After getting inspiration from the work of amazing stage photographer Gregg Segal, and planning just how I wanted my results to appear, I was ready to create my representation of this common pollution issue. The reason I wanted to tackle the problem of smoking waste is because of the shocking facts and terrible consequences it has on the environment which I have researched and explained in my last post. To complete these two shoots I have used a home-studio of black paper, black fabric and a LED light. My outcomes below show my use of a male model’s hand, a fake flower, cigarette buts and other waste in the composition I have previously planned. By using a dirty human hand I am symbolising man-kinds connection to this issue. The fake flower represents the chemical damage cigarettes can do to plants and animals. As well as cigarette butts I will be adding a very small amount of other rubbish to compare with the amount of waste produced by smoking. In these compositions below I have aimed to symbolise the vastness of this pollution issue and how it is caused by us, effecting and poisoning everything natural. Below is a contact sheet showing a few of the original images from these two separate studio shoots…
To really capture these scenes in a very dark, emotive and contrasted way, I took these photographs using a low shutter speed on the aperture setting of my camera. When choosing my final outcomes out of these 10 raw images above, I was looking for a simple composition with sharp definition and interesting lighting. The first thing I have done to edit my final outcomes is bring the level of the exposure, highlighting, contrast, and shadows up. By doing this my outcomes have become bright and dramatic pieces that, I think, really emphasis this pollution issue prominent on our Island. Below is a mixture of colour and black and white results, although I will not be using all of them for final pieces to represent my project, I really like the range of compositions and mixture of harsh and soft lighting…

This photograph above depicts a straightforward composition of my models hand resting on black paper and surrounded by smoking waste. Because of my inspiration this shoot resembles the work of Gregg Segal as a representation of people compared to the waste they produce. Although, instead of full body portraits, I have used a hand as symbol of our species because it is what sets us apart and allows use to damage the environment in this way. To emphasis the scale of this problem I am representing, I have covered the hand in a black oily looking substance, showcasing our problem with mass production. To create these greasy marks I have used acrylic paints layered thickly and heavily in quick brushstrokes and captured the image whilst the paint is still wet. Overall I love this photograph’s appearance and feel it is the most successful for portraying this issue out of both of these two shoots. Aswell as this, this image is my favourite for its composition, contrast and striking / dramatic tone.

Below are two other black and white outcomes from this same shoot showing the models hand in different positions and framing. The first image on the left is an abstract closeup of the models thumb and fingers with the background of an indefinite amount of smoking waste.  Although I like this photograph because of the dark contrast of the artificial light, the abstract compositions takes away from the meaning and makes it less obvious to the viewers what this is about. The photograph on the right shows the hand flipped over clenching at the pile of cigarettes. I really like this hand position as it gives of a sense of anger and could suggest our guilt and frustration against the subject. However I much prefer the simple open palm photograph above as this straightforward and relaxed position is a better symbol for man-kind. Above is two of my colour results from the second shoot, made using a home-made studio, fake flower, artificial soft lighting and smoking waste. The image on the left is a full view of the scene I have created using very soft studio lighting. I love this effect the light source has as it represents the flower reaching towards, trying to survive. The reason I chose this image as one of my outcomes is because of the interesting focus and depth of field it shows. The image on this right however is a more abstract closeup version, and also one of my favourites from these two shoots. The reason I think this image works so well is the matching organgey / yellow colours displayed in both the cigarettes and the pollen of the flower. I also really like this closeup portrait composition with the darkly contrasted flower in the foreground and the pollution issue slightly burly behind. This depth of field for me represents the impact this problem has on natural things and our ability to ignore them, or in other terms, blur them out.

Lastly is my favourite outcome from my second shoot depicting a simple black and white shot of the flower circled with this poisonous, but common pollution. The reason I chose this result over the others is its strikingly clear symbolic and straight forward composition. To make it as though the flower was growing of the ‘studio’ floor I cut a slit into the black paper and positioned the flower in the very middle. After this, in post production, to match the paper with the black fabric background I raised the darkness and shadows levels. I love the strong symbolism of this issue’s connection with nature and feel as if visual representation is sometimes the best way to present it. Again, like in my outcome above this, the flower is illuminated with soft artificial light representing it reaching towards the sun attempting to survive. The reason this image is in black and white is because it really increases its simple message and dramatic impact. I love the contrast between the brightness of the natural flower compared to the bleak background and grey pollution below.