When thinking about lost, people tend to think about not knowing where you are. Personally, I think of being lost as being lost in nature by yourself. Although, I thought that would be a very exciting concept to shoot I felt as though the idea was too simplistic and overdone therefore I explored the topic deeper. I thought about times when I felt lost, but I knew exactly where I was; I felt as though I was completely lost from the person I know myself to be including my morals and beliefs. This situation occurs on the occasion that I find myself around groups of people I am trying to impress or where I am trying to fit in. This loss of self is something many people can connect with and have experienced themselves. However, this concept seemed boring and plain to capture as a room full of people in a picture does not leave the audience to think and ponder. I decided to use symbolism to convey the more in-depth idea of losing  yourself using the more interesting approach of a person lost in the forest.

      The subject, a teenage girl in an elegant dress, seems out of place in her surroundings of a forest. The purpose of a younger subject is because younger people feel the need to fit in more than being themselves, however, older, more mature, adults have learned that being themselves is more important. The setting of nature represents a person’s natural behaviors and personality. The subject, looks as though she is crying with makeup running down her face, she represents vanity and how people tend to cover their real personalities when trying to impress someone. The subject seems lost and out of place in the forest and distressed because people tend to be disappointed with themselves when they act fake. The subject is over whelmed by nature surrounding her, but she still is in a beautiful dress to show that sometimes, even when we try to act like ourselves and suppress the urge to impress and act different, we are too ashamed and nervous to be ourselves and we put on an act.

      To take this picture, unfortunately, I had to sacrifice a beautiful dress, but I have been wanting to do a shoot like this for a while now and I am very excited how the pictures turned out. The subject, my friend Emma, was just as eager to do this shoot with me. Her makeup and hair were done herself which really contributed to the mood to the photo.