What is a political landscape?

The definition of a political landscape actually refers to the current state of affairs in the area, as well as how they look into the future and respond to it. The word itself originates from the metaphor for development of how progression can occur and what the final outcome by this will produce, however it can also be used as a reference to specific support for varying political parties. Also interpreted as an idiom, political landscapes can be the arrangement or organization of something other than land (e.g. politics).

Examples of political landscapes within Jersey are the people living there (body modifications, disabled, families in different environments), uses of buildings (old hospital, bunkers etc.) and the environment itself (layout of town etc.). Because of this there is a contrasted new against old, where varying forms of expression can be seen as more socially acceptable, with greater health care and state of living, whilst new architectural designs of buildings emerge more frequently in the island. Here are some examples below:From here I decided to create a mind-map which could allow me to express the different areas of the political landscape that I potentially wanted to pursue. This would also allow me to quicken the process of the shoot associated with this topic, as by making a mind-map I would not waste time thinking about my focus point when doing the shoot itself. These were my ideas: What came to me as the most interesting stance for the subject of political landscapes was the idea of consumerism, I thought that by contrasting the source of consumerism and the outcome of it, it would give awareness to how bad the issue had become. To do this I would have to explore various areas of interest around the island, photographing them to later edit in software such as Adobe Photoshop where I would crop and change certain aspects of the piece. Another stance could be the process of retail and how the build up of consumerism is seen in everyday life over the years, this could provide a stark comparison to how the islands landscape has developed over the years and whether it can be deemed positively or negatively.

How, who, when, where and why?
Instead of focusing on the financial side of Jersey I could instead look at the development of waste built up over time and the process towards it. To do this I would have to explore areas such as the dump and town whilst photographing how it changes and scars the landscape around us, whilst presenting seemingly polar opposite sides of Jersey which implicitly link. When doing these shoots I may decide to present my photographs in more abstract and aesthetic ways, by doing so it would not only make the images more appealing but also raise awareness towards the sheer size of the problem through exaggeration. Finally my last idea regarding political landscapes are the areas the surround and lead to the process of waste. Examples of this could be farmland to provide contrast to waste seen at its source, or the industrial/businesses which surround the area, giving an insight into the landscape they have become use to. To do this I will be specifically looking at the area of St Helier and the North of the island where the majority of farmland is, being the most straightforward way of present my viewpoint.