Four Attempts At Self-Expression

Create one vertical 3:4 image: a designed photo board, not a real room. On a pale grey linen board sit four black-and-white prints of the man in the attached photo in a two by two grid, each held by two small brass pins at its top corners: four attempts at one phone self-timer picture. He appears exactly four times, the same man in every print, no face touching another print. Keep his real face throughout: his eye shape and spacing, nose, lips, jaw, cheeks, age, skin tone and any marks. Hair restyled a little messier on top, as if he just pushed it back.

Top left, try one: standing too close to the camera, chin down, both hands fixing the collar of an open black overshirt over a white tee, eyes on the collar, not the lens, the print slightly soft. Top right, try two: mid-stride walking backwards to his mark, lightly motion-blurred, head up, eyes toward the lens, mouth open mid-word. Bottom left, try three: turned to his right, laughing at something outside the frame, head in three-quarter view, eyes off to the right, one hand loose at his side. Bottom right, the keeper, printed larger than the other three so it is the hero of the board and the sharpest: he finally stands still, hands in his jeans pockets, head turned a touch camera-left, chin level, eyes resting past the phone toward the window, not into the lens, a small closed-lip smile.

All four prints share one background, a plain wall and the edge of a bookshelf, with soft window daylight from the left falling across his face, neck and clothes together. The board is lit evenly from above with gentle paper shadows under each print. The text to show is FOUR TRIES (spelled exactly as written here, every letter present once and in order), typed small in plain typewriter letters centered below the prints, clear of every face. No other text, logo or watermark.