The final images people create using Expressive Digital Imagery® (EDI) are often very abstract, bearing little or no resemblance to their corresponding original photographs. These abstract images often tell very personal stories, with effects that are carefully and selectively brushed into specific regions. For example, this image was created by a young man newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder to express personal experiences with his illness. The bright area in the top right represents his manic cycles and the darkness at the bottom reflects his depression. The dots, squares and other textures are meant to communicate the confusion he feels when his mood shifts.
During our initial year of EDI pilots with hundreds of participants, we learned that enabling this type of localized expression within an image is a critical part of EDI, resulting in the most powerful communication of feelings and emotions. The observation of these outcomes led directly to the development of our Fingerbrush® technology within the MyMoments Mobile app. Fingerbrush® enables EDI participants to apply digital effects into any part of an image simply by “brushing” them onto the screen with their finger.
This video contains examples of some abstract EDI images, along with the original photographs from which they were created.