Kat Buchanan

Woodcutter, 2014 I took the photo with my brother in it and dragged it out of the frame, and then back again so it was on top of the background picture. Then, I went to Edit: Auto Align Layers and clicked "Auto". I cropped the photos to fit, and began to erase the space around my brother with the hardness on the eraser at zero. Then, I changed the opacity of layer 1 (the layer with my brother) to about 60% and went to Image, Adjustments to turn the layer black and white. I then turned the background layer to a sepia tone. Story: Many years ago, a woodcutter told his son to go into a nearby forest to collect some branches to cut for a fire. The boy protested, complaining that it was too cold outside and it was nearly dark, but his father's mind was made up; he would not let his son return until he had a sufficient amount of kindling. So the boy set out into the cold, dark forest, never to be seen again--alive, that is.

Piano Girl, 2014 I took the photo with my brother in it and dragged it out of the frame, and then back again so it was on top of the background picture. Then, I went to Edit: Auto Align Layers and clicked "Auto". I cropped the photos to fit, and began to erase the space around my brother with the hardness on the eraser at zero. Then, I changed the opacity of layer 1 (the layer with my brother) to about 60%. I then bumped up the brightness and contrast of the ghost layer. Story: A young girl, stricken with polio at a young age, spent her life mastering the piano. It was her dream to one day perform in a recital for her friends and family and show them her great talent, but she never got the chance; as time wore on, the illness weakened her more and more, and as a result, she was not able to play. She could not realize her dream in life, so she does so in death, playing beautifully for all to hear.

Safari Ride, 2014 I took the two pictures in Photoshop, and started working on the photo of me. I used the magic wand selection tool to erase the space around my body. Then, I zoomed in and used the eraser tool (which I adjusted to have a softer edge) to clean up the edges. Next, I dragged the photo of me out of the frame and back onto the photo of the little toy tiger. After that, I hit the command key and "T" so that I could transform the image, and make it appear as though I were sitting on the toy tiger's back. I rotated the layer that contained the picture of me and shrunk it down a little. Lastly, I flattened the image and saved it. Story: A tiny girl was wandering around one day and found a toy plastic tiger. She decided to pretend to ride it.

Little Girl with Computer, 2014 I took the two pictures in Photoshop, and started working on the photo of me. I used the magic wand selection tool to erase the space around my body. Then, I zoomed in and used the eraser tool (which I adjusted to have a softer edge) to clean up the edges. Next, I dragged the photo of Theresa out of the frame and back onto the photo of the computer. After that, I hit the command key and "T" so that I could transform the layer with Theresa. I rotated this layer and shrunk it down a little. Lastly, I flattened the image and saved it. Story: A tiny girl attempted to type an email on a full size keyboard, but got tired so she sat down to rest.