Photo Illustration

Sarah Jackson, 19, from Sammamish, Wash. scrolls through social media on her phone. The addiction to phones can distract a person from getting a good night sleep. Smartphones emit blue light, which tricks the brain into thinking it’s morning. 

            This assignment was really fun, because it was a chance to use photography based on a topic that we’re interested in and add art to it. The idea that immediately popped into my head was social media, and how being on our phones right before we go to bed can affect our sleep. For my photo, I thought I could photograph my roommate in the dark scrolling through her phone. At first, I wasn’t sure how the photos in the dark were going to turn out, but they were a success. I believe my ISO was set to 800 or 1600, with the lowest f-stop number and about 1/8 of a second shutter speed. The light shining from the phone on my subject’s face also helped bring the focus in. The picture turned out just how I imagined it.

            The challenge with my idea is how to get the right message across through the picture. Most of us know that social media can be a problem, but I wanted to point out how being on our phone right before bed can actually affect our sleep. That’s why I chose my photo to be in the dark and my subject lying in bed. I added twitter logos, like buttons, and a text message bubble to symbolize social media and what distracts us from reality and getting good sleep. I titled the photo “The Addiction” because people are constantly on their smartphones and it never leaves their side. It’s like the phone is glued to their face, which goes with the glue I drew stuck between the phone and the subject’s face.        

            What I learned from this assignment is how to think outside the box in different ways to make sure you put the right message across to the reader. It was fun to think more creatively in a journalistic way about a topic you’re interested in.