Project Objective
This started out as a Diploma project that I’ve recently returned to for a bit of experimentation with Photoshop.
Develop a series of images to illustrate a musical piece and create a moodscape that would coincide with the chosen song.
Use a range of photoimaging techniques as well as a combination of original imagery and stock photography in compositions to match the atmosphere of the moodscape.
Fear of the Dark (c) isy.V. Act by Design 2026. All Rights Reserved.
RATIONALE
Fear of the Dark & No more Lies
These two pieces are for Iron Maiden fans and activists and liberators all over the world.
Maiden is one of my favourite bands and when I read the brief this song jumped straight into my head. The layering of guitar harmonies, key changes alongside the shifts in tempo/time signature build an overwhelming tension. The lyrics and vocal tone/style amplify a sense of foreboding and the fear and anxiety that can come with darkness. I also wanted to contrast this with the idea of the light that can come after/out of the dark as one doesn’t exist without the other.
Fear of the Dark features a photo taken with a Smart phone of me holding a hen liberated from the darkness of a factory farm. She had spent most of her life having never seen the natural light of day until her rescue. All she had known was the inside of a cage in a shed filled with thousands just like her.
I then layered this image with a stock photo (a man and woman walking on a sidewalk in the fog: Photo by Rasheeque Ahnaf (Piash) on Unsplash) and experimented with filters and blending modes so the imagery connects directly to the music's themes and to balance that heaviness with hope.
Fear of the Dark was featured in REVERIE, an end of year Graduate Diploma showcase @ TAFE Campbelltown in 2024. This and other student works were part of an installation of large hanging photo media cubes throughout the Design Centre space.
Fear of the Dark - Reverie Campbelltown TAFE 2024
No More LIES. (c) isy.V. Act by Design 2026. All Rights Reserved.
No more Lies ...
... continues with this exploration of fear, darkness and light, featuring a photo taken by Sydney Photographer Amin of me at a vigil outside a slaughterhouse in Western Sydney. Vigils are held for people to bear witness to the immense suffering of animals in the Animal Agriculture industry. They are a strong form of mostly non-confrontational advocacy to expose the lies behind these industries and attempt to offer comfort to animals in their last moments before slaughter.
I likewise layered this image with a stock photo (closeup of person’s hand – Climbing up from Ocean by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash), and other layered stock images of smoke and the moon. I masked and transformed these, experimenting with shapes, size and alignment, added filters, gradients and blending modes to coincide with the music’s themes and the emotional weight of fear and anxiety that comes with bearing witness and speaking the truth. Just like the resolution in the track; there’s power and sometimes there can be light in showing up even when it feels hard or hopeless.
Listen to Fear of the Dark: https://youtu.be/bePCRKGUwAY?si=775Ctu1PdbZQc4_t
My love will be there still. (c) isy.V. Act by Design 2026. All Rights Reserved.
My love will be there still …
Full disclosure: I’m a Twilight fan. I’ve seen all the movies and read all the books. Multiple times! This one is for the fans like me that can hear the opening guitar intro to Requiem on Water by Imperial Mammoth and immediately be transported back to THAT scene and the magic of that moment. If you know, you know.
What stands out in this track is how deceptively simple it feels with a guitar, harp and vocal melody that creates a soothing and rhythmic dreamlike scape that offers solace and connection whilst also facing the darkest moments in life. The lyrics give a sense of love and devotion that allows for hope despite all that can be lost. Keep in mind that in the Twilight story for which the song was written, Bella has to die in order to keep loving Edward throughout eternity, at least in her human form. But ofcourse Bella feels that the “life” that she gains means so much more.
I started with a simple image taken on my phone through the window of a plane on a flight back to Sydney from Melbourne. The clouds looked smooth and surreal, almost inviting. It felt like I could fall into their soft embrace without the fear of actually falling to my death.
From there I layered this with 2 stock images;
A person drowns underwater - Let me drown. Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash
Woman holding someone's hand - Come With Me Photo by nathan_mcb
The next step was to experiment with masking, placement, transparency, filters and gradients to capture that dreamlike quality that is explored through the song whilst honouring the intense darker parts of love, life and loss.
Listen to Requiem on Water: https://youtu.be/RcmprL1voC0?si=xnGwvrAAAFDzeBFw
