15 Green Things: Dreaming of a Memory

For this assignment I was given a file of 15 images all in the same shade of green. The goal was to create an entirely new images using each of the original images. It was okay to use only portions of the original, and to change its color, size, and orientation. Basically, anything except adding something in that wasn't one of the original 15 images.  

The whole process involved a lot of copying, coloring and arranging. I took out the portions of the images that I wanted using the quick selection tool. I colored over the images using the color replacement tool (my new favorite toy!) so they were no longer green. I transformed the images mostly through scaling or flipping and played around with different arrangements of the images by moving the layers around and using the move tool. Occasionally, when I wanted to make the signs and graffiti appear faded I'd use a funky eraser tool to create the look of an old painted on sign. I also used the blur tool on certain images to give the tone that the images were a part of a surreal, hazy memory.

After playing around a little bit I noticed a lot of the images had things in common, like the car, a street signs, a parking meter, etc. All of these things belonged in a city. From there I noticed the two people and thought that they should go together as well.The purple grass reminded me of the neuron pathways in the human mind and from there I decided to make a story with this image.

What is that story? Well, there many different ways to read the picture and primarily I'd like whomever is viewing it to decide for themselves. However, this is what was running through my mind:

The girl in the center is the main character and the image is a peek at her memories and what's gong on inside her head. She is a former wildlife photographer from Colorado who moved to the city after she got married. She's the mother of the little boy standing next to her and the two have them have just been  walking down to the grocery store. She's feeling rather tired and preoccupied with her thoughts and she is amazed at her son's brightness and energy.

She is feeling rather homesick and is growing resentful and claustrophobic of the noise, the graffiti and street signs of the city, which all seem to be shouting at her at once. However as they pass through an archway on their way back to the car she remembers her first trip into the city and that it was here where she met her husband.