Anthropocene comes under the term of meaning – “The period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.” This topic can be explored in many different ways as a photographer. Linking all different human activity into photos and what has happened over time between human and nature. The bad of us humans influence the majority of photographers to take images and express what the world has come to with the world having negative impacts on the environment such as over population, pollution, de-forestation, plastic crisis, climate change, the evolution of technology, hunting, urbanization etc. These negative impacts can be a good source to photograph. But Anthropocene photography doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom with the change in the world due to humans. Creativeness and intriguing images can link human and nature together and see the similarities they have. Some examples below show the positive and negative sides to what Anthropocene can be expressed as…

Anthropocene is known to be about nature and the impacts due to humans, but not all images have to be landscape or only show what the issue is. For example, an images of cut down trees from a forest represents de-forestation. Anthropocene photography can link to portraiture which describes what humans are typically doing in our day to day life to cause Anthropocene. Examples of portrait Anthropocene is seen below..

This images may not be directly made to express Anthropocene and seem to be photo-shoots for fashion but they link to the meaning of Anthropocene for sure. This is seen by the way the photographer has used their model to use plastics, metals to cover themselves which indicates what use these materials become to humans when wasted which is nothing. Photoshop with the two pictures of the guy suggests how nature links to man kind and how similar we are to one another. It is a good outcome of photos when physically linking nature to humans and it is something i might base my own work on.

The word Anthropocene comes from the Greek terms for human and new. The Anthropocene is a geological approach which is about the significant human impact on the earth’s geology and ecosystems including climate change. The Anthropocene is distinguished as a new period either, after or within the Holocene, the current epoch, which began approximately 10,000 years ago with the end of the last glacial period.

We may be able to tackle this topic of Anthropocene through photography by capturing the man made objects such as plastic (e.g shopping bags) to create awareness of what will happen to the world if nothing is done about it. Additionally if people see what is happening to the planet visually it may create more of an impact to do something about it as well as give people more of a consciousness of those who decide to engage with it

The Anthropocene defines Earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans. The Anthropocene is distinguished as a new period either after or within the Holocene, the current epoch, which began approximately 10,000 years ago (about 8000 BC) with the end of the last glacial period.

We have reached an unprecedented moment in planetary history. Humans now affect the Earth and its processes more than all other natural forces combined. The Anthropocene Project is a multidisciplinary body of work combining fine art photography, film, virtual reality, augmented reality, and scientific research to investigate human influence on the state, dynamic, and future of the Earth.

Examples of Anthropence in photography

Jamie Torrance is a professional photographer who has developed commercial and personal projects for clients on both sides of the Atlantic. I did a short interview with Jamie Torrance to ask him why he took the photos of singular trees in response to Anthropocene.

In response he explained how he was influenced by the photographer Edward Burtynsky who is a landscape photographer who focuses on the increasing development of industrialization and its impacts on nature and the human existence. As Torrance went to the same university as Burtynsky, he felt that he wanted to carry on his legacy of Anthropocene photography. He decided to take photos of trees as he believed that big projects can be lost in translation and that by the time you understand the image it wouldn’t be as effective towards daily life.

Jamie Torrance did a project of 12 images where he would find trees and what impact has happened around them such as the shed that was built up next to the tree showing the relationship between humans and nature. The trees that he chose which were bare as he wanted them to have a dead skeleton look which was helpful as in Canada the winters are long so the trees don’t grow leave until later. As trees grow their leaves back he wanted people to think “If we leave this alone, it will grow back” which is a good way of thinking of Anthropocene as if we just leave the planet alone and stop polluting it with plastic and gases then it will come back the way it is supposed to be.

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With the two images they both show that at least one of the people have been changed into being a photo of nature where they both show a path leading through a forest area give the idea that this is the path we should take to save our planet. In the photo underneath show a woman’s face which gives more connection between the photo and the audience which helps influence change especially that she is interacting with the nature. Whereas with the other photo there is no close interaction and you can’t see the face of any which then puts a barrier between the audience and photo. The use of hands in the photo helps emphasis that physical connection between the two people whereas the other photo just shows two people standing next to each other which lacks connection between the two.

The effective contrast between natural lighting and staged lighting as it emphasises the change and difference between the two as the eye is drawn towards the nature photo then is drawn out to see the two people standing together. If I was to do this project again I would get the two people to hug and show a connection between the two such as mother and daughter, father and son to then really emphasis the care between the person and nature. I would also make sure that one of the faces is seen so the audience can feel a connection between the two people.

 Javier Hirschfeld creates his work based on the history of art and the classic concept of the pursuit of beauty, giving his work a contemporary pointy of view. The basic construction of his work was focused on the memory of art history, on the pursuit of beauty, seeking the cathartic capacity of classic icons.

Other photographers such as Caravaggio, Zurbarán, are among others the referents who build their aesthetics through photography. In Hirschfeld’s work, there are references that can be easily recognised the established connection between contemporary and classic photography.

On the other hand, looking at Africa, in his recent works we can glimpse his interest in the African studio portrait and the reference to artists such as Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé or Samuel Fosso. 

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