Surrealism Final

"Rites of Passage". All of the photos in this image are from the Zojoji temple in Tokyo Japan. In the previous days, at a Shinto shrine called Meiji, we saw many dressed up boys and girls going through their respective age rites of passage. It includes a short ceremony in the temple, followed by lots and lots of pictures with the parents. As much as I love Japanese culture, I tend to critize it for it's xenophobic nature. A lot of people are forced into working jobs they hate, and mustering a lot of their emotions in order to follow the traditions of work. I felt as if even the rite of passage, even if it is holy and beautiful, may be the beginning to many Japanese people submitting their ways to tradition, although many would have it otherwise. The picture is suppose to represent wanting inclusion, but also posessing a lot of hesitation. I mostly just cut out pictures of my images, and pasted them. I put drop shadows (and matched the background's color), put a black and white tint on top, textures, and painted an overlaying rainbow splotch patch, and then faded it out with hard light.