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Publication Date

Spring 3-1-2025

Presentation Length

Poster/Gallery presentation

College

Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business

Department

Entertainment Industry Studies

Student Level

Undergraduate

SPARK Category

Art

Faculty Advisor

Robin Paris

SPARK Session

Independent Presentation

Presentation Type

Gallery

Summary

These two pictures come from a portrait project for my digital photography class that is part of the ILC focused on Homer’s Iliad. The idea for these portraits was to get central ideas from the Iliad and make pictures that imagine what the characters might look like, and how they might present themselves.

The first picture, “The Shape-Shifting Gods”, is supposed to detail how the Greek Gods continually change their form, misrepresent themselves as mortals, to interact with or manipulate the Greek or Trojan soldiers during, “The Iliad.” I used the natural sunlight coming in from a window that illuminates only half the face, leaving the other half in darkness, to give the subject the appearance of “two faces”. The light suggests that she is in the middle of a transformation, with the shaded part being how the original god appeared. It is now dramatic, with nothing subtle about her appearance, fitting for an epic tragedy.

The second image, “Dolon’s Fear”, represents the minor character of Dolon, a Trojan man who greatly overestimates his power and courage, and is sent at night to spy on the newly constructed Greek camp on the Trojan shores. Unfortunately for Dolon, he encounters Odysseus and Diomedes, two powerful Greek warriors, who interrogate him and manipulate him to confess his mission – “Certainly I will tell you everything,” he says, including how to kill the Trojan allies. This picture is supposed to show the fear and surprise that Dolon felt when he came across Odysseus and Diomedes. The background was important to this picture, it needed to be dark, so I chose a dark tunnel under the Hoover Dam with the lighting coming from a construction light, which perfectly lit the face. All his supplication was to no avail – the Greek Diomedes chops off his head.

Overall, this helps the reader visualize the characters and the things that the characters do. In a way, it makes them seem more tactile and real. It makes their actions and them themselves feel closer to you because you have some form of understanding of how they look and act.

Comments

I need to add my second picture to the submission. I did check off the additional files button and it didn't work as far as I know.

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