Photographer

Mackenzie Angus

School/Institution

Mulwaree High School, NSW

Finalist in

Upper Secondary Category

Written Statement

My photos take on the eerie side of portraiture with an element of childishness and nature. The dark, high-contrast images are representing the power of nature taking over man-made objects. Titled Overgrowth as the portraits explore the struggle and fight related to the growing of nature in man-made structures. This inner struggle correlates with the theme of turbulence as the images portray the wild creeping through the beauty. The model’s skin tone and posing is childlike and ethereal, the vines, flowers and overgrowth represent the turbulence that creeps in when things are broken or disfigured. My creative choices in relation to perspective, composition and aperture all had the clear intent of drawing the viewer’s eye to the model. The use colour and negative space in background was also chosen carefully to add to the series.

All photos have an aperture of 1/5000 and an f-stop of 2.2, photographed with a fixed 85mm lens. The utilisation of studio lighting was integrated to ensure a naturally dark photo. One light source was used on the right side of frame. Through the visual imagery created I tried to portray the struggle man-made buildings have against nature as the two worlds collide, showing the progression of abandonment becoming one with nature. What is created from this consists of twisted beauty, misunderstood uniqueness, and works of art rich in history when explored further.