My illustration photo is based off the article,
CollegeAmerica and affiliated schools accused of deceiving students about value of degrees. The article is located at the following URL:
http://www.sltrib.com/news/2311391-155/collegeamerica-and-affiliated-schools-accused-of
CollegeAmerica is under fire for making claims in their advertisements that a degree from their college could lead to a higher-paying job, but research and data has shown that the claim may not be true. The organization has lied about how qualified students would be upon graduation, and many graduates are earning approximately half of what they expected to earn.
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| f/3.5, 1/40 s, ISO-800, 18mm |
The subject is wearing a graduation gown as if handing out a degree to a recipient, but his fingers are crossed behind his back. I wish I could have put the subject in an outdoor setting, where I could have a more organic background fall into bokeh, but I didn't have the time or resources. I also cropped the image, decreased saturation and boosted contrast.
The physical context of the photo is kind of crippled because I took it against my living room wall--not ideal. If I had an outdoor setting with balloons and banners to make it look like a graduation day, that would be perfect. This affects students on a psychological level because many already have dispositions that degrees are becoming worth less and less. It may make students wonder how their own institution is being dishonest with the value of their degree. That also resonates with the social and cultural value of a degree; it's becoming less valuable over time. Maybe in twenty years, someone would look at this photo and say, "Of course degrees aren't worth as much as they once were."
