Adolescence

Jenna Walters

Year: 12

School: Ellenbrook Secondary College

Medium: Photography

Artist statement: My photography aims to document the journey one takes from youth to maturity. My choice of subject comes from a place of personal experience and is fueled by the tribulations that I have faced on my journey into adulthood. I have always taken a keen interest in the concept of growth and development that can be expressed in human form. My aim was for my photographic work to evoke this journey into adulthood.

I experimented with different compositions because I was curious as to what our bodies might hide and what they might reveal. The sharp components of the photographs aim to explore the effects of adulthood and concomitant responsibility, while the softer, lighter areas of the photographs aim to present the innocence and weightlessness of childhood. I hope that the juxtaposition of these two qualities convey the ‘grey area’ between adolescence and adulthood. I was also inspired by the contrast of light and dark. I find that the dark and light areas of an image can be manipulated to create stronger meaning. The lighter areas reveal and reflect the brightness and youthfulness of an unfurling adolescence while the darker areas shroud a murky, shadowy and spent past. Similarly, this depicts the passage of time in the waxing and waning of the phases of the moon; the unfolding future shunning the past. It is for this reason I used a burn tool on the ridged areas of the photographs, to make them darker as well as a dodge tool on the softer, more fleshy areas to make them lighter.

Overall my inspiration comes from the human body and what it is able to reveal- the transition from young to old. It’s not only our changing behaviour that demonstrates this transition, but also our physical maturation. I was also inspired by my personal experience of this transitional phase between childhood and adulthood. The growing awareness of my increased responsibilities verses my fading naivety, render me an emerging adult from this developmental process.”