Before I went ahead with my shoots exploring the idea of consumerism I wanted to plan how I would go about doing this. I really wanted to explore the three more dominant areas of consumerism, the production, the buyer, and the waste. I thought that these would best reflect the political landscape of Jersey, as consumerism plays a dominant role in any society, influencing the mind-set of customers who want the newest product or idea. When doing this I would have to look at the aspect of each sector which most effected our everyday life or the environment surrounding it. I then named the three ideas into three sectors, Source, Product, Waste. Here I will be analysing each of the three areas to decide what the focus in each should be and the style I should incorporate into them:

Source:

Here I wanted to look at the sources of our consumerism consisting of mostly of quarries since producing granite is what Jersey is notorious for. I particularly liked the scarring of the landscape created by this industrialisation and how it makes the surrounding area almost unrecognisable and alien like to the viewer. Some of the main aspects regarding quarries that I would like to focus on can be seen below:When looking over images of local quarries I found that the layering of the landscape appealed to me the most, as it presented the viewer with something not necessarily seen in general, being sure to attract the viewer’s attention in. This is accompanied by the use of weird and unusual machinery which when looking over provides quite a menacing intricate design, which once included with the landscape around it could compliment each other well. By presenting these images in a way that could provide evidence of harmful scarring of the environment I believe that the outcome would really highlight the granite industry.

Product: 

For the idea of product I wanted to specifically look at the consumerist landscape around Jersey, especially the variety of shops present in the local area. This would include bigger brands such as Morrison’s, Co-Op and Waitrose, all of which are international brands who hold a lot of influence over the products and items bought by people. Some ideas of the areas I would explore consist of: When looking over the ideas a really like the thought of going into shops and photographing lines of products and the variety of colours they could come in. I don’t think the areas in St Helier would present me with the atmosphere desired for the effects wanted when taking images, leading my shoot to probably branch out on a local level rather than island wide as the bustle would be too much. As well as this I wanted to capture the coldness of empty isles in the shop, such as the meat aisle that when left alone could provide a rather eerie look.

Waste: 

For the final section I thought it would be appropriate to look at the waste industry of Jersey, in this case the dump. Here I would look at the textures created by the huge variety of rubbish thrown away, especially the plastics and metal. For me the landscape would be ideal as the piled dirt mounds would provide explicit evidence of landscape scarring at its full, surrounded by a sea of waste. Here are some examples of the area I will be exploring:What appealed to me here was the industries that surrounded the waste at the end of the road leading up to it. I found this to be a great reflection of how we ended our consumerism as the structures that consisted in the area generally had a grim exterior that the waste which was dumped there. When eventually doing the shoot I would make sure to incorporate the greenery into the picture which would provide contrast to most of the images, our environment vs industrialisation of the land.

Shoot 2 – Henrik Malmström

This shoot is different from the original shoot as these image are tableau photography as I have set the images and the subjects know that I am photographing them rather then going out and capturing images of subjects that don’t know I am taking pictures of them.  This shoot has also been edited differently as I have taken the images and then edited in the style of Henrik rather than taking the pictures in the style of Henrik. The use of high grained images allow for large shadows and detail that allows the images too stand out.  The two shoots have different representations of the artist however, this shoot has also a different theme to it.

Favorite images

Editing in the style of Henrik Malmström

The rule of reality almost blends the difference between fact and fiction, directing staged events that haven’t happened yet or even too re-enacting those in the past. Documentary photography traditionally has been used to reflect and represent facts. With recent events such as the issue of ‘fake news’, the difference between fact and fiction has become blurry, causing confusion among the public. Because of this, it is also used within the breaking of this rule to either react to present events, remember the past, or anticipate or even predict future events.

By adding personal elements to these images it can also show different outcomes if different decisions had been made, which could drastically effect and reflect a separate reality.

I thought reality was an interesting concept that would allow me to challenge it in a number of different ways. I feel reality photography is a door way for me to capture what goes on in my life and would be something I could do to contrast it too someone else’s in a way of what we do and could be documented in a number of different ways.

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. 

‘The real stories of our time aren’t always plain to see. They’re shaped by invisible forces, unfold behind closed doors, and are conveniently erased from collective memory. But in an era of fake news and manipulated truths, we need these stories more than ever. The only way to tell them is to take a few risks, break all the rules and pioneer a new way of seeing the world.’     –    Lewis Bush

The eight rules worth breaking.