Bellissimo’s work extends beyond regular photography. Her work explores the physical and psychological relation between nature and human beings when combined through the use of collage. She precisely cuts out bits of different images and layers them together. Her work evokes a sense of empathy, intimacy and harmony while humans and nature coexist.
This image was taken in with a plain white background with white lighting; this helps the viewer focus on the model. The model has a hole where his eye should have been, the fraying around the eye shows that the hole was put there by force, just like how humans intentionally damage our world by leaving rubbish around. If you look closer at the hole in the eye, you can see there is a lighter section nearest the nose. It almost looks like bark. This shows the connection between humans and nature. When we damage nature we damage ourselves in the process.
The hole in the models eye could also emphasise the fact that we as a species ignorant and we are choosing not to notice the damage that we are doing to the world. However, the fact that the we can see the model’s other eye represents a glimmer of hope that we can change the world before it’s too late.
The model’s mouth is also slightly open which could represent that maybe the model wants to say something however is too afraid to speak up. He could also represent the people that are saying something. But because there’s such a small amount of people who aren’t afraid to speak up about these matters, compared to the population of the world, the small gap could represent the world’s view on their views and they feel like their view is insignificant.
My idea for this controlled conditions is to focus on two types of photography; still life / object photography and portraiture. Through these types of photography my aim is to effectively and successfully explore and portray the stimulus of Anthropocene. The photographer’s whose work I have been inspired by are Jeremy Carroll, Darian Mederos, and Naomi White. I have chosen these photographers as I believe their images accurately convey the mood, feeling and tone of the photographs I am aiming to produce as my final piece.
PHOTOSHOOT PLAN
WHAT – For my first photoshoot inspired by Jeremy Carroll and Darian Mederos, I plan to take photographs of my subject covered in different objects such as plastic bags, bubble wrap, and netting in order to convey the theme of plastic pollution. For my second photoshoot, I plan to take photographs of plastic bags, inspired by the work of Naomi White.
WHERE – For both of my photoshoots I plan to take my photographs in a studio, in order to get rid of any natural elements in my images, and have them be completely focused on seeming artificial.
HOW – For my first photoshoot, I plan to use the plain white backdrop in the photography studio to give my images a formal and somewhat stilted feel, as I want the focus to be on the subject and not on the background. For my second photoshoot, I plan on utilising a different form of lighting and take my images from a bird’s eye view in order to create an unconventional aesthetic.
WHY – My overall aim for both of my two photoshoots is to capture images which reflect and draw inspiration from the work of Jeremy Carroll, Naomi White, and Darian Mederos, without producing an exact replica of their respective pieces.
Barry Rosenthal a fine art photographer and sculptor. He studied photography at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio and at the Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, New York with notable photographers Emmet Gowin and George Tice. “Found in Nature”, started in 2007 as an offshoot of his botanical work, has evolved from miniature collections of found objects into large-scale images that represent ocean borne trash. By using a combination of sculpture and photography and breaking down the found object trash into themes of type, color or whimsy, Rosenthal is able to bring awareness to the global issue of ocean pollution.
DARIAN MEDEROS
Cuban prodigy, Darian Mederos’ work focuses on the ubiquitous human face. Emotive and replete with meaning, our faces encompass the vast human experience, revealing everything at once or nothing at all. Even in concealment there is nuance. Our expressions cross borders, race and culture, they are a common thread among humanity. Mederos attended his first two years of art school at Leopoldo Romañach in his hometown of Santa Clara, Cuba. Always striving to do be better, he applied and was accepted to the much-lauded, and oldest art school in the Western Hemisphere, La Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, in Havana, Cuba.
“Engulfed” from “Plastic Currents” series – Naomi White (2012)
My work
In my opinion, I think I was successful in creating work influenced by Naomi White for the theme of Anthropocene because although my work is not a complete recreation of Naomi White’s work, I feel like they have distinct similarities such as the use of plastic bags and contrasting colours, and the influence of White’s work can be reflected through my work. I decided instead of using the same, blinding white background to contrast a coloured plastic bag, to use coloured acetate over the studio lighting in order to achieve the same juxtaposing tones seen in White’s work. This is partly due to the lack of resources I had as I could not find a coloured plastic bag so instead I improvised and used a clear plastic bag and projected the colours using light. Furthermore, my work focuses more on taking photographs of the inside of the bag rather than the outside. I believe this decision allows for the abstraction of the images to be enhanced, as the photo is more ambiguous and the object cannot be recognised straight away.
If I was to have another attempt at creating my own work with the influence of Naomi White, I would prepare more in advanced to find a coloured plastic bag or use the same blinding background as seen in White’s work in order to achieve a clearer contrast of colours, rather than the opposing colours blending together. Also, I would take more images so I had a wider choice of photographs to choose from for my final pieces.
In terms of the theme of Anthropocene, I feel like Naomi White’s work has a distinct relation to aspects of Anthropocene as she uses a man-made and artificial material that is a crucial cause of both air and sea pollution to create art, this is why I chose her to influence my work as I also feel like she takes a more abstract approach to the idea of Anthropocene and how humans have made a negative impact on the environment.
Darian Mederos
“The Wait” – Darian Mederos (2019)
my work
I believe that I was also successful in my attempt to produce my own photographs with the influence of Darian Mederos, as they both produce a similar message in terms of Anthropocene, although it is done in a more subtle way compared to Naomi White’s work. I think there is visible similarities between my work and the work of Darian Mederos, the most obvious being the use of bubble wrap in order to disguise sections of the face or body. Both my work and Mederos’ work have the same, cool-toned hues which I think assists to enhance the deeper message of the images. To add my own influence into my work I decided to rip holes in the bubble wrap to disguise only parts of the face rather than the entire body, aswell as using the bubble wrap in more of a physical way by wrapping sections of the face and body in the plastic material. I did this because I felt like by simply covering the lens in a layer of bubble wrap, my images would be too similar and when I use the plastic in a more invasive method, it allows for the theme of Anthropocene to be more distinct and spreads a message that because of humans mass-producing artificial materials such as plastic, we are simply harming ourselves aswell as our environment.
If I were to use Darian Mederos as an influence for my work again, I would maybe take a more personal approach to the photographs by adding more emotion to the images through the face of the model, rather than the blank expression on the models in the majority of my photos. I could also use an alternate background or setting in order to further the personal aspect of the images.
Although Darian Mederos’ work consists of paintings rather than photographs, I still think he is a suitable reference in terms of Anthropocene because Mederos also uses plastic within his art, which can be interpreted into alternate messages in relation to Anthropocene. I chose Darian Mederos as an influence for my work as his work focuses on portraiture, which I believe would give a wider variety to my final images overall. Anthropocene can also be seen in his work in a more subtle way than Naomi White’s work and his images are a lot more personal, and I think this furthers the idea of humans destroying themselves with their own creations.
I chose these images as my final images as I believe they best reflect the photographer that I was taking inspiration from and they show Anthropocene well.
In general I like to explore with colours in my work and specifically for this theme I have used a lot of colour. Over the years the meaning of colours has evolved and depending on the sociocultural context and other factors such as age or gender, they are capable of evoking one or more sensations. The most curious thing is that, despite its long history, it is still an area in which much remains to be discovered.
Colour Theory/History
Colour theory is a set of principles for choosing the best colour combinations. This harmonious relationship of colour can be represented visually with what we know as a colour wheel. Within the colour wheel there are two ranges of colours, warm (expressing joy, passion or enthusiasm) and cold (expressing relaxation, success or professionalism).
To understand how colours affect us we must be clear about these basic concepts. We must keep in mind that when photography was born (1839) everything was in black and white, so the first photographers could not count on color as an ally to build their compositions. They had no choice but to focus on other aspects such as light, lines or textures to make photos stand out more among them. From 1935 on, the first color slide film (Kodachrome) began to be used and that opened up a whole world of possibilities. Modern photographers could now show a more realistic representation of a scene and with colors similar to those seen through the human eye. Although color photography would also have another purpose, because photographers were going to find a new way to attract attention and add impact to their images
Todd Hido
The majority of Todd Hido’s photos of rural scenes are taken during single, lengthy drives. The principle subject of his work is the nature of normal and counterfeit light in the American scene, as in reflected sunrays or the enlightenment of a TV pouring from a mysterious window. Todd Hido use a lot of cold colours that gives you the feeling of isolation and abandonment.
Yves Marchand (born in 1981) and Romain Meffre (born in 1987) are two French photographer who met through a mutual interest in contemporary ruins. They began their collaboration in 2002 by exploring Parisian urban remains before their interest took them to Detroit, where a thorough exploration of the city lasting five years resulted in their seminal work, ‘The ruins of Detroit’. Their other projects after that include ‘Theatres’ where they discovered and documented the sorry state of theatres they came across while travelling around America.
Image Analysis
This image has been taken inside with the natural light coming through the windows. This image is filled with dull colours, mostly neutral tones like beige and creams. I think this image shows Anthropocene well as it shows a building that has been built from wood and such materials that have been sourced from the Earth and then abandoned to rot and ruin the landscape. This has a massive impact on landscapes and the Earth as people are cutting away nature and ruining habitats to build homes and buildings that are abandoned and left to decompose. There are over 19 million vacant buildings in America where the land could have been left untouched. I believe that I may be able to find a vacant building that I can take images of.
