This assignment required us to create a pictorial memoir. As I was going through my most recent pictures of myself, I didn’t find a common theme. However, I decided to crop my images to give the illusion of self without intimacy. For example, all the pictures with myself in it are either cropped, looking away from the camera or the color has been manipulated. Rather than gaining. image from the portraits, the viewer is forced to look at the other images for information. This is why I included my tattoo, my art, my everyday views and my religion. This paints a general story about me but not a particularly intimate one. Once I had gathered my images I had faced the problem of unity and flow. To fix the problem of unity, I decided on two main colors, blue and yellow, to tie the piece together. The reasoning behind this is that blue is generally associated with calmness and tranquility whereas yellow is associated with eccentric energy. This dichotomy of complimentary colors adds another layer to the memoir. Scattering the images with similar colors throughout the piece also aided in creating flow. I also looked at the general movement of each individual image and made sure that no images cut the movement throughout the piece. This is an attempt to make sure the eyes can easily travel through the piece without getting stuck on one particular image. Lastly, I created a few parallels between individual pictures to make the piece feel more unified. For example, two pictures have eyes that directly look at the viewer: one is an art piece and one is a portrait, both are yellow. Another example is the middle bottom two images that both have feet, however, one pair of feet are stagnant and the other are in motion. The pair of feet that are stagnant also speak to another picture in the piece that is the other half of that image. In creating conversation between multiple images, I attempt at a fluid movement throughout the piece and unity in portraying myself. Overall, this project taught me how to use indesign and challenged my ability to create a fluid and unified memoir. In conclusion, depicting myself through images proved to be difficult and forced me to embrace my inability to portray myself simply. In accepting the fact that I am not in the phase of my life that allows me to portray a complete memoir, I was able to accomplish depicting the disconnect that I experience with myself. This lack of intimacy is something that I feel is clear in the memoir.
