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.

Who is Henry J Fair?

Fair is an American photographer, environmental activist, and co-founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in New York. Photographer J Henry Fair is best known for industrial scars series, where he researches our world’s most egregious environmental disasters and create image that are simultaneously stunning and horrifying, resembling abstract paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock. His works have been featured in segments on The Today Show, CNN, Geographic, Rolling Stone and New York Magazine. In addition to this he travels the world in fine art exhibitions at major museums, galleries and educational institutes.

Fair uses large-scale aerial photo shoots to accompany documentary research, with various projects exploring the detritus of our consumer society. His main project, Industrial Scars, photographs a huge range of subjects from oil drilling and coal ash waste, to larger agricultural production such as abandoned mining operations. Each photo calls attention to environmental and political problems in different regions of the world. Here are some examples of his work below: 

After reviewing the images that Fair produced I decided it was time to annotate one of photos he had produced in order to have a greater understanding of the process behind it. To do this I would have to look at three factors, conceptual, technical and visual. By doing this I would be able to create a response to this as the methods and process used would be more aware to me. The image I have decided to analyze is called Bulldozed Ash, and is part of the Industrial Scars project:

Visual: Visually the image is aesthetically pleasing to look at, with the bright vivid colours of the water being complimented by the dull colours of the surrounding ash. The water itself prevents the ash from becoming too overpowering, breaking it up through the stream which runs north of the photo. To stop the image from becoming too dull there are elements of yellows and various other colours to help bring life and beauty into it, with the gradient of the ash into water allowing for a smoother overall feel. 

Technical: The images uses a higher saturation than normal to produce the coloured desire. By doing this it brings out colours that would have been otherwise invisible to the eye, providing the viewer with a scene that looks almost too alien to be real. This is accompanied by a higher contrast which emphasizes the shadows between piles of dirt creating a mountain like terrain, whilst smoothing the transition between ash and water. The piece has purposely been made landscape to induce symmetry, using the composition as a form in which the water can break up the endless piles of ash.

Conceptual: The piece comes from the project Industrial Scars, looking at how pollution and man’s intervention towards the environment leads to the scarring and warping of the areas around it. The majority of work is based around oil industries and the consequences of using the most valuable fuel, seen in the image above from all the ash produced by one factory. This brings awareness to the matter concerning global issues such as global warming and the ever increasing raise to obtain a sustainable power source.

For this post I wanted to experiment with the overlay feature using previously taken images, combining them together as a result. My aim from this was to create abstract, even surreal images by presenting everyday objects and things in weird ways. By doing this I would like to see if the method could take my imagery further, and potentially be a key use in upcoming shoots in the next few weeks. The software I’d have to use to create the desired outcomes would be Adobe Photoshop due to it providing the widest range of adjustments used on photos, here is the process of how I created the various images using the overlay feature: Once I had finished experimenting with a few of my previously taken images I decided to create five that I thought best reflected the overall outcome that I wanted the best. When doing this I wanted to incorporate contrasting environments or similar ones, this way each image would reflect something similar or different, rather having no link whatsoever. Here are some of my final and favorite outcomes from this experimentation:

When looking over my final pieces I found I particularly liked the ones which had a manipulated circle within the center, this was because to me it provided a contrasting perspective into the image, presenting a clearer or more distorted viewpoint. This as a result for me not only looked aesthetic but also produced a meaning behind each photograph.

Surrealism is an art form that became popular in the 1920s as an expression of a revolutionary philosophy. It attempted to free people for their unmovable rationality and the restrictive habits in politics, religion and social behavior. Mostly aligned with radical political movements, it aims at liberating the mind and freeing the imagination. Surrealism in photography is about adding certain imaginary elements to the real physical world, diminishing the fine line between what is possible and impossible, mixing them into a composition. Examples of this consist of headless portraits replacing heads with inanimate objects like umbrellas, and using vivid colours, these photos tend to incorporate two entirely different perspectives and merging them together.

This idea for mixing usually two contrasting things together to form an image I found interesting and wanted to make a basis out of it for future shoots. This would mean using software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom to create the desired outcomes, whilst using my own photographs from shoots to add objects and people into the picture. Here are some examples of surrealist photography:On artist I found to be particularly influential was photographer Lara Zankoul. Zankoul looks at the idea of underlying representation, and how polar opposites are represented in seven parts as symbol of the fundamentally divine nature of the medium, interrelation and dynamics. Known as Taoist the focus is mainly visual in her work, while the main theme continues to be spiritual and philosophical. When exploring her works I liked the constant use of lighting and perception of the eye to create final outcomes with a surreal twist, the hidden figure of the human body seems to be one of the main focuses of her works, much like Clare Rae’s work Zankoul hides the female face to create an unseen identity.

Some of her works can be seen below exploring these ideas of surrealism and software to produce unusual imagery:Once after creating a mood-board including my favorite images in it, I decided I should analyse one of her most well-known photographs to see and understand what made it so effective as an overall image. To do this I would have to explore three areas: technical aspects, visual aspects and conceptual knowledge of the actual piece itself. By doing this it would allow me to create a response shoot to the artists of my choice in a surrealist style that I could relate to my own personal topic of political landscapes. The picture I chose from Lara Zankoul is called ‘The Unseen’ and is part of a solo exhibition regarding a series of photos. Technical: The image itself uses artificial lighting to create the scene inside the studio made room, because of this the end result makes the impression that the whole thing is subtly staged. A relatively normal shutter speed seems to have been used due to how not too much light has been let and how shadows have not become too overpowering, this as a result allows for a balanced piece where neither of the shades dominate each and instead compliment. The exposure inside the photograph in my opinion is a bit high than usual, but is done effectively to have the green/blue walls pop out against the backdrop of the two characters seated, complimenting them and filling the blank spaces with a more calming and dramatic colour.

Visual: Visually I think that the piece is extremely aesthetic to the eye due to the composition of the characters in the room and the colours which complement all other aspects. Symmetry seems to be one of the leading aspects within this photo as both the rabbit and horse and positioned equally away from each other with the chandelier placed directly in between them, breaking up the otherwise generic unchanging colours that consist through the image. The water which added as a break, separates the room into a surreal image, as the underwater aspect of the tea party is unusual and so intrigues the viewers to observe the image for longer than they actually had expected.

Conceptual: The concept behind the pieces were to challenge Zankoul to develop images that went beyond regular adjustments. This included creating a completely fabricated environment that her models would have to model in, using fish tanks and specially made rooms to provide them with situations they could adjust too .

Once I had reviewed the idea of truth within photography, and the camera’s ability to warp perspectives and therefore the influence of opinions regarding what people see, I decided I should head back to the dump and attempt to over-exaggerate the sights present there to influence the viewers. I particularly felt inspired by the idea of exaggerated the truth and warping people’s opinions to support yours, regardless of it being a lie. The photographers I found to be of significant inspiration are Andrea Gursky Robert Capa, by using these photographers style and technique as a way of composing my photos it would allow me to produce imagery that accurately represented my vision regarding consumerism, changing the conventional style of photography I’m used to.

When commencing with the shoot I decided I should look at the objects themselves specifically to provide an insight into the general sighting that can be found in this particular environment. By looking into the materials dumped here I would be able to present how the landscape has been scarred but also this hidden aestheticism hidden beneath all this waste. Here is a mood-board to reflect my various intentions and goals when taking images:

Once I had finished I decided I would create a mind-map to portray and sum up the ideas I have for exploring the area. By doing this it would prevent me from wasting time thinking there and then about what to do, instead allowing me to head into the area with a clear mind focused on what I want to achieve. My ideas can be seen below:

Now that I was satisfied with my ideas I decided it was time to go out and take photographs. The area I wanted particularly to explore was the actual dumping ground of waste material, not the landscape surrounding it like the previous shoot, allowing for a more in-depth look of how out consumerism is handled and sectioned off into varying materials. Here are the results of the shoot: After the shoot was complete I decided to select the ten images I thought best reflected the intentions of the shoot both visually and implicitly. By doing this it would allow me to deduct other images that I thought didn’t portray the aim of the shoot correctly or were poorly taken, here are my choices:

After I had completed organizing and separating all images into a top ten mood-board, I then decided to cut that once again into only five images. By doing this it would allow me to individually analyze each photo, viewing how they related to the topic and their looks as an overall image, here are my selections for the top images for this shoot:  I selected this image because of how I loved the positioning of the paint cans, this look of just the bottles careless thrown into the bin scattering paint everywhere creates an unusual background of random colours. I also really liked how the higher exposure allowed for a dark border across the bottom of the image, creating the impression of the unknown due to there being no evidence for how far these material stretch. The focal point seems to be the center paint can which is clearly defined from the backdrop by the shadows surrounding it producing an abstract effect from the area around it.  What I liked about this image was the clear contrast and separation of rubbish and everyday life working in the area. This contrast seen through the separation of the electronics and a construction worker show evidence of how the area has adapted to suit their life around the product of consumerism. The sheer mass of the electronics almost overflowing out of their section creates the impression of disorganization, where once used they are careless thrown to the side never to be seen again. Looking at this image it is clear how much space is required to hold the waste, especially after seeing how far into the hangar it stretches.  I found that the emptiness of this image was what attracted me to it, alongside the vivid colours which accompany it. The use of a singular chemical bottle on the shelf with the over half of the container sprayed with unknown chemicals provides a messy and unorganized look, where obviously dangerous liquids have been disposed of incorrectly, whilst the bareness of the shelf allowing an insight into how little we attempt to throw away these harmful materials. By the sign being there I feel like it breaks up the otherwise overpowering image which would otherwise be dominated by red.    This image was chosen because of how effective it is at providing evidence towards the sheer mass of things we throw out. Accompanied by the symmetry, the random electronics thrown into a pile can be seen as an almost abstract piece in itself, which various vivid colours breaking through the dull dark grays and blacks. For me this provides a huge insight into how we treat our ever-increasing consumerism, and how once used it’s simply discarded to be lost in the endless heap of other categorized objects. Finally I selected this image because of its contrast between the yellow mirror and the now dirty and broken glass window. I thought that this looked very symbolic, with the new mirror that had just been thrown away providing a clear contrast between that of an old broken window, that had obviously been thrown out a while ago and had deteriorated to an almost unrecognizable image of its former use. This contrast is defined through the use of the shadow which separates each piece of glass, stopping the other into blending with it and becoming eye sore.

Once I had analyzed each image I decided it was time to decide on which photo best represented the entire shoot as a whole. Here is my decision:

Final Image: The reason I selected this image as my overall best photo for the shoot is because of how I think it best represents our consumerism as a whole. By presenting the sheer size of our waste I found it to be particularly impacting due to there being no structure into the actual organization of anything placed into the area. I also really like the clear contrast between the surrounding area and the waste itself, seen through the side of a building which the rubbish is stacked against, whilst revealing the extent of the wastes size. As a result I found this photo reflected my intention well due to it giving awareness around how much we throw out and how our consumerism leads to this build up of random materials clustered into one pile.

Who is he?

Andreas Gursky was born January 15th, 1955, Leipzig, East Germany. The son of a commercial photographer, Gursky grew up around photography, starting to photograph things with a black and white Leica camera. He soon started to go against the trend and began working with coloured imagery and tripods. Gursky started to focus more and more on detail in the composition of his photos, the style he is now most celebrated for. By 1980 Gursky was producing photographs so large that they could only be printed on commercial boards, leading him to print of the largest photo paper ever, which he then combined single sheets with to make even larger. From here he became best known for his monumental digitally manipulated photos that examined consumer culture and the busyness of contemporary life, using his unique composition strategies to result in dramatic images that walk the line between representation and abstraction.

Gursky soon became fundamental in redefining photography for a new generation of photographers. Using digital image manipulation forcing into debate a new version of truth within photography, becoming apparent that the truth manipulating abilities of the camera could distort reality and erode the viewer’s trust. This pushed people to consider the question of truth, with this new digital photography becoming more and more relevant. Some of his work can be seen below:Once I had reviewed a few of his works I decided to go on and analyse one of his photos, by doing this it would allow me to understand what made his photography so effective. Whilst giving me an insight into the techniques and focuses of the style of photography he uses, and the thought process behind it. The image I have chosen is called ‘99 Cent’, taken 1999 of a local convenience store: Visual: Visually this image is extremely aesthetic, with the broad variety of colours present in the shop providing a sea of rainbows to be looked upon by the viewer. This is stopped from being too consistent and overpowering through the use of obvious shelves which stops the packaging from merging with the next, the white poles which pop up occasionally also add to this through their symmetrical layout across the shop, providing clear coordination in the piece and an unseen structure in the shops structure. I love how the packaging of the food is countered by the texture of the ceiling, which seems to almost reflect the colours of the below, fading into the distance as if its never ending.

Technical: When looking over the photo, I notice that the image itself uses a relatively higher exposure than usual due to shadows and black areas not being to noticeable and through the faded effect of the variety of colours such as red and blue. However a low saturation could have been used, reducing the colour of the products, stopping them from being too overpowering and instead becoming aesthetic. Gursky has purposely angled the camera so that he picks up the symmetry of the entire shop, with the poles and heads being reference to how he has done so. Finally the inclusion of the wall on the left breaks up the shop from becoming purely focused on products, presenting consumer life in the picture as well.

Conceptual: The image itself is meant to be a spectacle of consumerism appearing as organised, rigorous and formal. However the photo actual is hyper real, where yes its rooted in reality, however there is no physical space like it. By portraying such heightened constructions of our existence from dollar stores to football fields and sprawling cities, Gursky’s photography acts as a symbol of contemporary life. Seen through the mirrored food flattened and the iconic work, over exaggerating the environment of the surrounding environment.

For this post I will be analyzing how a photo of my choice by a photographer can be interpreted and the story behind it that may be carried. The photographer I have chosen is called Robert Capa, a Hungarian war photographer, considered one of the greatest in history, here I have selected his famous ‘Death of a Loyalist Soldier’, 1936, which depicts the instant death that this loyalist has been captured through in mid shot. Here I will be looking at four factors that create such an impact when reviewing the picture; contextual, conceptual, visual and technical.Contextual: Taken during the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, showing the moment of a bullet’s impact on a loyalist soldier, Capa’s photograph has become the emblem for the medium’s unrivaled capacity to depict sudden death. The style of photojournalism became the mark that defined Capa’s work from there on, joining the company Magnum Photos in the late 1940s. The photo itself appear to capture a Republican soldier at the moment of death, the soldier is seen collapsing backward after being picked off from a distance by a sniper. The pictured solider is dressed in civilian clothing but wears a cartridge belt, and following its publication was acclaimed as one of the greatest photos ever taken. However since the 1970s there has been significant doubts about its authenticity due to its location, the identity of its subjects, and the discovery of staged photographs taken at the same time and place.

Conceptual: The idea behind the image was to capture one of the most shocking moments in war, death. Although it was supposedly an accident, the image itself was published because of its insight into the impact of war, and how one moment can lead to another resulting in tragedy. When taken the photographer wanted to capture life on the front line, and life between skirmishes, attempting to depict life in such an isolated region of the country.

Technical: The image itself uses a higher shutter speed to capture the motion of the solider without blurring either the subject and landscape, by doing this the result is crisper without any eye-sores created by faults. Within this image the contrast seems to have been lowered so that only the more dominantly dark objects are defined (such as shadows, gun, hair and dark grass), this leaves the rest of the photo as more bland and faded due to it only consisting of different shades of white, whilst creating a stark outline for the main focus of the picture, the soldier. The black and white result of the camera used produces a more sinister tone surrounding his death due to it being devoid of any other colours, this to me adds context to the image as it reduces your perspective on the story being portrayed, instead giving only the option of two viewpoints.

Visual: Visually the pieces incorporates an executioner, stark backdrop and dramatic nocturnal lighting. By doing so, this for the viewer zeroes on the instantaneous death received by the soldier which will be forever anticipated in the photograph. The image itself seems to resemble an equally famous picture of the civil war in Spain named “The Third of May, 1808” by Francisco Goya in 1814, this provides a narrative element for Capa’s image due to there being a story behind the position and landscape it was taken in. Because of the piece perfectly evokes both discrete moment and an epoch, where one encounters a distillation of the Fascist violence, and the brutally extinguished Republican sense of hope for a new, free egalitarian society, ultimately defining the Spanish Civil War.

After completing a few shoots I decided that I should explore different ways of presenting my imagery. To do this I thought that by editing the best selection into a black and white format to increase their contrast it would allow me to further look at how I could compose future images regarding the book I will be making. What I wanted to achieve through this was a traditional straight photographic image, due to colour being a rarity at the time leading photographers to produce photographs in monochrome. To create the results I want I will be using the software Adobe Photoshop as it provides a huge variety of tools that will be able to help me adjust each photo to the requirements wanted. Here is the process behind my editing: After I had experimented with a variety of different black and white settings I then proceeded to select the best images that the effect worked on. The results I wanted needed to be high contrasted and produced an impacting technique that defined the landscape through shadows surrounding the subjects within. Here were my choices for the best outcome for the black and white experimental edits: I found that the results of these edits were successful as the monochrome effected added the desired amount of shading for the landscape it surrounded, whilst providing a more straight photography stance that emphasized the destruction of the landscape in more detail due to them being devoid of any colours to distract you. For me this produced an aesthetic result that complimented the topic well as it draws to light the issues at hand in more detail.

After researching rules and conventions of photography I finally thought that I was able to proceed onto the actual topic of political landscapes and how I could go about exploring the idea behind it. I really like the idea of surrealism and the use of conventions that I had previously used in various shoots and so thought it would be interesting to relate it to people, landmarks and landscapes. The artists I found to be of particular influence towards my interests are Edward Burtynsky and Donald Weber. By using these photographers as my primary influences for my political landscape shoot it would allow me to process the outcomes through different software such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, creating differing outcomes due to the new range of possibilities that the apps presented.

For the shoot itself I wanted to look at the topic of consumerism, looking at things like: waste, shops, farmland and people. I thought by researching this topic it would perfectly define how the process of consumerism leads to its impacts regarding all aspects of society and how we live in Jersey. What I will be looking at in this shoot are how the use of consumerism changes and warps the outcome of the landscape around us. To get some ideas here is a mood-board to reflect various perspectives regarding the subject:Leading examples of the certain photographers shown above interest me by looking at the subject of political landscapes in a more both a documentary and abstract approach than I would usually do. By doing this I could present my views and perspectives in a more implicit way rather than explicit, here are some mood-boards I have previously used in certain posts presenting the various photographers work:

Before actually proceeding with the shoot itself I thought it would make sense to create a mind-map with the topics and points of interest that I wished to explore when walking around looking to take photos. By doing this it would enable me to quickly focus and identify what to look for, whilst also prevent time from being wasted during the shoot itself by not knowing what to do. Here are my ideas regarding the topic: After I had created the mind-map I finally decided I was ready to go onto the actual shoot. Using the ideas above as a basis for my shoot I chose to focus on political aspects of the outcome of consumerism and how they shaped the landscapes around us. Here are the results from the shoot that I took on the topic of political landscapes:

Once I had finished with the shoot I decided it was time to select ten images that I thought best reflected and represented the photos overall, and how they related to my chosen topic. By doing this it would allow me later on to select an overall best image using the method of deduction. Here are my favorite images from the contacts sheets:

From here I then chose five of my best images out of the selection of ten, by doing this it would then allow me to analyze and study each image to greater detail, looking at the aspects that made me choose each picture. Here are my best five images from the shoot that I believe to reflect my intentions the best: I selected this image because of the clear contrast between the green grass and the now disposed of fridges. I found that this contrast really produced an insight into how the landscape had been changed due to the process of consumerism, and how careless we have become in the outcome of out waste. I particularly liked how the concrete block broke up the generic pattern created by the sky, fridges and grass, adding a new perspective into the landscape rubbish is dumped into. This is complimented through the use of the darkened sky which casts an overlying grim tone across the entire image, preventing any chance of vivid colours coming through.  My list the first image I found that the pattern created by the sky, fridges and grass made not just an aesthetic result but also produced insights into our islands waste industry. What made me select this photo was how the blue cooler in the center of the image really broke up the symmetry and became the initial focus when skimming over the piece. I found that the wall of fridges really appealed to me as not only was it unusual but how it also reflect the sheer mass of items that have become unwanted to us.
This image to me produced an impact through how the knowledge of what they are used for. The machines here are in the process of digging new landfills to dump rubbish in, in which the surrounding area is covered in seagulls living off the excess waste produced from of consumerism. The rest present in the image appealed to me through how it looked menacing and large compared to the rest of the landscape, but also how the wildlife such as the gulls centered their lives around the actions of how these machines operated.   I selected this image because it shows the outcome of the machinery used above, where dirt has become mixed in with rubbish, completely changing the landscape through the piling of rubble carelessly thrown around abandoned areas. I really like the contrast between the dark colours of the dirt mounds and the clear sky, this is because of how it presents how out-of-place and unnatural the placement of the piles are, essentially scarring the landscape in the process. Finally I chose this image because it had the clearest contrast between man-made structures and nature in the entire shoot. This is represented through how the overwhelming pile of rubbish is overflowing across the road and only the green common, where a strip of dirt is seen as the only boundary holding back the tide of waste from flowing elsewhere. I especially like how the piece had been composed, as the majority of the picture is taken up by rubbish and the smallest section is filled with green grass, providing an insight into how we have treated out environment.

Best Image The reason I selected this image as my favorite photo from the entire shoot was because of its composition and symmetry, whilst explicitly putting across my view of how we are treating certain areas of Jersey. What drew me in was how careless the fridges were thrown on top of each other, however at the same time creates a pattern that suggests each fridge was placed with purpose to produce this wall of white. I also really like how certain objects in the wall broke up the white pattern such as the cooler, rust and holes which pop up from time to time between the fridges.

Who is Edward Burtynsky?

Born 1955, Ontario after his parents migrated to Canada, Burtynsky’s interest for photography came about after a widow sold her camera to his father, from here both of them practiced making monochrome photo prints. They later opened a small portrait photography business with his sister during the 1970s, where he soon started working at a printing press to then joining Niagara College to have a graphic arts diploma, with later in life enrolling into the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1982.  He later started to use digital cameras with higher resolutions in 2007.

Most of Burtynsky’s photography are landscape views that have been distorted by piles of scrap, quarries and tailing mines, presenting nature as altered by the industries around them. Most of his trips were to China, photographic emerging industry settings such as the Three Gorges Dam, the largest engineering project in the world. Most of his influence comes from the works of Edward Weston, Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and Ansel Adams, whose work he continual saw at the local Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of Burtynsky’s work has been shot using a field camera with a large format, using an aerial approach mostly in his work to be able to gain a vantage point.

Following these Burtynsky produced some photo series named: Makrana Quarries in India, 2000; Iberia Quarries in Spain, 2006; Ship-breaking in Bangladesh, 2000 to 2001; Urban Mines: Metal Recycling, Canada Tire Piles, USA from 1997 to 1999; Australian Mines in West Australia. However in 1985 Burtynsky established Toronto Image Works, a rental facility for a darkroom and equipment, with a year later turning it into a gallery opened within the space that displays the work of international and local artists. Here is a mood board of various images taken by him that I thought to be of particular influence:After reviewing some of his works I decided to analyse a photography that I thought summed up his style of work the best. To do this I would be looking at three specific topics: visual aspects, technical aspects and conceptual knowledge. These would allow me to incorporate his working style into my work which I could use as influence. The image I chose was “Densified Scrap Metal” (1997):

Technical: The image itself uses bold colours in a symmetrical pattern as its main means of putting the message of consumerism across. This is done through the use a vignette which boxes in the image to highlight the issue of the image present, whilst also being complimented by a higher saturation which brings out the oranges and silvers which make up most of the cubes. Because of this the majority of the image is more or less stock, with most of the colours and composition being left as it was taken, meaning not much work was done to it, with the only adjustments being the vignette and saturation. The image is more or less taken with a high resolution camera in order to capture the image to the best detail possible.

Visual: Visually the picture uses man-made symmetry as the main form of aestheticism. The use of creating a high definition image creates what would otherwise be ugly beautiful, due to the highlights and shade which accompany it, this present a new perspective towards the landscape with many seeing it as art instead of a scar. Symmetry is hugely present as the floor acts as a way of neutralization for any blank space which could potentially ruin the image and stopping the pattern from becoming too overpowering, preventing the photo from just consisting of scrap metal.

Conceptual: This photo was taken to raise awareness towards the impacts and result of consumerism, looking into how we respond to this overwhelming waste that we produce on a weekly scale. The image itself looks into the aestheticism but also devastation we cause towards our natural environments, attempting to shed light onto how we deal with our consumerism and how we can tackle the increase of waste.