Looking at photos in depth -Photo 1: Friendship

Friendship:

As teenagers grow up their friendships expand. Usually their friends at childhood revolve around the neighbourhood or friends from primary. But teenagers are more selective about the friendships they make. They make friends depending on interests, status, values and personality. As children, emotional needs and support come from their parents, however as a teenager unfolds they look towards peers for support. Teenage friendships are more complicated. Friendships mix into different genders, features on choosing friends become more complicated and hormones bring upon arguments, differences and the saying of being ‘two-faced’ or ‘backstabbing’. We need to work harder on our friendships, however when we do, the friendship and feeling we have for our friends is ten times more intense and we’re often inseparable from one another in high school, whereas in the transition from primary to high school, we often drift apart. That’s what I think is portrayed in this photo below by Tamara Lichtenstein. Between the image of comfort, relaxation and teenage spirit it portrays how unbreakable our friendships can be. Tamara said her inspiration came from the beauty of her friends and the splendour of femininity, teenage essence and youth. Much of her work explores a summer haze and daydream sound tracked by summer tunes and acoustic chords; though a lot of her photos seem to stand aloof to reality. What drew me into this photo initially was the beach. The question of why did Lichtenstein choose to shoot it on the beach is not an optional one as she takes a lot of her photos in the ‘moment’ which is what I do. I prefer for the photo to reveal itself to me though sometimes I have such vivid ideas I have to try them. By capturing it in the moment when the photo appears in front of you, I believe you catch the true sense of feeling and the instant itself. By using this theme of youth and this technique of capturing the ‘moment’, I think Tamara Lichtenstein’s work is easily relatable and reminds us all of a moment and time we’ve all had with our friends. That’s what I believe makes her a popular artist. Then, there’s the warmth of the sunset contrasted on sandy beaches which gives the photo comfort and portrays a sense of security that comes hand in hand with a close friendship.