marissamairet
FollowI took this photo at a rough point in my life, it highlighted everything.
My flaws, my demons, all exposed into one photograph.
...
Read more
I took this photo at a rough point in my life, it highlighted everything.
My flaws, my demons, all exposed into one photograph.
Read less
My flaws, my demons, all exposed into one photograph.
Read less
Views
208
Likes
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
Categories
DonArsenault
June 03, 2017
The emotion was captured well. I hope the rough point is well behind you.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This particular photo was taken in my old bedroom in front of my window.Time
I believe it was taken around noon, a few hours after I had woken up.Lighting
I absolutely love natural lighting, so that’s why I was positioned in front on the window. I wanted my flaws to be as prominent as possible.Equipment
Believe it or not, I don’t own an actual camera. I use my phone, an iPhone 8+, and the editing app VSCO. This photo, however was taken on my older phone, which at the time was an iPhone 5C.Inspiration
This was a photo out of desperation. To find answers, and to find beauty in a situation any confidence I had was gone. For some mysterious reason I still don’t know, I was suffering from a really bad breakout. My jaw, cheeks, and sometimes under my eye was covered in acne, and I felt so insecure. I’d constantly put my shirt over my face, and take photos hiding my cheeks and jaw, and in every single way really started to hate how I looked. Taking this photo was me admitting to those insecurities, and showing them off to people. I posted this particular photo to my blog on Tumblr, and it collected a fair amount of notes. I told people that with or without acne, everyone is worth something and everyone is beautiful regardless of their circumstances. People would message me and tell me how inspiring it was, and after that I started to care less. Since then this breakout has subsided greatly, but I’m still left with scars on my cheeks. But every time I get a “breakout”, I remember that it’s not as bad as it was, and I feel somewhat secure in my body as a result.Editing
I’m almost 100% sure I used VSCOs filter T1 which made it look more faded than it was. I also decreased the exposure some, and added grain.In my camera bag
Like I said, I use my phone. So, when I know I’m going somewhere and going to take pictures, I pretty much just make sure my battery is full. One amazing thing about my phone is that it has a portrait mode, which makes self portraits and others really fun, as it keeps the person in focus and blurs out the background.Feedback
The more raw the photo is, the better. I did not wear makeup in this photo, because I wanted people to see what I saw. I love capturing raw emotion, as it’s so rare in photography. If you put a camera to someone’s face, they’re going to smile or ask you how they should pose, tell them to not pose at all, just be natural. Just be yourself. It’s the greatest thing you can be in this world.