After I had explored a variety of different ideas regarding the concept of consumerism in political landscapes, I decided to travel around Jersey looking at quarries. This was because the huge change in landscape the created, whilst also being the source of consumerism towards houses and other desirable things, allowing an insight into what the process looks like. Here I wanted to exaggerate the landscape into something almost unrecognisable and abstract, using photographer Henry J Fair as my main influence regarding consumerism, changing how we perceive the products bought.

When going ahead with the shoot I decided that I should create a mood board which would explore certain ideas I wanted present when commencing the shoot itself. I particularly would like to look at the layered landscape left behind and the sheer size of it. Here are some examples of what I hope to achieve from the shoot:Once complete I decided to produce a mind-map reflected what I intended to photography when on the shoot. By doing this it would limit the amount of time wasted, as I would approach each site with a clear vision in my head of what I wanted. Here are my ideas seen below:

Now that the I was satisfied with the outcome of the mind-map I concluded that I was ready for the shoot itself. Using the mind-map as my reference source I decided to travel to the selected quarries photographing the identified topics. Here is my response to the topic:  After I finished with the shoot I whittled the images town to my favourite ten. By doing this it would allow me to more easily identify which photo was most effective, whilst giving me a broader insight into the layout and style of photography I would be choosing out of. Here are my top ten choices for photos from the shoot:

Once I had chosen my favourite images of the shoot I then proceeded to cut it down again into only five. By doing this it would enable me to analyse each image in more detail, revealing why the image was chosen and what made it so effective for me to choose it. Here are my decisions on the best five images: I selected this image because I found it was a perfect representation of what I wanted to achieve in the shoot. By photographing the scarred landscape left behind from quarrying I had hoped to bring awareness towards the scale that it was happening in. I thought this was done quite aesthetically, as blues and white shone through the dull rocks, not seen until I increased the contrast, whilst the stair like formation provided the photo with a much-needed variation. I really liked how the ledges broke up the cliff from becoming a continual slope, instead providing depth in the image and allowing for greens and blacks to create contrast.  What I really liked about this image was the use of dehaze. By using dehaze on Photoshop it brought out the colours and reflections on the pool, creating a huge amount of contrast and saturation, emphasising the effects as a result. I found the yellow digger to break up the piece, providing an actual size comparison that presented the viewer with an actual scale of the matter. By increasing the saturation of the water I found it created a polluted unnatural effect, where it seems to blue to be rain or sea water, resulting in an aesthetic pool that contrasts against the rest of the landscape.  The reason I chose this image was because of the contrast created by one red container. I found that by providing a red container against a predominately black and white landscape it would add depth and break up the image from becoming too generic and unchanging. What I also found effective was the use of shadow composition that add once again more depth to the piece, stopping the more present shades like grey and white from taking over the entire image, with the intricate machinery adding much-needed differentiation into it.  I chose this image because of its representation of the landscape within the quarry. The maze of machinery present here provides the viewer with what can be found inside the development of quarries, making a silver palace contrasted against the dull browns and white seen in the surrounding rock formations. I really liked the composition of this image especially the building on the left which covers the majority of the photo, adding an aesthetic appeal whilst breaking up the assortment of random tubes and cables. This to me was really well accompanied by blacks seen behind certain structures bringing out walkways and stairs not previous seen from that distance.  Finally I selected this image because it provided an overview to the bottom of the landscape quarrying for granite. I really liked the contrasting colours between the two pools, one being brown and the other blue which I found really reflected the pollution to the landscape caused. I found that the occasional digger present broke up the piece through a flash of red and yellow which went against the natural colours of browns and blacks. What I thought was most effective was the use of dehaze which brought out the shades of soil creating a more surreal landscape as a result, emphasising otherwise invisible aspects of the photo.

Once I had annotated each image  I decided it was time to select the image that best represented my entire shoot. To do this I would have to look at the composition, colour and overall relevance to the topic of consumerism in the five image. Here is my final image that best reflected my entire shoot:

FINAL IMAGEThe reason I selected this image was because I thought it had the best relevance to the entire topic of consumerism. This was because of the dehazing effect I applied on it which to me reflected the style of Henry J Fair whilst over emphasising the effects of quarrying, seen through the bright blues and browns. The yellow digger was one of the major reasons I selected this image as I found it providing a great size comparison to how big an operation quarrying actually is, and the scale of the scarring it can carry out. I found that the blue of the pool really brought together the entire piece, as it broke up the landscape and provided it with something unusual not seen by the public most of the time.