When assigned with the theme of environment, I wanted to try and capture the lifestyles and settings of me and my friends. Nevertheless, this concept as an individual project is quite generic and predictable and I feel as if more imagination is required in order to make my work unique. When provided with the brief of ‘environment’ one of the first instincts is going to be the multiple environments of a social group. I don’t want to jump straight to this idea, as the process will be followed by a plethora of other students. My thinking process at this stage was conceptualizing ways in which that I could incorporate some kind of personal element or unique characteristic into this generic idea. I came up with the idea of utilizing disposable cameras. Everywhere I go, I take a disposable camera with me. I really enjoy taking photographs with disposables and love the ‘old-school’ vintage aesthetic that they bring. I think that I love them so much due to the subconscious nostalgia they bring. When I was a child and technology was not quite as advanced, my family and I would always use disposable cameras. We would take them on holidays and vacations as they were cheap, easy to use and did the job. If I look through my house, I will find thousands of disposable photographs documenting my childhood right from the day I was born. I love the physicality of them and how they will always be there, regardless of the advancing digital technology. As a result, I actually prefer using my disposable as oppose to the camera on my phone or canon. I came up with the idea of taking a photograph of my environment with a disposable camera before passing it on to a friend and instructing him or her to do the same. This process would be repeated until more than 10 people have produced images of their personal settings and environments. I like the process of this project, as it involves the participation of a small community and the documentation of multiple environments. It provides the viewer with a quick, sneaky insight into the life of multiple characters. This project takes advantage of the portable, compact and light nature of a disposable camera demonstrating how we can easily transfer images and memories between one another. When providing my friends with the camera, I will simply instruct them to take 3 photographs. This is the only guidance I will provide them. Doing this will ensure that they are not conscious of the brief and fabricating photographs that are not representational of their lifestyle. I want the photographers to produce work whilst unaware of its purpose.
My second idea also incorporates the use of a disposable camera but for a different purpose. For this project I would focus on tourism and travelling. In early April, I am travelling on a cruise around the Mediterranean, visiting dozens of cities around Europe. This includes locations such as Rome, Florence, Pisa, Athens, Pompeii, Monaco, Marseilles and Barcelona. Typically, disposable cameras were perfect for tourists, allowing them to carry small, lightweight cameras to capture their adventures that were inexpensive and temporary. They prevented the hassle of packing a chunky camera that could be easily damaged, also ideal for families and travelers in the late 20th century who could not afford professional cameras. Nevertheless, disposables have gone out of fashion, rarely used due to the introduction of smart phones and their ability to take great photos whilst maintaining the compact lightweight physicality shared by disposables. Although disposables are still sold in stores, their popularity is a shadow of its former self. I would use a disposable to capture the culture and individual atmospheres of each city, looking at landmarks, historical sites and famous locations. This is known as Travel Photography. Travel photography is a genre of photography that may involve the documentation of an area’s landscape, people, cultures, customs and history. The Photographic Society of America defines a travel photo as an image that expresses the feeling of a time and place, portrays a land, its people, or a culture in its natural state, and has no geographical limitations. Many travel photographers specialise in a particular aspect of photography such as travel portraits, landscape or documentary photography as well as shooting all aspects of travel. Alternatively, this can idea can be done without a disposable camera and then I can produce a larger quantity of work.
When choosing my final outcomes below I found that it was very hard to narrow them down. This is because of the many different scenes and subjects shown above that, for me, are all important for documenting this massive pollution issue in Jersey. Therefore I have ended up with my eight final edited outcomes below that I will choose from when putting together my final piece. When editing these outcomes I decided to include a mixture of colour / black and white outcomes to produce a vibrant and dramatic variety. This kind of plastic was really interesting to capture as the texture and light contrast was easily emphasised in post production. Below are my final eight results which I will choose from when creating my final piece…
The first two images above are vibrant and abstract pieces documenting this issue from up-close. The first photograph on the left shows the contrast between the green leafs from a potato plant and the bright shine of the plastic used to grow it. I love the simple composition of this piece as, the fact the plastic takes up the majority of the scene, represents just how much is needed to grow these important plants. The meaning behind this photograph is to give a close up view of this type of plastic paired with the product it helps create. Overall I really like the dark tone and abstract composition of this image as well as the obvious symbolism (created by the vibrant leaves hovering over the bleak plastic) showing my previous idea of ‘man vs nature’. The photograph on the right however has a much more simple point. Here I have captured three sheets of plastic with the thin dirt lines running in-between. By depicting this in such a simple yet intriguing way I was aiming to give a quick insight into where this plastic waste is coming from and how it is used. Although this is a very simple image, without context, this mixture of dark and shimmering light could be seen as very abstract. I love the different textures, reflections and depths that can be seen on these ugly sheets of plastic, emphasised during post production in Lightroom.
The two final outcomes on the top row of the contact sheet above depict the material, after is has been used, but before it is thrown away. The photograph on the left is a portrait shot of the plastic, bunched up, and shoved to the side of a potato field. I like this image for emphasising my point because it is clear that the plastic has been used for a short while then pushed aside before being binned. I love the vibrant and natural colours of this image contrasting the white plastic as well as its interesting composition. The photograph on the right is a very similar piece depicting the plastic bunched up between two rows of potato plants. I like the composition of this as there is a really good sense of perspective to show just how big of a problem plasticulture is. The meaning of this documentary image is obviously to depict the nature of this topic as well as being a good symbol for excess plastic waste. Overall I love the dark tone of this image along with its interesting depth of field. The fact I have made it black and white also increases the dramatic shadows in the plants and highlights the subject matter.
The first photograph depicted above on the left is a close up abstract shot of the plastic sheeting all tied together, ready for disposal. To create this abstract look I have shown the most textured spot that the plastic was tied around itself, in a simple square composition. The meaning behind this image is quite strong as this is the perfect depiction of this type of large-scale plastic going to waste. To make this subject matter more interesting in post production I changed it to black and white and increased things like the clarity, contrast, shadows and highlights. Overall I think this is a very successful photograph that would pair nicely with my presentations of plastic waste previously done in the studio. The next image on the right shows this same waste plastic but with its composition and surroundings as well. I was very happy to find this scene as it perfectly represents what I am trying to say about plasticulture. The white plains of plastic in the background emphasis the dramatic impact of the subject matter and states where it has come from. In the context of documentary photography I think this photograph works very well for portraying my meaning of this subject as well as not being staged at all.
Lastly are two of my favourite images from this documentary shoot. I like how these images go together as the second scene, shown in the image on the right, was found right behind the tree line of the first scene. The photograph on the left depicts the texture of the plastic, being caught in the wind, with trees and the sea in the background. The meaning behind this image is to give a clear idea of how this plastic is used and just how much is plastered over Jersey fields every year. The trees and the sea as the background, along with this images vibrant colours, give the viewer a false sense of beauty for this scene. This is why it is important that it is paired with the image on the left, depicting exactly why this scene is corrupt. This photograph depicts an area in the cliff face I found when walking on the beach directly behind the previously mentioned field. Here you can see the horrible consequences of farming industries using plasticulture, as plastic pours out from under the shrubbery, partially ripped away by the sea. The meaning of this image is to show that our actions have horrible environmental consequences as well as that this material will never just disappear.
When thinking about our island and the ways in which I could capture all of these subjects that I have listed above, one topic for me really stood out. Because I will be looking at a mixture of pollution materials when documenting things such as beaches and landfills later in my project. Subjects like plastic packaging, grocery bags, fishing plastic and micro-plastics are all things I can show together where they are found. So in conclusion I will be concentrating on agricultural plastic waste because it is so common to see on our islands as well as being a massive contributor to global plastic waste.
The first image displayed full and in colour above is a side portrait, half boy shot, depicting the model carefully drapped in a plastic material. To create this look I used an interesting arrangement of cellophane and painted small purple smudges on my model for a bit of extra detail. The meaning behind this photograph is similar to one I explored in my last self portraiture shoot. The head facing away and closed eyes covered by plastic represents our failure to see what is literally right in front of our eyes. I like this clear metaphor I have created with the material along with the stern expression and strong jaw line of my model. The artificial lighting in this picture, as well as my alterations made in post production, has created some very interesting shadows and highlights. I really like the spot light effect I have added to all three of my outcomes as, for me, it symbolises how I am trying to ‘shine light’ on this grim subject. Overall I have chosen this image as my best result from this shoot because of its interesting composition, lighting and soft colour tones.
The next two black and white finals shown above are some of my other successful outcomes from this shoot, depicting the same material, but different poses and symbolic messages. The first photograph on the left shows the model standing straight, looking down at what she is wrapped in, with a simple composition. The message I was trying to get across with this pose was ‘having a look at what man-kind has created’. I like the modest look this composition has along with the dark contrast of the material and her hands. The plastic covering the models eyes also gives the image an abstract and almost fashion photography look. Lastly the image on the right shows the model gripping the plastic that is wrapped tightly around her neck. This obvious symbolism is to show my message through ideas of being trapped and suffocation, ultimately telling the story of the effect it has on animals and marine life. I chose this simple composition because it resembles a previously analysed portrait taken by my inspiration Matthew Lyn.
