For the photomontage assignment I chose a handful of my images to prompt the question of what is “real” and what is “artificial.” In both images the backgrounds are landscape pictures. All of the other images were taken a couple of weekends ago at a music festival. I thought that what I captured there worked well for this assignment given the nature of such festivities. While festivals are very real and everyday people attend, the idea and environment are both very fantastical.
First is the fantastical. I chose this particular background for this montage because when I look at the original image it is very peaceful and symmetrical – a street in a neighborhood that is very proper and quiet. The other layers consist of image selections taken from a very loud and outrageous setting – the girls sitting on a bunny statue with antlers, one girl in a crazy costume, the face of another in the center of a flower, and the girl in cutoffs and a tank top, taking it all in. I upped the brightness and the contrast to add to the unreal nature of seeing such a spectacle on the streets of such a neighborhood. serene image is completely transformed by bizarre ideas like a rabbit with antlers and girls in colored wigs.

However fantastical festivals and their attendees may seem, there are very real elements you do see on a regular basis. A boy playing in the mud or a little girl chasing a frisbee. I chose this background because I think it gives a sense of isolation. The children are on this small sand bank on the edge of a vast, unknown area. Children are not fully aware of what is happening around them, they just continue doing what is known to them which, in this montage, is getting dirty and leaving your shoes behind and chasing a Frisbee without any concern towards where they may be. I always enjoy watching children from afar at music festivals, represented by the hot air balloon. My photomontages take calm environments and turn them into real, yet unbelievable environments