Preview
Upload Date
3-25-2025
Department
Classics
Label Text
Held delicately between two fingers, a tiny glass bell is suspended mid-ring. A smooth maroon handle juts from the top of the clear glass skirt. Boasting scratches and small grooves, the body of the bell tilts upwards. Within the body, a bright red bead is fused to a loop of transparent glass. Evidence of the bell’s possible handmade origins are shown by imperfections in the ringer, hook, and outer edges.
What originally drew me to this bell was its simplicity. Only two shades of red are used throughout the object. I was fascinated by its imperfections: irregularities in the shape of the bell which I can only describe as “wobbly”. The concept of capturing the object's size and sound within a photograph was intriguing, hence the inspiration and title for this work. By introducing another subject, the hand, I emphasized the bell’s toy-like daintiness and true proportions. I chose to use a black background, as the transparent glass would become drowned out with a white one. In the editing phase, I utilized a mask to transfer the hand and bell onto a completely black surface. With a touch of saturation, the red glass in the bell pops.
Although the bell is mid-ring, no sound can be heard. What do you hear?
Camera Settings: Aperture
F14
Camera Settings: Shutter Speed
1/20
Camera Settings: ISO
800
Lighting
Overhead and filler lights were full
Photoshop Adjustments
Brightness and highlights were turned down, shadows and exposure were turned up, other minor lighting settings were adjusted, increased saturation in shades of red
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Found in
ADC study collections
