Project titled "Portrait Collage".  The objective of the project was to take a portrait and create a new type of collage of the individual. Using various methods found in Photoshop.  I chose a photo of my son Doran. Taking the photo  in my front room, I stood on a couch arm while the afternoon light flooded in and lit up our always engaging conversations. I took the photo while he was conversing with his Grandmother.  I absolutely love his smile, and I adore how the light plays upon his face.  

I manipulated the image in Photoshop following a tutorial on You Tube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57GQ1rS0yU0. The method or style is called Glitch. The process evolves through the desaturation of the photo, and then selecting R,G,B and moving a color layer of the image just to the side a bit. You can continue to select and move them to the side, however ai chose to only go with the two. Then the addition of the glitch effect using the rectangle tool, using the same premise and moving the selected areas of the photo and moving them ever so slightly over.  Layering over the entire image with a mask of electricity. I felt it gave it more a more edgy feel.  If you look will you see that on my sons chest is an x. It is there to symbolize his ability to rise above the lifelong experiences of being bullied. His smile is like rays of golden sunshine, and it warms my soul to see him fight through the hurt that others choices bring. The x is his symbol of choice. It is not about an elimination, or to be crossed out, it more about his ability to be the person he chooses to be. It could have been bigger, but I was careful to honor my sons requests and  not let others be led to think that it meant anything negative. 

We all face our bullies, outside and even when it is within ourselves. I think whatever symbol we need to embrace moving through and becoming stronger, let it be as we want it to be. It is not for others to understand but for us to embrace and hold to.