A composite image of items found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in Rainham, Kent. Tons of plastic and other waste lines areas along the Thames Estuary shoreline, an important feeding ground for wading birds and other marine wildlife.
A man climbs down to a garbage filled river in Manila. Plastic rubbish will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050 unless the world takes drastic action to recycle the material, a report warned in 2016.
Project Idea
Focusing on plastic pollution for my project is a very current issue in the world today, making the final images relevent and applicable to political landscapes. Many people have realised the detrimental effects on the world with the overusage of plastic and many people are trying to change that. For example, The Independent’s campaign against single use plastics called Cut the Cup Waste was met with such rapid success Robert Jenrick, a Treasury minister, signalled that Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will be acting to reduce waste in this autumn’s budget. This is just one example of people trying to change people’s views on the way they use plastic, similar to what I want to do. I want to further emphasis the effects of plastic and pollution on the world and environment. I also want to explore how these consequences will effect future generations, also looking into personal archives or public archives at past generations and how they have contributed, making my project more personal. I intend to look at specific areas in Jersey and document what is there and what I find. There may have been many photography projects on the effects of plastic on the world, but i plan to look at it in an unconventional way.
Anthropocene:
relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
Cut the Cup Waste https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/latte-levy-plastics-disposable-cups-coffee-mps-25p-bags-a8142141.html
Possible photographers to explore:
http://www.andyhughes.net/site/portfolio-2/uncategorized/plastiglomerate/
Andy Hughes: http://www.andyhughes.net/site/portfolio-2/uncategorized/plastika-alaska-2/