Exploring Dehumanisation Through Photo Manipulation

This personal project was created in the wake of the 2024 US election, a moment that reignited concerns over the treatment of marginalised communities. The Trump presidency, particularly in its first term, became infamous for its targeting of minority groups, amplifying systemic inequalities and reinforcing the dehumanisation of those already on the fringes of society.

Through this series of photo manipulations, I sought to explore the ways in which individuals are stripped of their humanity—whether through racial injustice, over-sexualisation, mental health disparities, or the erasure of identity. Each piece dissects a different facet of societal devaluation, translating these themes into stark, symbolic imagery that confronts the viewer with the realities of dehumanisation.

Please note, this is still a work in progress.

This image explores the inherent dehumanisation of women through hyper-sexualisation, portraying the psychological toll of being reduced to an object of desire. The image features a barely-clothed woman laying seductively on a platform, illuminated by red and blue light while faceless figures stare in at her through a glass partition. Behind her, reminiscent of a shadow, is another figure, seemingly submerged in a thick, black liquid, with her head turned away from the camera and her body language communicating her exhaustion and defeat in the face of her circumstances.

The thought process behind this photomanipulation was to explore how over-sexualisation negatively affected the subject's psyche. The red and blue in the main figure collide to form purple in her 'shadow' to show that one is a result of the other. The thick, black liquid symbolises the erasure of identity and the suffocating weight of societal expectations while the mass of faceless figures is intended to represent the voyeuristic eyes of society.

This piece was made entirely in Adobe Photoshop and features Stock images from Adobe Stock and some stock image websites like Freepik.com and Pexels.com. The most challenging part of the execution was the thick, black liquid, as I wanted it to lap up over the platform in a dynamic way. Ensuring that the reflections on the higher drops were accurate as well as ensuring that the body of liquid itself still maintained a water-like feel took research, trail and error.

The final stage of this photomanipulation will be to create a version with text, as well as one where the liquid is animated in Adobe After Effects.

In the conceptualisation phase for this photomanipulation, I knew I wanted to tackle the pervasive and poignant fear that the richest 1% of society intended to mine the planet for all its resources, to the devastation of the natural world, and then flee to another planet once the world was no longer habitable for humans.

I took inspiration from a news article from 2015 that shocked the world as it featured a photo of the body of a young, Syrian refugee who had washed up on shore while attempting to reach Greece. I also did some research on the climate crisis and was alarmed to find that its effects were to first be felt by people of colour due to systematic inequalities and environmental racism.

The photomanipulation, which features a young, black boy with his head slightly above water while tears stream down his face is intended to embody the generation who will lose their future to a climate crisis they had no hand in. The rocket in the background, blasting off into a starry night is more literal and depicts them being left behind.

The most laborious part of creating this design was getting the reflections on the water to look realistic. I experimented with a few techniques, including a Photoshop plug-in called Flood2, intended to help the user create realistic water and reflections from scratch. However, in the end, I used a combination of displacement maps, curves, levels and layer masks to achieve the desired effect.

After completing the photo manipulation, I moved my workflow over to Adobe After Effects to animate each element. The boy's head can be seen bobbing in the water, the reflections behind him ripple against the water and the smoke moves and flows as the rocket slowly takes off into the twinkling sky. The animation process was challenging as my experience with Adobe After Effects is limited. I sought guidance from YouTube tutorials and Skillshare.com.

The final stage of this photo manipulation will be to add a still, text version which reads 'Alexander wept, for there were still more worlds to conquer.' This is a play on the famous phrase attributed to Alexander the Great and intended to encapsulate the notion that the same fate is to befall whatever new planet mankind touches.

This image in the series was created with the insight that you are 9x more likely to be diagnosed with a severe mental illness if you are black, Caribbean and male. The looming, demonic figure in the background represents the 'face' of mental illness while the hands wrapped around and digging into the skin of the black man symbolise its effects. However, the man himself bares a stoic expression, reflecting the 'masking' often exhibited by people struggling with mental illness. With this said, the effects of mental illness can be seen in the wounds inflicted on the black man's face.

The main stock image was chosen carefully, with the headwrap, gold chain and earring tying him to his cultural background. In an earlier draft of the photo manipulation, the demonic figure had less defined features, but after seeking feedback from another graphic designer, I decided to amend the photo manipulation to feature this more gargoyle-esque creature.

The most demanding part of the photo manipulation was ensuring that the wounds on the face were photo-realistic. To achieve this, I blended and layered a series of images of cuts and bruises and used a textured crack brush to make the area around the wound appear to be scabbing.

The final stage will be to create a still, text version with a haunting caption and an animated version made in Adobe After Effects. I intend to make his jewellery sparkle and animate the hands of the background figure to increase the 'looming' effect'.

This image was inspired by the recent boom in AI systems and their increasing integration into everyday life. During the ideation phase, I asked myself: If this trajectory continues unchecked, what is the natural extreme?

In this piece, dehumanisation refers to the potential for AI to diminish the value and recognition of human qualities, leading to consequences such as emotional deskilling. Taken to its extreme, this raises unsettling questions about the future—could humans lose the capacity to rear their own young?

The composition is designed to evoke conflicting emotions. The warm light and the child's innocent gesture, reaching out to touch the robot’s face, symbolise our naïvety in embracing this unprecedented technology. However, this warmth is juxtaposed against the cold, mechanical textures of the robot’s hands and face—an unfeeling entity that, despite being crafted in our own image, remains fundamentally alien. The expression, unreadable, reinforces the unsettling contrast between organic intimacy and artificial detachment.

The most challenging part of creating this photo manipulation was ensuring that the robot and the baby appeared to be in the same scene. This meant adjusting the lighting and colour of the two subjects in order to create a sense of harmony. This was particularly challenging in the case of the robot's face and arms as they are made of separate materials and therefore react to light differently.

The text version, featuring a faint binary code integrated into the image and the phrase 'A (calculated) outcome' written in coding language, underscores the tension in the scene. It suggests a world where the fundamental act of human care is reduced to a computational function—measurable, efficient, but devoid of true connection. The final stage of development for this piece will be to take it into Adobe After Effects to animate it. The intention is to make it appear as though the robot is gently rocking the child.

The idea behind this photo manipulation was to depict the complexities of queer existence, both in the modern, political climate and historically. The two figures stand inches apart, staring intently into each other's eyes and a breath away from kissing. Their faces and bodies are marked by their past experiences - a stone cracking and glass breaking- different reactions to the same societal pressure. Yet there is beauty in the interaction. The holes in their chests, reinforcing the idea of loss, seem to call to each other, light emanating from each and bouncing off the other. The interplay of light acknowledges and reflects the intimacy of their gaze and body language, revealing a moment suspended between ache and longing. Though scarred by different responses to oppression, their wounds speak a shared language—one of survival, tenderness, and the quiet hope of being understood.

The most challenging part of creating this piece was finding the balance between visual harmony and emotional tension. I wanted the two figures to feel connected, but not fully touching. Their positions in relation to each other were paramount to the success of the piece, which meant that the main stock image had to be selected with care. In addition, I had to create visual cues that suggested their connection to each other in an emotional sense. The process involved multiple iterations, including one in which a sword pierces both bodies through the heart. However, that iteration felt clichéd and didn't hold the weight of the final version.

The final stage in developing this piece will be to create both a text version, and a motion graphic in Adobe After Effects. In the moving version, I imagine the light interaction between their chests will be animated. This will be a subtle accentuation of the existing themes.

This piece explores the enduring legacy of chattel slavery and its impact on the Black community, today. The image depicts a naked man, chained at the wrists, kneeling in a pose of forced submission. The chains, self-explanatory in their symbolism, represent the physical restraints once used to prevent enslaved people from escaping during the Atlantic slave trade.

However, beyond the obvious historical reference, the stage upon which he kneels serves as a subtler, more insidious metaphor—a commentary on modern societal expectations. While slavery in its original form has been abolished, its legacy persists in the ways black bodies are still placed on display, commodified, and expected to perform, whether through labour, entertainment, or resilience in the face of systemic oppression. When seen as a performance, the rose at the man's feet underscores this message, and dually, his position can be seen as a bow at the end of a performance.

The most stretching aspect of this design was curating my assets. More specifically, finding a figure in the right position to make the manipulation relay the intended message was a challenge. I experimented with different keywords and search engines to find exactly what I needed and tested variations on the pose before finally settling on the given stock.

The text version, features typographic integration of the phrase 'On Bended Knee'. This caption is intended to have a double meaning; firstly, it points the agency stripped from the black community both historically and in present day, but also hints at the necessary 'submission' - whether it be in the face of overwhelming systematic inequality or everyday micro-aggressions - that people in the black community must endure to protect themselves from a system that was built on the backs of their ancestors.

The final stage for this image will be to move it over to Adobe After Effects in order to create an animated version in which the chains sway.

This image explores dehumanisation through religion. An earlier version of this concept depicted a woman burning at the stake—a stark and powerful visual, but one that lacked the nuance needed to fully convey the complexities of faith and oppression.

In this refined composition, an ‘angel’ stands in a church, framed by the stained glass windows behind her. She is blindfolded, a symbol of forced faith, indoctrination, or wilful ignorance, while her body language—arms cradling herself for comfort—suggests both vulnerability and silent suffering. Behind her, her wings are engulfed in flames, an image that speaks to martyrdom, loss of autonomy, and the destruction of self in the name of belief.

This piece is meant to evoke discomfort, urging the viewer to question: At what point does faith become a prison? When does devotion lead to self-destruction? And most importantly, who controls the fire?

The most effortful part of this photo manipulation was making the wing and the fire feel like naturally integrated parts of the scene. I layered multiple stock images of fire and masked them around the wing as well as making use of a displacement map to make the 'on fire' effect feel more authentic. I also used a series of colour and light adjustments to ensure the shadows and highlights look as photorealistic as possible. I made a risky decision quite late in the design process. I changed the main stock image to one of the same model but in a more vulnerable pose. This risk paid off hugely as the new position not only better fit the mood of the scene but also, coincidentally, exposed her shoulders, allowing for a more natural integration of the wing.

The final stage will be to create a text version of the image featuring a caption that reads 'In the name of the Father.' This is to underscore the religious motif and emphasise the hatred often committed in the name of God. I'm also planning to create an animated version where the wing is flapping slightly and the fire is actively burning.

This image in the series was inspired by two initial sketches, shown above. The photo manipulation was based on the insight that overmedication is more likely with black patients due to being seen as 'dangerous' by clinicians.

The image depicts a black man's severed head on a plate, with a black bird force feeding him pills while the head silently screams. At its core, the image represents the systemic overmedication of black bodies, but the symbolism runs deeper. The severed head is a direct nod to the historical and ongoing violence faced by Black men, whether through police brutality, medical malpractice, or institutional racism.

The paradox of feeding a severed head encapsulates the contradiction of a system that claims to ‘treat’ while simultaneously dehumanising. The black bird represents society at large and it's glowing red eyes symbolise its malicious intent.

The most challenging part of this design was the shadowing and reflections, as the curved surface of the plate and the man's head created unpredictable shapes. In addition, the bird and head originally had very different lighting and thus required a lot of light manipulation to make them both appear to be part of the same scene. Finally, the animation process was demanding, as the pill falling into the character's mouth required some rotoscoping. With this said, I am elated with the final result. Made in Adobe After Effects, the motion graphic features one of the pills spinning and falling into the severed head's mouth with the bird's wings flapping slightly, adding to its ominosity.

The text version, features the phrase 'White Order, Red Pill, Black Body.' is a nod to the motifs of the image; the white order being a society built on white supremacist ideology where systems of power dictate the treatment of black bodies, Red Pill being a reference to forced medicalisation, where ‘treatment’ is not always a choice but a method of control and black body being self-evident.