By Maryanne Mahoney
In the beginning of the year the task of combining my 4 years of photography into one cohesive category was presented to me in my AP Photography class. I was excited to take on the challenge, but may have underestimated how long and hard I would have to think to come up with a strong, defining concentration. After careful consideration from my classmates and teachers and changing my mind a million times in the process, I finally decided to construct my photo concentration and call it Electricity. Whether it’s literal or figurative, my photos tell a story that is intriguing and can be challenging to figure out at times.
In Image #1, I clearly went with the literal sense of the word electricity. There are tangled light bulbs and lights hanging from the ceiling in the Museum of Modern Art. I love capturing extreme differences in light and contrast as depicted here.
Image#2 captures the spiral effect of a torn coffee filter with light source emanating electricity in the background.
Image #3 has a cooler tone to it and a more abstract view of a source of electricity. During a snowstorm, I went outside with my camera and saw light shining through the snow. I dug the snow off of the light and shot it straight on. It gave off an interesting effect and makes the viewer dive deeper into the picture to figure out what exactly they are looking at.
Image #4 captures the emotions that go along with effects of electricity in this day in age. The mental and emotional struggles people go through are conveyed here, and her struggles with the phone and the person on the other line are electric.
Image#5 is a more figurative electricity. The fire and whirlwind of confusion that is surrounding her is her electricity. She is trapped and can only be scene through a screen. This image captures the extreme end of my figurative electric photography.
Image #6 incorporates literal wires and chords as well as a small source of light in the top right hand corner. I used my sister as a model and emphasized the contrast between inanimate objects and a human form.
Image #7 is a light trail of a car in motion. Electricity is a prevalent and important piece of everyone’s daily lives. I felt it was important to capture the electricity in motion, just as we are in constant motion and traveling all day long.
Image #8 is my final image for this photo series. It is another light trail involving a toy car. I used a sparkler to capture the essence of an electricity fire. I captured the traveling of the sparks and the toy car in motion.
