In my portrait photo I put myself in front of an American flag. The first editing I did was distort the blue color channel. I found that it created a very cool effect and produced a bunch of subtle blue stars on the flag. I also noticed it distorted the color channel around my hat and hand which created a glitched look which I find really cool. The second thing I did was adjust the brightness and contrast. I found that darkening the picture made everything look a lot better. The original picture was too harsh and bright and there were too many things drawing from the subject of the photo. Another thing I did was create a haze coming from the bottom of the photo. I found that a lot of things at the bottom of the photo were drawing the attention from the subject. Blurring out the bottom made the focus clearer and took out a lot of unnecessary details. I also changed the hugh and saturation levels to further blur out less important details in the photo. I also removed some of the top because I thought the ceiling was a little distracting. I added text to the portrait to further show the identity I am trying to portray. I am trying to portray the American identity through this photo. I believe it is important to spread some nationalism in our country at a time like this. This photo was made to serve two purposes; to spread nationalism and to create a sense of American unity. This work is important to me because I really do believe that we live in the best country in the world. I come from a family of military and policemen. Seeing the hatred and fear towards these individuals motivated me to make this picture. There is too much hate and separation in a country that is founded on equality and freedom. This country is being torn apart by hate and ignorance. We all need to realize that we have a common identity as Americans. We all need to come together as a country regardless of political or social views. We need to stop racism and hatred and realize that we’re all just Americans. We can bring people together through art. Art is powerful and it draws on emotion. Important works of art could have a huge influence in today’s society. I learned a lot of new tools and editing techniques through this assignment. However, The most important lesson I’ve learned through this course so far is that art is extremely powerful and can be used in some really influential ways.