This shoot was very successful, it was done at Gronez with only my female model. it was a sunny/cloudy day which made it good to photograph in however there were lots of tourists which made it difficult to photograph. The photos were all clear and i also took many landscape which could potentially be added to my book.

The first place i photographed was in a ruin as i think the walls could have a symbolic means such as no structure can protect us from the air. The sun was behind my model and it was partially hazy. These images combine a landscape image with a portrait image and it works really well to create a powerful and meaningful image. The best image out of these two is the first because my model is looking away from the camera which makes it much more dramatic and anonymous but however you can still see my models eyes which is what makes the image so powerful. I am unsure of what these images symbolize but i think they could represent being on the edge of a steep drop such as the steep downfall of humanity due to the population growing and the air slowly suffocating us and our future children. Does the world really want their children to live their life in a gas mask?

I then photographed in the arch but it was extremely difficult due to tourists and i did not notice that one of them had placed their bags in the way of my photos which is why i will not be using any of them in my book. Also my model did not pose very well and these photos relied very much on body language and she is not very good at that.I wish these images had turned out how i had planned as the arch would of created a perfect frame and representing the framing of the pollution problem in the eyes of the world. Showing them one of the biggest problems in the world which is above war because without air and a world to live on, war wouldn’t even take place. I also thing that the images did not work because of the angles which i photographed them at because i think i needed to be higher to create more of a sense of looking down on my model to symbolize loss of power.

The next area i went to was in between the ruins of the castle in which i made my model sit down and i laid on the grounds and photographed her from different angles whilst using the walls to my advance. These are my favourites images because they are more unusual than the others because i chose to do different angles to create more interesting images and symbolize that no building could protect you against the air because most buildings won’t survive a bomb. The second image is very string because we cannot see her body which creates tension within the image and makes it very ambiguous which allows the viewer to create ideas in their head about what these images mean and what my model looks life behind the wall. I think what makes these images really powerful is that they are in black and white as it makes them much more powerful and they catch the eye much more than when in colour.

On the way to different areas, i photographed the landscape to use a fillers in my book and so that the book is not completely full of portraits as this would be boring. I thought that the landscapes were originally poor quality as they looked boring but when turned into black and white they looked much better and more interesting. They are very natural and it is completely untouched land which is why they are very bare as it is completely natural landscape. My landscapes have no hidden symbolism as i simply made them to add to my book are splitters to make my book more interesting and not so clustered with portraits.

The next photos were taken in ruins of most likely bunkers of some sort and they worked really well to create a frame round my model. This makes the eyes focus on the model rather than the background. It also makes the image very dramatic specially in the light is coming from behind the model this is something which is considered wrong in portraiture but i used it to my advance to create a unique image. These images symbolize taking cover and hiding away from the world, trying to escape what is truly going on but the buildings only half cover my model to represent the idea that no building can protect you and soon enough the air will get to you. The second image has split lighting as the my model is half in the shade created b the sun and in the light of the sun. This symbolizes that the mouth mask can only protect you for so long before the air gets to you. The first images lighting represents the incoming storm, an afraid child hiding under their bed because of lighting but they will soon be doing this with a gas mask. The image looks almost like something which would be seen in a dream with the bright light behind it and the dark shadows which the light is casting on my model and on the ground.

The next few photographs were taken on a bank on the way down to a view tower. I asked my model to act as if she was reaching for the gas mask to imitate her struggling to breath so she needs the gas mask. The surprisingly worked well as she had good body language and her eyes made the photos perfect because they were so wide and visible. These are the best photos of the shoot. The first image symbolizes reach for something more powerful to protect her against the air because the mouth mask does not work anymore. It symbolizes desperation and panic specially in the second image as her eyes are so powerful and they are the main reason the image is so powerful. Her eyes show lots of emotion mostly panic and fear which works perfectly for my project. These images are still ambiguous because they could be seen as my model reaching for the gas mask to protect her against poisonous gas which someone has thrown into the trenches but this could link to air pollution being a form of poisonous gas which slowly kills her. The black and white makes them much more powerful as they catch the eye much more and makes the light in certain areas stand out much more and the shadows darker creating tension in the areas which we cannot see what is there.

After this i used the door to the tower and i made my model act as if she needed to get inside so as if she was banging on the door and clawing at it for someone to let her in because of the toxic air. Yet the building would not save her. These images did not appear great when in colour as they look very forced and they were very dull however when turned into black and white, they looked much better. I would like to use these images in my book as they could look powerful with a quote next to them as these images are more ambiguous, specially the first one as we cannot see her face. It creates tension as the viewers will create an idea in their head to what my model looks like  which makes the image much more interesting. However i do wish that she has used more body language and showed much more panic to represent the desperation to get inside as she believes that it will save her specially as she does not have a gas mask in the firs image. Her eyes are so important in these types of images as they allow the viewer to feel connected with the model and feel what she is feeling as she is able to portray it in her eyes instead of body language.

Finally i used a real bunker to photography my model looking out from the bunker as it has crumbled towards the edge of the cliff which made it seem like a window. These images worked really well but my model posed more like she was in a fashion shoot rather than a shoot about pollution which ruined it slightly but they look good in black and white. These images symbolize that again no building can protect you against the air specially if they can be taken down by war as the air is more powerful. The air is the most powerful thing in the world, everything in the world relies on it so if we do not fix it, we will fall victim like the 3 million people of 2012. My models pose could of been much better but she does look very sad which works really well as it represents loss of hope and faith in humanity to fix what they have done wrong. 1 million people cannot fix the world when there is 7.5 billion people in the world. Over 4 billion people will need to help change the world otherwise it will just keep going down hill.

This shoot is definitely my favourite out of the past shoots i have done as i fixed the ISO which meant none of the photos which i took were pixelated. During this shoot i also took landscapes which i could use in my book to separate the portraits. I am not the most skilled at taking landscapes as i never know what looks good and what does not. The landscapes at Noimont are very natural and untouched by modern buildings and technology, this makes me very plain landscapes which i thought didn’t look especially amazing in colour but they look very powerful in black and white specially if combined with other powerful portraits which i have created both in the studio and in the environment. I think what is powerful about these images when in black and white is that the horizon almost merges with the sea level creating a never ending path. Also each image has a different sense of depth due to the angle i have taken it at, as the first landscape has many different depths from the wall up close in the corner to the rocks at the bottom far away from the lens. These landscapes symbolize uncontaminated nature, parts of the world which we have not ruined and destroyed to create new buildings for people to work or live in.

I did a shoot on the big gun at Noimont point and the images turned out really well but the sun was very bright which made it difficult to photograph my model without the photos coming out to bright. My male model is very good with body language which is why i think these photos worked really well, as he did what i said but he also added in poses and movements of his own which added variety and a different perspective to my images. These images look very sinister in the sense that it links to the battle fought at Noimont and the lives which were lost there. The mask symbolize the battles which have been fought in the world, the wars which we will fight and the invisible wars which not everyone knows about like pollution. I chose these images to be potentially part of my book as i think they are powerful, they look like a moment in time which has been stopped such as my model trying to get up off the gun, that symbolizes the wars which we will continue to fight no matter what the set backs are, we will continue to fight. However the image of my model reaching out towards the camera symbolizes the need for help, the need for more people to join the fight, the war against pollution. I could see this image being used as a propaganda poster to join the army in WW1. The last image of my model simply sitting on the gun symbolizes the loss of hope, the loss of faith in humanity. It symbolizes giving up  as he is slouching with his hands just resting, there’s no sign of a fighting spirit like the other photos. Each image symbolizes something different in my project, they all have different meanings which will come together to link to my theme of pollution. The gas mask is the biggest symbol in my project and in each image it can represent a different struggle.

After this shoot i moved to the bunkers which were open, i decided to photograph my model in the entrance to the armory rooms as it was too dark inside. I did not change the settings on my camera which meant the photos came out dramatic and sharp, it also helped that the sun was not shining directly onto my model or me so it was much easier to photograph and the photos came out dark which added a lot of suspense. These images have a direct link to the war fought in jersey and the wars fought all around the world. All of these images symbolize that no bunker, one of the strongest structures in the world can protect us from pollution, No matter where we hide we will need air to breath and it won’t always be clean. The strongest image of these three is the second image as his eyes are very strong in the image and show a lot of emotion primarily anger but many different people will interpret his emotion differently which makes the image very ambiguous. These image do not directly link to pollution but they symbolize a war, a fight which not many people know about such as most of the people in the world have no clue that Jersey exists just like the war against Pollution. The black and white makes these images really strong, powerful and dramatic, the images need to be like this otherwise they would not stand out and their symbolism would not be so powerful. If i put these images in my book, i will make sure to put text to them to give the viewer an idea of what they could symbolize but leave the rest up to them to image and create an image in their head.

The next part of the shoot was done next to a memorial for navy soldiers who died off the coats of Noimont. This didn’t work out as well as planned as the images look too planned and bland which isn’t what i wanted for my project. This is why they are not in black and white as i do not plan on using them in my book. These images were the least successful of my shoot because they look extremely staged and my model looks to stiff as he is sat very straight against the bench which i think was the wrong pose as it needs to seem more natural or dramatic like the images above. I also feel like the link to war is too direct in these images and does not leave any room for the imagination and the images are very unambiguous which does not fit with the theme of my project. All my images will be ambiguous until fitted into the book then they will become much clearer but still leave room for the imagination of the viewers.

The next part of my shoot was also done on a bench but it was much more successful as it included much more landscape such as the bunkers in the background. The photos appear to be much more natural looking than the ones above which is why i have changed them into black and white as i want to use them in my book. I think these images turned out really well as they are strong in black and white creating a very dramatic image. These images are fairly ambiguous on their own but hopefully they will make more sense if they are placed in my book. The most powerful image out of these two is the second one because of the low angle making my model seem powerful, the image is very strong because we can only see a limited amount of the landscape which adds tension to the image as the viewer will make up what the rest of the landscape will look like. These images symbolize the calm before the storm, the laid back approach that the world is taking to pollution as they do not see it as a serious issue like the war in Afghanistan. They represent the landscape which we have only altered so we can view it, the landscape that we haven’t not destroyed for the “benefit” of Jersey.

For the next part of this shoot i found some metal bars sticking out the wall which was mostly likely used as steps at one time but i thought these would create interesting photos of my model hanging from them and climbing them. The photos turned out really well but the sun was shinning on part of the wall by the bunker which partially ruined the photo as the composition did not look right as the light did not match how dark the area was. These images are a combination of Abstract, tableaux and landscape photography. They are my favourites of my shoot but they could of been greatly improved if the light in the background was not there as this ruins the consistency of the composition of the images. However, in the first image the light works well as a model is in a pose which replicates the angle of the light which makes it much more interesting but the other two images would be much more powerful if the light was not visible, i tried to work around it by photographing my model up close but it did not work. All these images have the same meaning of clinging onto the hope that the world will change, the world will heal itself if we help it like a toddler learning to walk, they simply need help to start with. The pegs in the wall represent the ladder which we need to climb to help the world, the steps are broken, twisted and rusted because the journey will not be easy to fixing the world just like how the war wasn’t easy yet we still managed to do it, so what’s different not?

The last part of my shoot was done underneath a ramp which was most likely used to push the gun up, the light was not shinning directly on my model or me which meant the photos came out fairly dark and sharp which works really well for this project as it is all about how pollution is affecting the world. My model crouched down in front of an opening which i am not sure what it was used for but it worked well to frame my model in the center of the image. The images are very simple but they are lots of meaning behind them in the sense that no amount of hiding behind walls and instead caves will protect you from pollution. No mask will protect you and eventually there will be a memorial with your name on it. Pollution killed 3 million people in 2012, those numbers will only rise with the more cars and buses we put on the roads, the more forests we destroy who suck up all our carbon dioxide and buildings more buildings so that the population which keeps growing will have space to live but actually most of them won’t be able to afford it so the building will be for let for months or years.