Throughout my life, I’ve lost pieces of who I am or thought I was. I’ve experienced physical loss with relationships and people who have passed away, and I’ve experienced the feeling of just losing myself through growth and change as an individual. Feeling like I didn’t know where I was going or if decisions I made would benefit or hurt me in the end.

        I got my idea for this photo after connecting the word ‘Lost’ to ‘Lost and Found’ and through thinking about what lost and found boxes represent. How a lot of the time the items inside go untouched because nobody notices they’re missing. I didn’t want to do physical things like losing a stuffed animal or jacket because it seemed too impersonal to me. I wouldn’t be able to connect with that idea because anything materialistic i’ve ever lost could be easily replaced or I didn’t really care about.

            My photograph puts emphasize on losing a piece of yourself permanently. The box of puzzle pieces symbolizes loss of oneself and how we all experience it one way or another. The bird’s eye view is intentional because it gives the viewer a first person perspective which can make things feel more relatable and encourage them to think about their own losses- hopefully resonating with the message of the photograph.  

           Using flash and photoshop for the photo was interesting for me because I had to figure out how to manipulate the shadows in the picture in the way I wanted and while editing to make the pieces stand out. Also, I am a lot more acquainted with flash and artificial lighting but after this shoot,  I definitely would like to use more natural lighting in my pictures and if I could redo the shoot then I would use natural lighting instead.