Reflection

Moving from Left to Right in this photo, one sees a tableau that symbolically captures the collective and individual essences of the three people who make up our family:  Scott Thurlow (husband and father, STEM enthusiast), Mei (daughter, person who really runs things, and anime and video game addict) and myself, and myself, who cleans up after both of them (cinema aficionado). The “Index of Items” below provides details on each item.

Index of Items

Below is an index of all the items that appeared in the photo and their significance.

Back row left to right:

• Books (Horizontal):

  • That’s All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros Cartoons. This book symbolizes our love of pop culture, film, and Warner Bros. animation from the 1930s to the 1960s.

  • Final Fantasy: Endwalker XIV:  The Art of Resurrection – Among the Stars. This book represents Mei’s love of video games and her latest obsession. Mei built a custom gaming computer to play this game.

  • Il Était Une Fois: Walt Disney (Once Upon a Time:  Walt Disney). This art book documents a Disney exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. It represents both my love of film and my Canadian heritage. Montreal was the only North American city hosting this exhibit. We were fortunate to see it during one of our visits.

  • Pokémon:  Art of Pokémon. This book represents Mei’s love of video games and Pokémon.

• Charlie Chaplin Doll (Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild). This doll highlights my love of cinema since Charlie was one of the first and most important film comedians.

• Film Clapper. Film editors use this to keep track of the footage and act as a sound effect to synchronize the images and the soundtrack. This further symbolizes my love of film.

• Carrie’s Books (Vertical):

  • Raymond Loewy – Art of Raymond Loewy:  Loewy is one of the most celebrated industrial designers of the Twentieth Century; the book symbolizes Scott and Carrie’s love of Streamlining through to Mid-Century Modern design.

  • Overdrive: LA Constructs the Future:  This book represents our love of Mid-Century design and Scott’s roots in Los Angeles.

  • Film Theory and Criticism:  This was my first Film Theory book from my undergraduate studies.

  • The Rebel: Albert Camus’ Existentialist classic speaks to personal transcendence’s limits.

• Schrodinger’s Cat Box. Thanks to his studies, Scott nearly completed a triple major in Computer Science, Physics, and Math from the University of Toronto (Canada). He started in Physics but ended up in Computer Science. The box represents an illustrative thought experiment on quantum mechanics. The state of a system is unknown until observed. So, you know if the cat in the box is alive or dead until you open the box to look inside.

Middle row left to right:

• Mugs. These Pantone mugs are in our favorite colors: Pink (Mei), Green (Carrie), and Blue (Scott). Pantone is a noted color authority for Fashion, Home, and Interior Design professionals (https://www.pantone.com/color-consulting/about-pantone-color-institute).

• Albert Einstein Doll (Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild). The doll is an ode to Scott’s start in physics. Albert developed the Theory of Relativity; enough said.

• RdV Lost Mountain Wine. The bottle acknowledges our love of wine. Scott also grew up in Virginia, near where the winery was eventually built, so the bottle also represents his heritage. The three birds on the label are a bonus symbol.

• Rosie the Riveter (Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild). Rosie is a Proto-Feminist heroine; her real name is Naomi Parker Fraley (1922-2018) (https://www.history.com/news/rosie-the-riveter-inspiration).

• Madoka Magica Figurine. Madoka is the main character in one of Mei’s favorite anime series. It symbolizes her love of anime and Japanese culture. She learned Japanese in high school to watch anime without subtitles or dubbing.

• Microsoft “Ship-It” Award. The plaque features many of the products Scott worked on during his career at Microsoft.

• Stufful (small pink bear). Mei’s favorite Pokémon.

• Patent Award Cubes. Microsoft awarded these cubes to Scott when he filed patent applications.

Front Row, left to right:

• Passports. The three Passports acknowledge our multi-national family. I am a triple (Canada, UK, US), Mei a double (Canada, US), and Scott a single (US).

• Pokémon Cards. These cards also symbolize Mei’s love of Pokémon.

Table Cover:

• Final Fantasy XIV cityscape sash. This sash re-emphasizes Mei’s love of video games.

Setup and Editing

I used a low-key setup to focus the viewer on the items. I used a black curtain for the backdrop, a black tablecloth, and a green and black sash to add color. I used two diffuse lights, placing one at the table end on the left and the second facing the table. The primary light source was a reflector at the left end of the table. The reflector was at head height, shining down at an angle. Scott acted as an additional “light holder,” using the two flashlights from assignment 7 to add more light to the plaque and cubes. I took test shots at different times of the day to assess the impact of the exterior lighting. I took the final photo at night.

I operated in a relatively tight space since I live in a high-rise. I experimented with the tableau composition and camera location before landing on the final triangle placement shot from an angle. I edited out some items since they either cluttered the layout or changed the shape of the composition. In the final layout, I focused most of the color on the left side closer to the light. I placed the small stuffed bear and Pokémon cards on the right to keep that side from becoming too monotonous. My goal was to focus the eye initially on the mugs, then take the eye on a journey to the vertical books, and finally to the cubes.

The “Studio Setup” photo below shows the setup during the experimentation, and the “Composition” photo illustrates the triangle.

I used the grey Final Fantasy book to set the white balance. The clarity, texture, blacks, shadows, and contrast were increased by 10 to 25. Even with these modifications, the passports, Ship-It award, and patent cubes were too dark. I increased their exposure values by ½ unit using the masking tool. The “select object” tool worked well for the cubes. The “brush” tool was needed for the Ship-it Award and passports.

Conclusion

I found the assignment to be challenging. Different artistic and technical aspects were at play, so it took many iterations over several days of experimentation to balance them. I like how the end product turned out; as I noted at the beginning of the report, it represents the integration of three separate lives into a family relationship while celebrating each member’s uniqueness.

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