Case study 07 · Photography & image editing

Campus Sculptures

A high-key black-and-white photo series that shifts attention from a familiar campus setting to the sculptures’ gestures, surfaces, and relationships.

ContextCourse project

TimelineFall 2025

FocusPhoto editing & visual consistency

ToolsPhotography, Photoshop

Black-and-white edited photograph of two figures in a campus sculpture

Brief

For a photography course, I chose campus sculptures as the subject. My proposal focused on details that passersby may overlook: material, shadow, facial expression, and the way figures relate to one another. I photographed several views and developed a consistent edited series.

Editing choice

The original photographs include bright sky, trees, seasonal color, and changing light. In the final images, I removed much of that visual competition and used a high-key monochrome treatment. Tight crops, dark shadows, and near-white backgrounds make the sculpted forms and gestures more prominent.

The before-and-after pairs below show the change in emphasis rather than suggesting the original scene was photographed against a white backdrop.

Original color photograph of two sculpted figures with trees and sky behind them — Original photograph · environmental color and background

Photoshop edit isolating the two sculpted figures in black and white — Final Photoshop edit · attention on form and gesture

Original color photograph of a snow-covered campus sculpture — Original photograph · winter scene and surrounding trees

Photoshop edit of the snow-covered sculpture with a bright white background — Final Photoshop edit · snow retained as part of the subject

Series

The five selected finished frames alternate between close interactions and wider views. I kept the treatment consistent while allowing the subject, crop, and amount of negative space to vary. The project is an image-editing study, not a commissioned campaign.

Black-and-white close view of figures carrying a cross — Gesture and overlapping forms

Black-and-white close view of two sculpted faces — Expression and proximity

Black-and-white wider view of a group of sculpted figures — Wider composition

Next: Gestalt Visual Principles→