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A2 Personal Investigation, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas

Evaluation of Political Landscape

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Going into exploring ‘political landscape’ initially I knew that I wanted to explore the development of my house over time and my experience of living within a house that is constantly changing and never truly finished.  I had my vision of what I wanted to do but I had to do some research to find inspiration on how to approach my project.  The first set of photographers that I studied were Bression and Ayesta and Fernando Maselli.  Bression and Ayesta focused on human memories and how the Fukushima exclusion zone has changed over time without human inhabitants having an influence over it whereas Maselli looked more at nature and land that had been untouched by humans.  I started to lean more towards Bression and Ayesta’s style as I felt that their project ‘Retracing Our Steps’ had a strong narrative throughout it whilst including a human element, which inspired me to include some archival and new family portraits.  I then started to explore the work of Lewis Bush – specifically his work ‘Metropole’ in which he photographed buildings with a double exposure effect in order to create a sense of confusion.  After creating a response to this I decided that this would not be an appropriate way to show the story of the development of my house.  I then found Huang Qingjun who had a strong body of work titled ‘Jiading’ which explored the modernisation of China and how the rural population had been affected – I felt that this was an appropriate project to take inspiration from as it brought a real human element to the table as well as exploring building and social trends in an area (which is seen in my project as the fashion of houses and clothing changes over time).  From here I took inspiration from the idea that Qingjun was looking at the belongings of the residents, and so I photographed the belongings of my dad, who is a carpenter with his own workshop, because he developed the house in his own vision and design with only help in specialist areas.  For this reason I felt that it was important to show an aspect of what goes into developing a house.  I took a lot of inspiration for my project from the straight photography movement as I aimed to create the photographs in this project in a documentary style in order to show things for what they are.   This interest in a documentary style approach led to the inclusion of lots of archival photographs of the house that were taken by my parents throughout the renovation as well as photographs dating back to the 1800’s.

Overall, I had a vision for what I wanted to do from the start and throughout the project the idea of how I would approach the project changed as I researched more and more.  I believe that the changing approaches helped me to achieve an outcome that was thoroughly researched and well put together as well as including a lot of the many aspects that come under the title ‘political landscape’.  Through this project, I have learnt that doing plenty of research is a priority when trying to find your approach – it can bring lots of inspiration to you and force you to think in ways that you had not previously thought about leading to more original and interesting ideas.  This project has taught me a lot about how much editing and experimenting goes into creating a photobook – halfway through the project I thought that I was nearly finished and so put together a selection of photographs only to find that the selection was missing something in a few areas and so I went out and increased the portfolio of photographs which ended up adding more complexity and sub-narratives to the book.  It is clear that experimenting with different ideas is essential for a successful project rather than being narrow-minded and sticking to one idea and allowing that to guide your decisions.

 

A2 Personal Investigation

Framing Images

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Once I had finished with the design of the book I then proceeded to go onto framing some of the photos I had previous taken in a few shoots. Before I got onto the actual framing I wanted to decide on a layout that I could present them in before I actually did it. Here is a mood-board of some of the various compositions that I might consider when framing up the images:

I then proceeded to choose the images I wanted to frame, I selected the photos that I thought best reflected the topic and looked the best visually, technically and conceptually. These are the six images I chose for my framing outcomes:

After I had completed selecting the photos I then went onto choosing the way I wanted them framed, the composition I chose presents the photos in descending size order (A3, A4, A5). By doing this it would allow me to create two separate frames where each size would represent a different area to consumerism and its process being creating, selling and ridding. However I thought that doing it would be too plain by itself so decided to create frames where the image sinks into the paper. To create this I would have to map out the composition on paper to then cut it out and stick the images on the other side of the sheet, giving the impression of a sunken photo. These were my results:

Overall I was really happy with the outcome of the composition as I thought by arranging the photos in an order where the biggest issue is presented as the biggest photo really highlights the issue of consumerism and the process it goes through all the while effect out environment. I also really like how the image size descended as I found that it really produced an aesthetic feel where the issue is represented by the size of the photos (waste being the most harmful).

A2 Personal Investigation, Essay

Essay – Mandy Barker and Keith Arnatt

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In what way have Mandy Barker and Keith Arnatt explored the concept of Anthropocene in their work?

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it” – Salvador Dali (Barker 2017:36)

Human’s impact on the environment has been so severe that the earth is in a new age, Anthropocene. Photographers have taken it into their own hands to present the impacts of mankind on the environment in their works, leaving the rest of interpretation and action to the viewer. Mandy Barker often draws an audience in by presenting her work with an aesthetic of beauty which then contradicts and shocks them when they realise the true meaning, whereas Keith Arnatt gets straight to the point demonstrating the disgusting truth behind thrown away plastics, decaying foods and trashed toys. I chose to look at these artists specifically due to their non-conventional approaches, taking a more close perspective of individual aspects such as certain items found in a landfill or the effects of micro plastic pollutes on plankton at the bottom of the food chain, in turn impacting everything that feeds on them and further on. Being able to inspect rubbish items in the same way will allow me to develop insight into where these items come from and the narrative behind them as well as where they may end up (or should be prevented from ending up). Similarly to Mandy Barker, I want to take a scientific approach, figuratively and literally looking at items with the use of a microscope in order to look at the effects of rusting, decay and contamination of waste that I create as well as interesting objects that I find in the natural landscape.

Historical Context:

Photography started out as an important tool for the use of science, an innovation created by those who did not yet call themselves an ‘artist’. One early practitioner, Louis Daguerre, is considered one of the fathers of photography due to his invention of the daguerreotype process. The process involved exposing a sheet of silver plated copper to light then fuming it with mercury vapour, a hazardous element that requires the plate to be conserved under glass to avoid poisoning as well as to prevent tarnishing by prolonged exposure. It went on to become the most commonly used process for nearly 20 years due to its “exquisite minuteness” (Morse, 1839) as said by American Inventor Samuel F B Morse. The detailing in images produced by these new processes made photography a useful application in research into archaeology and botany. Anna Atkins became the first woman to publish a photobook using the cyanotype process, in which she captured British algae species. The cyanotype process, invented by a friend of Anna’s, Sir John Herschel, required the user to mix Potassium ferricyanide and Ferric ammonium citrate with water before coating a chosen material and allowing to dry in the dark. Objects or negatives are then placed on the material to make a print by using UV light. After her mother had died in 1800, Anna became close to her father , John George Children, known as a British chemist, mineralogist and zoologist. These origins caused her to pursue her interests in botany by collecting dried plants. These were probably used as photograms later.  She was elected a member of the London Botanical Society in 1839. More recently, artists have chosen to represent environmental issues through staged photography. Although staged photography had emerged as a genre in the 1980s, it has also been around since the invention of the medium. Artists make specific choices when staging their images, choosing to consciously place elements in compositions that reflect the emotions they want to portray. One of the pioneers of staged photography, Duane Michals, acknowledges “I think it’s important to know how to make a portrait of someone that doesn’t tell you what they look like, but what they are about” (Michals, 2012). Keith Arnatt demonstrates Staged photography by choosing which pollutes to showcase in order to reflect the negative impacts on the environment, for example by using decaying items with an underlying meaning of things we throw away. He also chooses to present his images with a minimalistic style which showcases his background as a conceptualist. Minimalism and conceptualism became popular movements in the 1960s. Both movements challenged the existing structures for making, disseminating and viewing art and argued that the importance given to the art object is misplaced. Minimalist art can be seen as extending the abstract idea that art should have its own reality and not be an imitation of some other thing, the artist wants the viewer to respond only to what is in front of them. Conceptual art, however, is art for which the meaning  behind the work is more important than the finished art object.

Anna Atkins, Lastrea dilatato, British, 1853, Cyanotype, 25.4 × 19.5 cm

 

Mandy Barker

Mandy Barker, Beyond Drifting: Pleurobrachia stileucae, 2017

Mandy Barker, SOUP: Turtle, 2012

Mandy Barker’s ‘Beyond Drifting’ project served as the main inspiration to my work. Looking at micro-plastic pollutes and their effects on plankton, Barker demonstrates the impacts on an entire food chain with us at the top of it. In one image, titled “Pleurobrachia stileucae”, the remnants of a partially burnt plastic flower are depicted, collected from Carrigaloe estuary, Cove of Cork, Ireland. Items are captured using a slow shutter speed representing the movement of individual plankton in a water column. Captured in a circle on a black background, a re-occurring theme amongst the series, it resembles a planet like construct demonstrating the impacts we have on the earth. In naming images of this series, Mandy uses nomenclature, a method of devising new scientific names, to imitate early Latin origins where plastic items take the place of new organisms. Each name contains the letters that make up the word ‘plastic’ hidden within its title. The entire project serves as a homage to the work of John Vaughan Thompson, a naturalist who collected actual samples of plankton 200 years ago in the same location where the marine plastic debris was collected from. John Vaughan Thompson’s research is evident in inspiring the concept of Barker’s work, even featuring as memoirs in faint print on the reverse page throughout the book, which is deliberately designed to resonate the style of antique science book from the 1800s. In Mandy Barker’s own words, it is called ‘Beyond Drifting’ “because we are not beyond putting an end to the problem – but we are beyond salvaging what is already out there” (Barker, 2017). Drifting also refers to the state of floating above water, like many of the plastics Barker discovers in the oceans. In another series, ‘SOUP’, Barker works closely with scientists to collect trash from our oceans with particular reference to the mass accumulation that exists in an area of The North Pacific Ocean known as the Garbage Patch. ‘SOUP: Turtle’ depicts over 28,000 childrens bath toys that washed overboard from the ship ‘Evergreen Ever Laurel’ on 10 January 1992. The plastic turtles had been circling the North Pacific Gyre for 16 years. Another piece in the series ‘SOUP: 500+’ shows more than 500 pieces of plastic debris found in the digestive tract of an albatross chick. The captions record the plastic ingredients in each image providing the viewer with the realisation and facts of what exists in the sea. Barker notes “I collect this seemingly awful rubbish and I intentionally make it visually beautiful so the viewer is drawn in to see beauty in the image. When they read what it is about, they get the hard-hitting stab in the back of what it represents” (Barker, 2018). In summary, Mandy Barker uses her work as “a powerful form of communication in providing a visual message when sometimes over-complicated statistics or articles are difficult to understand” (Barker, 2017). Her main aim is to encourage people at the very least to think about how their actions lead to this increasing environmental problem. In my response, I placed small, flat items that I had found, such as a melted lollypop plastic wrapper and the bristles of a disposable toothbrush, on the stage of a microscope. In most images, I used the light that came with the microscope however in some I used my phone torch to illuminate the wet looking burnt plastic. A circle shape was naturally created when placing my camera lens against the eyepiece of the microscope. In another response, I captured images with the same concept as ‘SOUP’ being that the rubbish appeared to float in darkness, however I chose to focus on singular items to follow the ‘microscopic’ concept used throughout my project.

My Response

Keith Arnatt

Keith Arnatt, The Tears of Things (Objects from a Rubbish Tip), 1990-91, colour photographs, selection,  91.5 x91.5 cm

Keith Arnatt’s approach initially began as a means to record what he called ‘situations’ – conceptual works that involved the artist’s interaction with people and objects in space. In his series, ‘The Tears of Things (Objects from a Rubbish Tip)’, close analysis of waste in his images provides the narrative for the deterioration of objects after they are thrown away. Keith Arnatt photographs things that “everyone else thinks aren’t worth photographing” (O’Hagan, 2015) – this is clear proof that people don’t see waste as an issue, believing it should be ignored after it is gone. This is what creates the issue. Keith Arnatt’s minimalistic style is highlighted by the choice of composition amongst the images of the series. He places each item in the centre of the frame, forming a vignette around the sides by using a tungsten spotlight. The objects lay in front of a simple black background to emphasize the textures and colours of the object being photographed, showing the effects of decomposition on the items found. Arnatt allows the viewer to determine their own interpretation of what they are seeing, although there is an underlying bias when demonstrating pollution. One image in the series, depicts a close-up of the body of a baby positioned lengthways. He uses a large aperture in order to focus the forefront of the item so that the foot of the baby is the only area visibly focused. This may be a metaphor for our ecological footprint, the impact of human activities on the environment. The shallow depth of field causes the rest of the object to disappear into a dark blur in the background. The phrase “The Tears of Things” translates from the Latin phrase “Lacrimae rerum” which means the burden human beings have to bear, ever present frailty and suffering, is what defines the essence of human experience. Arnatt uses this phrase to describe the effect we have on our environment. In my response, I tried to follow the same camera techniques that Keith Arnatt had used, I placed my items on a black backdrop and took my images lengthways to create a shallower depth of field. I decided to use items that were larger and 3D rather than flat, in order to achieve the same effect. For example, in one response I positioned a similar baby leg that I had found so that the foot became the centre of the forefront. I cropped the image to a square to share more similarity with the composition of Keith Arnatt’s work. The foot of the baby doll represents our footprint on the environment, being made of plastic, it shows how we are doing more harm than good.

My Response

In conclusion, Both Mandy Barker and Keith Arnatt provide a micro perspective of the key issue of pollution in relation to Anthropocene. They choose to look at the items causing the destruction rather than the environmental damage itself, presenting images with aesthetics of beauty to contradict the true meaning and shock the viewer. Mandy Barker follows a scientific method with the basis of her work being heavily based off the research she has carried out as well as working alongside a team of scientists to collect the items used in her images. Items are presented as a collection, being classified into groups and given fake names. In contrast, Keith Arnatt is more traditional in his use of the camera. Being a conceptualist, he uses simple imagery that is not supported by great amounts of research and instead leaves interpretation to the viewer. In my work I used both artist’s approaches to show images that are supported by fact whilst also forcing the viewer to think of their actions. I took the scientific approach to a further step by actually incorporating scientific tools such as microscopes into the process of my work. This gave a sense of honesty with my images, showing that I did not need to manipulate them to show the horrible truth.

Bibliography

Barker, M. (2017), Research Notes Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals, London: Overlapse

BBC (2018), Hull artist makes pictures from waste washed up on beaches, Location of site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-humber-46222090/hull-artist-makes-pictures-from-waste-washed-up-on-beaches

Fabbri (2010), Cyanotype – the classic process, Location of site: http://www.alternativephotography.com/cyanotype-classic-process/

Locke (2015), How photography evolved from science to art, Location of site: https://theconversation.com/how-photography-evolved-from-science-to-art-37146

Lotzof (2018), Anna Atkins’s cyanotypes: the first book of photographs, Location of site: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/anna-atkins-cyanotypes-the-first-book-of-photographs.html

Martinique (2016), When Staged Photography Becomes Art, Location of site: https://www.widewalls.ch/staged-photography/

Muñoz-Alonso (2013), Showing the things we cannot see, an interview with Duane Michals, Location of site: https://selfselector.co.uk/2013/12/11/showing-the-things-we-cannot-see-an-interview-with-duane-michals/

O’Hagan (2015), Keith Arnatt is proof that the art world doesn’t consider photography ‘real’ art, Location of site: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/27/keith-arnatt-photography-exhibition-spruth-magers-absence-of-the-artist

Osterman, Ten Steps in Making a Daguerreotype, Location of site: http://photohistory-sussex.co.uk/dagprocess.htm

Samuel F. B. Morse, THE DAGUERREOTYPE: AN ARCHIVE OF SOURCE TEXTS, GRAPHICS, AND EPHEMERA, Location of site: http://www.daguerreotypearchive.org/texts/N8390002_MORSE_NY_OBSERVER_1839-04-20.pdf, Originally taken from the New-York Observer 17:16 (20 April 1839): 62.

Staugaitis (2018), Artful Swirls of Plastic Marine Debris Documented in Images by Photographer Mandy Barker, Location of site: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/04/plastic-marine-debrisby-mandy-barker/

Tate, Conceptual Art, Location of site: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/conceptual-art

Tate, Minimalism, Location of site: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/minimalism

A2 Personal Investigation

Final Book Layout

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For my final I titled the book ‘Preserved Consumption’. Here I used a play on words where the idea behind it was how the scarring of our environmental landscape almost preserves man’s indentation and destruction of that particular area, and so the preserving of this destruction can be seen in a negative manner as it highlights our societies ever-growing need to consume the latest thing. Here is the layout for my final design of the book: This is the final layout and design for my book titled ‘Preserved Consumption’. The book includes three different sections including production, product and waste, all of which link into the theme of consumption and its permanent scarring on the landscape (hence the title preserved). Within I have included a variety of different page layouts such as double spreads, boxed in imagery and centred photos, all of which I have experimented with along the way, helping me to conclude which layouts are most effective at accompanying the previous and next photo. Regarding certain images I have included a white border due to it preventing the photo from becoming too overpowering and out-of-place, only really doing so for the larger pieces. For the majority of the pages I have used a white backdrop as I found that it complimented the images the most, stopping any attention being drawn away from the images and to the colours, something I made sure to do from the beginning. Before each category I made sure to add a title page to inform the viewer of the subcategory in the book, giving the layout a narrative as a result which I found is one of the key characteristics of the entire book. Finally I added my essay in the end pages of the book,  this was because I wanted to allow the readers to interpret the topic of the book before actually reading about what I had to say about regarding it, with images depicting the studied photographers works and my responses alongside them.

A2 Personal Investigation

Adding Essay And Text to Book Layout

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Once I had completed my initial draft for the composition, I then decided where to place my essay and various text throughout to add to the narration. To do this I wanted to include a few title pages which highlighted the topic themes as you progressed, whilst putting the essay towards the end of the book so that the audience could interpret the message behind the pictures before actually knowing what the book is about. I wanted to use a clean layout that properly that includes bright colours and a clear intention. These were my results from the experimentation’s:

Front And Back Cover
For the cover I decided to use a rustic effect taken from one of the corroding metal sheets, choosing to use a white New Times Roman font as the main go to for text fonts. I made sure to place this in an area of the page that would make it clear enough to make out and read for the viewer, so by placing it against a blue backdrop seemed to be the logical choice. I  selected the title ‘Preserved Consumption’ because of its referencing to how out activities that scar the landscape preserve man actions towards the environment. Along the spine I placed the title and my name in the same font and colour to add the effect of consistency before actually opening the book.

Topic Title Pages:  I then proceeded to implement title pages for each of the three topics which would separate the sections of the book out to create a narrative. Once again I used the font New Times Roman to create the impression of consistency, using numbers to represent the intended topic. When laying it out I made sure to include the text underneath the number so that it would fill more space whilst providing the book with an aesthetic result, which by complimenting it with a sky blue really brought out the result. For each of the titles I made sure they had a relevance to the topic they were before, allowing a certain expectation of what will be in it to arise before going through any of the pages.

Essay:
Finally for the essay I made sure to include it at the end of the book, by doing this it would allow for the viewer to interpret the message of the book throughout, with only at the end there being any real answer to what I wanted to explore. Like the rest of the book I made sure to use the font New Times Roman, using varying font sizes throughout the essay on things such as bibliography, title, text and references so that some degree of aestheticism could be put across. Accompanied across the pages of the text I included the photos that the book referenced to and the photographers I studied when making my results, this compliments the essay nicely as the reader can switch between the pages to gain a broader insight into what I wanted to achieve. Composition wise I made sure that the images were placed in an visually appeasing area that did not draw any attention away from the text across the page. When positioning the text for the essay I made sure it started on the left hand side of the page and ended on the right, by doing this it gave the opposite pages more breathing space between them, preventing anything from becoming too eye sore.

A2 Personal Investigation, Analysis, AO4 Present Ideas

Final Photobook and Evaluation

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71 pages

Evaluation of Project and Photo Book:

In conclusion, I think i approached the project Political Landscapes successfully and developed my concept of the changing environment thoroughly. I started my project with the intention of exploring issues of pollution and plastic specifically, taking inspiration from the photographer Mandy Barker and experimented in my first shoot by taking images with string infront of the lens looking at rules of manipulation. I then found the photobook ‘The Meadow’ by photographers Barbara Bosworth and Margot Anne Kelley which is what first interested me in photographing and exploring specific areas, as well as gathering objects and photographing them. I also discovered the photographer Chrystel Lebas and her photobook ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ which is where I read about the changing environment. She compared her modern images to the photography of Edward James Salisbury in the early 20th century and walked in his footsteps, going to the same areas he did to explore how the environment had changed over 100 years. This is where I decided that the concept for my project would be looking at how the natural environment had changed over 90 years at the location La Motte. I found archival images from this area and thought i would build my photobook around them, comparing and contrasting them to my own images. I noticed Lebas’ influences from sublime ideologies by Edmund Burkina his book ‘Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful’,with her images being vast and other-worldly, which is an aspect I wanted to reflect in my own work.  From then on, I did an additional five shoots where i went and took landscape images of La Motte and at the same time gathered natural objects that i found on the island and the beach i.e. rocks, seaweed, flowers. I did multiple shoots where I photographed these objects formally with plain background and edited them to reflect the work of early botanists where they used light sensitive paper to create photograms. I did this as i thought it would give my project and photobook a scientific appearance and reflect that of an investigation into a specific area. Towards my final shoots, I walked around La Motte and tried to find man made objects that I could photograph to perhaps represent how the natural landscape had changed.

The front and back cover of my photobook is the same continuous archival image taken at La Motte showing the eastern end of the grave with E T Nicolle, J Sinel and J Sinel junior within the photo. I choose this as my front and back cover as I think it intrigues the reader and I also specifically liked the composition. The earth of green island fills up 3/4 of the image with the man on the bottom level looking up towards the two men at the top. Also I think because it is in black and white it creates a more authentic and historical appearance for the book. I didn’t include the title of the book on the front cover, and just had it along the spine off the book so there was more mystery when opening the book. The first page contains the title of the book ‘La Motte’ and the sub title ‘Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ which is inspired by Chrystel Lebas’s book title ‘Field Studies: Walking through Landscapes and Archives’ as her photo book is something I take a lot of inspiration from in my project, so including the same sub title immediately connects my work to hers. The second page contains an full page photo of one of the images from my photogram section in my book. I thought that I would include this as my first image as I think that it interests the reader about my project without giving too much away. On the other page I included the text: “La Motte is a tidal island, and listed archaeological site, also known as Green Island, located in the Vingtaine de Samarès in the parish of St Clement on the south-east coast of Jersey, Channel Islands.” I did this so the reader had some background information about the area they will be looking at and by informing them about the history makes the project more understandable. On the forth and fifth page i included an archivel image across the two pages of of the naturalist and archaeologist Joseph Sinel at the excavation. I used this as a double page as i liked the diagonal shape of the earth, making an interesting composition, as well as the position Sinel is sitting in.  I then contrasted this image with the sixth and seventh page showing one of my own images. I used the same layout, but mirrored, creating variety in the sequence of the book. I chose this image to contrast with the archival one as i liked the bright blue sky and detailed rocks in the foreground in comparison to the black and white image of the earth. Also because of the similar composition of the diagonal line and shape in the center of the image. This creates a more modern interpretation of the archival one. For the next two double pages I contrasted one of my images to an archival one using a full page and a smaller photo as the layout on the first double page, and the mirrored on the second. This creates the repetition of mirroring the layout to the previous one, producing a more interesting sequence of images. I included more text in these two double pages about the excavation and what was found there as that is what is happening in the archival images displayed and by explaining more about it makes the book easier to understand. The 12th and 13th page is the fist double page image inside my photo book. I chose this image as the liked how it has different sections all showing different aspects of the beach ie. blue sky, rocks, sand, creating an interesting composition for a double page spread. In the 14th and 16th double pages I chose to display the images 3/4 of the way onto the oppsite page as if these image were displayed as full pages I think hat important detail would be cut off due to how the book would be printed. By diplaying the images like this it shows more of the details in the images, with less being cut off. Especially on the 16th double page where the main subject of the image in the incinerator which is centered, meaning that this would be cut off in printing. Across these two double pages I mirrored the layout again to keep variety in the sequence.

For the rest of the landscape images in my photo book, 8 double pages display one of my modern images contrasted alongside an archival one. When chosing these combinations I tried to find similarities between the two images so that they would complement each other but also contrast each other. For example the 21st page displays one of my images of the earth of green island at a close up angle which i contrasted with a similar archival image of the earth from the early 20th century on the opposite page. In my image i tried to emphasise the warm colours, as well as the light and shadows. This then contrasts to the black and white of the archival image, complementing each other. Another example is the 25th page where I used the archival image of a skull and contrast it to one of my modern image, the main subject being a rock.  I think this this combination of images works well as the shape of the bright rock in my image resembles the shape of a skull and is a similar colour. This creates a link between the two images which I think makes a good layout, linking the past to the present. When editing I brightened the rock so it was more noticeable, which i think also makes the link more noticeable. I also like the contrast in the background of the two images. The archival image has a lack background as it’s a formally taken photo, this then contrast to the background of my image which is brown rocks, adding more detail to the image. I also used various full double page images where I specifically edited them so they have emphasised blue tones to increase the vastness to reflect sublime. I used the graduated filter in light room to make the skies more dramatic and to contrast more the bottom halves of the images.The one layout which was completely different to any other landscape imagery was on the 41st page where i only displayed one image across the double page spread, one of the page being blank. I chose this layout for this image as I think that it’s a powerful image and by putting emphasise on it will make the reader pay more attention to it. I specifically like this image for many reasons, the main one being the cross in the center of the image that I think links to the previous archival imagery of the excavations where they found bodies. I also like the composition in this image as it is split into three sections , with the cross in the centre of them. The bottom part is darker part of the image, the dark brown tones contrasting to the light blue ones in the sea. The tones in the  bottom part of the image link to that on the horizon which creates a more aesthetically pleasing image. This is also because the blue tones in the sea complement the colour of the sky.

Towards the end of my photo book I included a series of images completely different to the landscape images in the first part of my book. I was inspired by the work of Chrystel Lebas in her photo book ‘Field Studies’ where she included a section towards the end called ‘Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Species’ taking inspiration from the way Edward Salisbury documented species by uprooting them and photographing them by using  photogenic paper- she produce her own interpretations of his work. I tried to create the appearance of a photo gram by inverted the images and adjusting the hues to create variations of the same image. I then displayed these together in my photo book. I also think these edits reflect the photograms that early botanists made with light. One example is Anna Atkins’ photograms of algae in 1843 which is a botanist i took inspiration from in my 5th photoshoot.  I then ended my photobook with a single full page image of the rope i found at La Motte as I think it represents how the landscape has changed from a fully natural one, to one that’s now has man made objects affecting the natural environment.

Overall, I think my photo book sums up my political landscapes project well, the images showing the final outcomes of my developed ideas. I think that the contrast between the archival images of La Motte and my own images is effective in representing how the natural environment is changing. Also the edited variations of the objects I gathered shows the final outcomes of the colour experimentation i developed throughout my project. Photographing natural landscape is an aspect to photography I wasn’t as used to as I normally focus on buildings and industrial structures and by moving away from this, I think i produced a range of images that are unlike any I’ve photographed before with a different appearance and atmosphere.

Here is an online link to my photobook: La Motte: Walking through Landscapes and Archives