Coastal Images

I went onto the front just after sunset. I wanted to show that even on the coast there is signs of man-made products ‘destroying’ our landscapes.

I focused on taking images of the lights from St Helier which reflected on the ocean. Some would argue that it ruins the scenery and is an eyesore to the landscape. I personally believe that it enhances the beauty of the ocean. The lights that reflected on the sea from the city emphasises how calm and peaceful the ocean was at that time. In addition the lights bring a certain warmth to the image as the sea has connotations of being cold and isolated due to the vastness of it. The lights that are visible show the viewer that people live round there and get to witness its beauty everyday. I also believe that the lights create a nice contrast to the images; since I took the images at night without them the viewer would not be able to see where the ocean finishes and where the sky begins.

I also focused on the lights that were hung along the walkway on the sea front from St Helier to St Aubin. Although they are wires attached to metal poles, In the evening they bring a beauty to the darkness of night. During the day they may seem pointless, since the sun is beaming down on the island; but in the evening the whole of the front has a whimsical feel to it, as well as providing light for those walking down it in the dark.

I took images facing towards St Aubin and wanted to focus on the walls and piers going onto the beach. Not only are they an easy access to the beach, they carry a lot of historical moments on their shoulders. For example when Germany Occupied Jersey during the second world war, those piers would have been prepared for the Soldiers to leave the island should an attack be attempted. So, even though the concrete structures may look ugly along the sandy beaches, they aren’t necessarily just piers/walls/towers. They can be reminders of history.

Final images

Havre De Pas

For these images, I went to the incinerator in Havre De Pas. I thought this would be a good place to go because everything is very grey and dark. I also thought that it would go well with the new topographics work that we looked at earlier in the course.

I put the images in black and white to emphasise the monotone colours of the incinerator and to also fit in with the new topographics work which the majority of the time was in black and white due to the time period it became popular. The black and white also emphasises the general view on the building. Many people think that it is an eyesore, however this eyesore is needed for recycling and also helps the world with climate change just by existing.

This emphasises that even though the industrial things in our world can be ugly, we need to appreciate that they are made to make everyone’s life easier. This shows that we need to move with the times and focus on making our planet a safer place to live for all.

Final images

Favourite Images

These are my favourite images because I believe that they show the difference that industry has brought to our world. I particularly like the bottom left image because it is at a worm’s eye view; which I believe was a good way of showing off all the manmade things surrounding our coast line.

Margaret was born in America in 1904 and died in 1971. She was a photographer and documentary photographer. Being a documentary photographer allowed her to see the changes in the world in terms of technology and industry. She also took pictures during the second world war, meaning she had to witness the horrors and torture that people were put through. Bourke-White was the first known female war correspondent  and the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during world war 2.   In 1941, she traveled to the soviet union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. She was the only foreign photographer in Moscow when German forces invaded.

She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviet’s five year plan,the first American female war photojournalist, and having one of her photographs (the construction of Fort Peck Dam) on the cover of the first issue of life magazine.

Margaret Bourke-White lived the life most of us only dream about. Well, maybe only photographers dream about. But to live life as fully as she did, could only inspire the uninspirable.

Image analysis

The image is in black and white which could highlight the fact that the air is polluted because of the smoke coming out of all the factories and trains. The fact that there is very little contrast in the whole image emphasises the fact that there is little light visible to those that live in the house in the centre of the image. The lack of contrast also emphasises the lack of change in people’s lives each day. All they did was work, go home and work again. This is what happens now, however, working conditions were much poorer in the 1930s compared to nowadays.

As you can see from Ansel Adams photography, the landscapes in which he has taken photographs of is very well defined to the point where you can see every single detail of the surroundings in the landscape. Moreover, in his images you can see the clear contrast in the compositions of black and white, which goes to show hoe well Ansel Adams understand the contrast between black and white as you can see from his images, making every detail stand out from textures and surfaces.