JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: Abandoned Beautiful

Abandoned Beautiful

By Joseph Baum

27 February 2008

These photos were done for my Advanced Digital Photography Class at Broward Community College. The project was simply to do any theme of pictures of my choice.

I chose to do photos of the beautiful in the ugly. A contrast between the subject and the background.

I used all female models, all in beautiful dresses and brought them to torn down abandoned houses and buildings. I wanted the photos to depict the subjects as alluring and radiant on the inside while on their outside they've been forgotten and rejected by society.

In a particular picture with the girl and the lantern, I was trying to show beauty as being lost, and trying to find its way in the society thats abandoned her.

Another picture with the same model, where she is opening what appears to be a tacky old jewelry box with a radiant glow coming out, I wanted this photo to show the mysterious beauty being found within the subject, not necessarily the outside.

In some pictures the models are looking at the camera to give it a more fashion photography look in hope to show the girls are trying to be noticed and recognized for their beauty. In the other photos, where the models are not looking at the camera to capture a more thematic scene, they are to show the girls as rejected and troubled.