Persona Portrait Project
Create a fictional character that is based on some aspect of your identity - historical, cultural, gender, interests. Once you have developed your character, write his or her biography (500 wrds) and create a photograph of yourself as the character in the appropriate costume and setting. You can use a combination of staging and Photoshop techniques. The biography, costuming and setting must be seamless and convincing. The character can be realistic or fantastic.
- Create Two 11" X 14" images at a resolution of 300ppi. One image will be your portrait, the other will feature the text of your biography.
Or
You can combine text and image in a more complex layout that is 14"X 22" at 300ppi.
- Work in RGB mode.
- You can leave your file in the psd digital format, but flatten all layers.
- Name your files in the following manner:
Yourname_Portrait_Frame 1.psd
Yourname_Portrat_Frame 2.psd
AND organize into ONE folder named
Yourname_Portrait Project_Matilda
Artists we viewed in class:Frida Kahlo, Marcel Duchamp, Claude Cahun, Max Ernst, Cindy Sherman, Kent Monkman, Yasimusa Morimura, Mariko Mori, and Eleanor Antin
Questions for Biography Creation:
What happens to this character? Chart the main plot points of their biography.
Where and when does this character live. Describe the setting in some detail. What is the landscape? What is the population? What is a regular day like for most people? What are the dominant norms/ values/ beliefs shared by most people? How does your character relate to all the above?
What is your character's favourite object? Why?
What was this characters most formative experience: the most important moment that shaped their identity?
What is the moral, central idea or theme that is communicated by the story of this character's life?
In what ways is the character "like" you and "unlike" you? How can these similarities and dissimilarities be incorporated in the biography?
Who is writing the biography (who is the narrator)? what is their relationship to the character?
Will the biography include direct quotes (i.e. poems, letters, interview dialogue etc.) from the character?