The collaborative photographers Ayesta and Bression were two that stood out to me from the list of photographers who were involved in the Guernsey Photography Festival 2018. After reading the exhibition information about the photographers it was evident to me that the ideas behind their work fitted my initial ideas on how to proceed with the topic ‘political landscapes’ and also continues on from what I explored within the Future of St Helier…

…Specifically of all looking at how people are affected by their surrounding environment, in this case how the people of Fukushima in Japan were affected due to the nuclear disaster that occurred in the region in March 2011.

Here is a link to the Bression and Ayesta page on the Guernsey Photography Festival 2018 website – https://guernseyphotographyfestival.com/2018-festival/photographers/guillaume-bression-carlos-ayesta

A statement from L’Œil de la photographie regarding the photographers followed as ‘Carlos Ayesta and Guillaume Bression rushed to Fukushima after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. To see for themselves. To bear witness. They photographed not to testify but by necessity, because they could not believe their eyes, and that—the unbelievable magnitude of the devastation—turned their amazement into a project.’ I believe that this is a great example of how an experience or a concern can make a great reason to produce amazing photographs which have a lot of context and meaning behind them. This is something that I wish to do with this following project as I am going to explore an issue which I personally, as well as many others, are concerned about.