The Passing of Time - Photomontage

The purpose behind this photomontage was to infuse emotion into a piece that was in the present, but still holds meaning in the past, present, and future. The background photo was taken in Leavenworth. My husband and I were on our honeymoon. While hiking, we couldn't help but notice what a great view we had right in front of us. Thus, we took advantage of the opportunity to capture the moment through the lens of a camera.

            What the camera captured was a single moment in time. With the help of Photoshop, I was able to give the viewer a glimpse of what the scenery may have looked like in the past. I chose to elongate and discolor some portions of the original picture. The discoloration gave the effect of the past, while the image itself was in the present.

            The imagery I chose to use to infuse the passing of time was not only through discoloration and elongation of the images, but I also inserted a photo that was not originally in the main picture. I added the man that is pictured to the left of the photo, in order to increase the meaning within the photo. He was originally taking the photo, but because this man is my husband, he is my past, present, and future. The effect I tried to bring across with his photo is that he was an explorer of the hiking trail before it became a mainstream attraction to both inhabitants and visitors of Leavenworth.

            While I am also in the photo, I wanted to detach myself so the two people could tell a story. The female is in the present and looking out over the beautiful landscape. Because she is in the present, she has missed the opportunity of a relationship with the man that had walked this trail years before her, thus she is looking past the man. The man is looking toward her, but again his body is not positioned to properly see the woman, even if they were in the same time dimension, neither of them would directly see each other. It would be through their peripheral vision that they would see each other, but again there is not a direct connection.

            Thus, the passage of time is shown between the relationship between a man and woman that share a love of this landscape, yet are unable to share a love for each other because of the barriers of time.