Sin.

Artist’s Statement: Sin. Why: I’ve always had a fascination with deeply rooted emotions, and the way our minds work. The concept of the seven sins, the feelings behind them, and the universal connection we all have to them on a basic level has been exceptionally intriguing to me. I chose to explore the visual expression of the sins as ideas, both individually and as a whole, in this mixed media series titled “Sin.”. How: I shot this series with a Canon 90d and a Canon 50mm prime lens. I used one monolight in modeling mode on low power to sidelight the images. I shot against a black backdrop and used the back side of a grey cutting mat as a dark and slightly reflective surface. I used a mix of acrylic paints, glue, glitter, food coloring, and water on Red Delicious apples. I used a low-key approach and bracketed my exposures to create HDR composites for each photo. Adjustments and composites were made in post using Photoshop and Lightroom Classic. FAQ: Why apples? Apples are symbolic of the Original Sin. But why not people? The sins being shown using people focuses more on the act of each sin rather than the sin itself. Objectifying each sin into an apple takes the emotion out of the equation, dehumanizing them from a feeling to an idea. Why color the apples? On the study of each sin as an individual idea, I found the feelings evoked by each is symbolically connected to a different color. The integration of this brings emotion back into the idea, as well as offering aesthetic variety.