio using low-key lighting.  This lighting was chosen to allow the subject to blend into the images background.  The images were then edited in photoshop where saturation was reduced and contrast was added as well as curve alterations being implemented in order to shift shadowing and highlights without losing the low-key effects.  The images are all self portraits which I fired using an external flash and framed using floor markings aside from the image of the hands holding the eye which was shot my me off a different subjects hands using a macro camera.  

The above image is a close shot of the subject positioned in a 3/4 turn towards the camera.  This positioning adds a sense of depth to the eye wound and allows the subjects face to blend effectively into the darkness around their face creating a sinister and surreal dreamlike appearance.  The positioning of the subjects places them in the left third of the image playing into the rule of thirds and allowing the viewers eye to be drawn towards the subject.

This image is an extreme close up of the subject in a 3/4 turn towards the camera however this time the subjects eye wound is directed towards the camera forcing the viewer to look directly into the wound.  This placement of the subjects eye in relation to the lighting gives it a hollow and shadowed appearance adding an additional layer of grotesque horror.  

This image is interesting to me as the subjects only takes up a small piece of the image as I was off mark with my framing however I feel that the image turned out well and that the fact that the subject is positioned in an almost profile view interesting as it shows that even when the hole is not visible that the wound still alters the subjects face.  The image has been cropped to a square format in order to remove a large area of dead space present in the image which was drawing the viewers eye away from the subject.

This image makes full use of the shallow depth of field which I was shooting on as I aimed to capture the subjects disfigured eye socket in the images background with the missing eye ball in the subjects hand taking up the majority of the framing.  This was successful and I like the overall image however I feel that this image is the weakest one from my straight image series.

This image features much cooler tones than the other images in the series and this was deliberate as I wished to give this image a less horror-esque appearance in order to allow it to channel emotions such as sorrow and remorse I feel that this has been achieved through this image allowing it to demonstrate that "An eye for an eye" is not always the correct course of action to take.