Day 29: A Cause

I am a big advocate of Fashion upcycling. Working as a stylist for Hudson’s Bay for a few years combined with my degree in Fashion Design, I thought there’s so much new clothes already being churned by fast fashion giants that as I designer, make new clothing is not the kind of contribution I want to make. That’s when my company Unwasted was born. I partner up with small denim manufacturers all over the world to donation their rejected denim pieces. I upcycle, refashion or upstyle them then I add art on the denim to make a one of a kind pieces. Every piece is done by me from refashioning, embroidery and hand painting.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 1 - student project

Day 28: Embarrassment

Wedgie! My dress always get stuck in my butt so naturally, this is what I thought I'd recreate haha! too funny! What a cleaver idea to capture because it is real and happens to all for us.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 2 - student project

Day 27: Come Alive

I had a perfect idea of where I wanted to take this photo but yesterday, we got hit by a typhoon so it rained the whole day and the wind was super strong. Today, the sky is clear and the community quarantine is slowly easing up so I went to the herb garden and pick my favourite herbs for my kitchen. A friend was there to do thesame so I asked her to join in the photo. Apart from being in my creative space, I love cooking and picking up fresh herbs from the community garden is one of my favourite thing to do!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 3 - student project

Day 26: Timer

I am not usually a shy person so doing something silly is no problem for me. In fact, its my kids who usually remind me to "behave" haha! The same cannot be said about my boyfriend who took this photo on our walk this afternoon. This is one of my favourite mural in the area and I thought my mood was captured perfectly.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 4 - student project

Day 25: Mirror 4

I felt silly and funny looking at myself past my face but more to my heart. It's not often that we get introspective like this. Here are my few shots taken one after another.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 5 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 7 - student project

Day 24: Your Favourite Place

Sewing or painting and generally being creative is where I am the happiest. It's a space where all my favourite things are close to me and I can create my own magic. I took this photo on a timer while working on this piece.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 8 - student project

Day 23: A well lit portrait

To be honest, of all the assignments I have done so far, this was by far the most challenging for me in terms of technicality. It took a LOT of playing around before I finally achieved my "happy accident". My intention for this project was to take a more dramatic and ambient photo (hence, I thought better to do the shots at night?). Sort of the half lit face that I see on Pinterest but way brighter than the result I expected. I had to turn of all the light in the house to achieve what I had in mind but I feel like I could've added more light to make the photo sharper? or maybe SLR will do that instead of my good ol' Iphone :)

I love this first photo. Bare face and natural. I particularly love the natural almost sepia tone of this photo. Sadly, after a few editing app, I couldn't correct the red eye here. I'll let you tell me what happened Lucy haha!

Set up: I borrowed a ring light from a friend so this really helped me. It was the main source of light. I sat down on the floor behind my sofa; placed the camera a few feet away in front of me and the light source was set up on the left side at around the top of my head hight.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 9 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 10 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 11 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 12 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 13 - student project

Day 22: Bodyscape

I took a photo of my shoulder while standing, in a lower light setting and achieved this rather abstract and dramatic photo. I find that changing the layout gives you a different perspective.

The third photo I took had more light and my neck was propped on a arm rest. A similar angle but different result.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 14 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 15 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 16 - student project

Day 21: Half

Another fun assignment today! I got to wear false lashes and get the half of my face glammed up! Here are my two favourite shots.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 17 - student project

In this second photo, I used the editing tool on my phone to "stage light" to remove the white background.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 18 - student project

Day 20: Together

This lockdown make us dream of pool days so my daughter and I, wore our sun hats and kaftans on the stairs then a piggyback (an attempt at least, on our way to picking up our groceries.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 19 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 20 - student project

Day 19: The Object - A Series

The broom - I rode it, played with it and accessorized it.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 21 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 22 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 23 - student project

Day 18: Mirror 3

Here are my 3 mirror shots for today's assignment. Placement of the camera was tricky but i managed :).

Photo #1 Composition: Reflection of myself with my favourite things in the world

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 24 - student project

Photo #2 Catching the real me...

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 25 - student project

Photo #3 Framing my head (and shoulders :)

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 26 - student project

Day 17: Birds Eye View

Its interesting to see from this angle how "tiny" I look. This shot was taken on our way to pick up our dinner. The second photo is with a sculpture of a war soldier reading a letter. One of my favourite piece of art in my neighbourhood.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 27 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 28 - student project

Day 16: Wet and Pure

The first two photos, I took in my bathroom. It doesn't have a window so the light was a bit tricky but I managed to take a few shots! (I need to invest on a ringlight one of these days). Then I thought, maybe try it outdoor, you could see the difference in my aura.

The bathroom photo felt intimate - too intimate almost. I suppose taking a shower everyday is a necessity more than anything and yet, so intimate and personal. When my daughter was taking the photo, there was a bit of uneasiness I felt. A mundane activity all of a sudden was magnified in front of a lens. An interesting perspective indeed.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 29 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 30 - student project

This time, we tried taking the photo in the balcony. Because of the setting, the "pureness" of the shot was shadowed by my playfulness. I couldn't keep my face straight no matter how hard i tried. Was it because the setting wasn't in the shower itself that my discomfort suddenly evaporated? Quiet possibly it seems... I love how happy I look in this photo :)

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 31 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 32 - student project

Day 15: Under Cover

I got a bit claustrophobic taking this photo. Having an object shield you was disarming. I found that i was fighting to make sure that I still see myself in the photo no matter how covered I was. It made me think if this behaviour was instinctive, or are we so used to the spotlight being shone on us that being covered made me feel uneasy, it has become apparent in the photo, as if, I wanted to break through the surface. An interesting discovery for sure!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 33 - student project

Behind a curtain...

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 34 - student project

Under a plastic bubble wrap...

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 35 - student project

Day 14: Food Play

Our avocado got a bit of make over today! I couldn't help but give it a bit of love from my paints and brushes!

It was important to connect to the object while taking the photo. For the avocado to represent my "eyes" was for me to give it the role it needed for the shot.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 36 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 37 - student project

Day 13: Vinyl Record

What a fun project! I ended up rummaging through my boyfriend's vinyl stack and choose Diana Ross' "Diana" album release in 1980. I had to ask the assistance of my daughter to take the photo since it was a challenge to do both. I so love the result!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 38 - student project

Day 12: Shadow

I had the cutest accessory for this assignment! With the help of my daughter, we were able to play with light and shadow last night. What I specially loved about the outcome was the natural sepia tones create by the light and the gray wall! Here's a few of my favourite and some bloopers :)

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 39 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 40 - student project

Catching my shadow...

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 41 - student project

She finally caught my fingers haha!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 42 - student project

Day 11: Mirror 2

In this exercise, I find it easier to look at the lens through the mirror as if the mirror acts a my photo filter so to speak. Its as if i am looking at the mirror and finding someone else I like smiling back at me.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 43 - student project

Day 10: Dress Up

Being on lockdown and on your PJ's (almost) the whole day made this project refreshing! I wore the dress I designed and painted back when I studied Fashion Design and I barely fit BUT, it definitely add color and shine to my day.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 44 - student project

Day 9: Upside Down

Initially planned to do an ambitious headstand to take this photo but scratch that since my cats were too busy chewing my hair while i try to hold my pose haha! I ended up propping myself upside down on a chair and here are my favourite shots.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 46 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 47 - student project

Day 8: Motion Blur

The "live" feature on my iphone came in very handy in this project! I took a few shots doing different things and here are my favourites.

This one I was flipping my hair back and forth in front of a white curtain with my face back to the light source I love how the movement was dramatically captured in this shot.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 48 - student project

In this photo, I just finished working on a painting and thought that maybe throwing a paint brush in the air might capture the motion blue. It did and I love it!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 49 - student project

This one was my daughter took while I just laughing and leaping towards her. It was a happy accident! This shot captured the motion and my mood!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 50 - student project

Day 7: Zoom Out

Although this covid-19 pandemic is limiting our movement to go out in open spaces, I am very lucky to live in an apartment with a stunning view of the city. This was the only place where I can possibly zoom out so i took a few shots yesterday. BUT this morning, I snuck out across the street to take of photo of this gorgeous mural in one of the buildings before the guards catch me. haha! Here are a few of my favourite.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 51 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 52 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 53 - student project

Day 6: Hockney Collage

In this project, I took around 18 or so photos of my face with my hand holding my hair into a pony tail. I started from the left to the right profile of my face and used this to create the collage. Although, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, after a while of cropping the photos, I felt the need to let go and let the process take its shape. I was quite surprise on how the collage has almost like a dark energy in it. What a fun project! I can do this for hours and not get bored of the many possibilities!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 54 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 55 - student project

Day 5: The Book

I am currently reading the book by Michelle Obama " Becoming". The word I got was evening.

I thought this photo captures exactly what an evening is for me.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 56 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 57 - student project

Day 4: The Mirror

So far, this has been the project where I spent most of my time working on. The challenge was to place the camera at an angle where it will capture all the details so the concept is realized. I also kept on switching to selfie mode since I couldn't see if i was in the frame when i was setting up the shot. Maybe it would have been easier if I were outdoor but this social distancing did not make it possible for me to leave my apartment building. After 3.5 hours, I am so happy with how it turned out.

Here are three of my favourite.

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 58 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 59 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 60 - student project

Day 3: Peek A Boo

Now i know how I look like as a lamp! What a fun project!

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 61 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 62 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 63 - student project

Day 2: The Object

Playing with shapes and lines. We bought this really cool mancala board on our trip to South Africa early this year. Apparently, the decoration of the board is specific to Ivory Coast. I love how colorful and playful it and thought it's a perfect piece to use for this project. Who knew this game is one of the oldest in the world dating back to 4th Century AD?

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 64 - student project

Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 65 - student project

Day 1: Body Part

A flaky cracked heel. This provides an interesting perspective about how much we try to avoid exposing parts of our body that we get conscious about. Loving my cracked "hill" ;) Creative Journey in Self Discovery - image 66 - student project

Elie Quial

Mixed Media Artist & Fashion Upcycler

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