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ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions

anthropocene- case studies

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I want to present the theme of anthropocene through landscape photography and altered landscapes through using photo-shop to edit my images.

I want to take photos of jersey beaches and very open landscapes as well as taking photos of tall buildings in Jersey and photoshop them on top of the beaches and bay areas to show how it would look or how it probably will look like in the future with buildings all along the coast.

I wanted to do landscapes as I think it fits into this topic the best as it shows our world like beaches, something that we humans havent ruined yet or built on top of. Then by adding edited buildings on top using photoshop and taking inspiration from altered landscapes I think it will be an interesting way to present anthropocene and how we humans change the world.

moodboard of ideas;

my first chosen photographer that I am going to be inspired by for this exam/anthropocene shoot is Jesse Treece

some examples of her images;

about-  The artist only makes use of scissors, glue and vintage magazines and books and creates with these tools nostalgic scenes and surreal landscapes. Every image tells a different story that you can get lost in for hours. Jesse Treece himself even calls his work slightly disturbing. His images somehow made me think of science fiction and horror movies from the 70s. 

His idea is to create artwork that excites and surprises no matter what the current trends or moods are. He’s mainly into old newspaper comic strips, dystopian sci-fi novels, crazy architectural drawings, designs from the 60’s and 70’s and works of artists like Salvador Dalí and Hayao Miyazaki. By this and his preference for the process and the look of handmade collages, he turns his inspiration into something unique and original. Being basically self-taught except for some not very serious art classes, Jesse Treece became a central figure in the underground collage art movement and was even recently included in AnOther Magazine’s list of the top ten collage artists in the world. He somehow manages to mix regular and absurd, beautiful and disturbing, science and nature, large and small and puts together these familiar imageries to create a whole new picture. 

my second chosen photographer that I am going to be inspired by for this topic is Felicity Hammond

some of her photography;

Felicity Hammond is an emerging artist who works across photography and installation. Fascinated by political contradictions within the urban landscape her work explores construction sites and obsolete built environments.

In specific works Hammond photographs digitally manipulated images from property developers’ billboards and brochures and prints them directly onto acrylic sheets which are then manipulated into unique sculptural objects.

Recent awards include, British Journal of Photography International Photography Award: Winner 2016, Catlin Art prize: Finalist 2015, Magnum and Photo London Inaugural Photographer award: nominated 2015. Saatchi New Sensations: Finalist 2014.

Being inspired by both these photographers will help me achieve my final ideas and images. As I chose one photographer who focuses on manipulating landscapes by hand and combines nature with large buildings and cities and the other photographer who edited and manipulates her landscape images digitally

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Task

Naomi White artist study (anthropocene)

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Naomi White

Naomi White - 98 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy
From “Plastic Currents” Series – Naomi White (2012)

Naomi White is an activist artist and educator who’s work focuses on ideas at the intersection of political ecology and photography. White’s aim in photography is to bring to light the issues that humanity is creating for the planet and the detrimental health of our ecosystems. She also documents the social issues of racism and the capitalist model of domination between unequal societies. White has achieved awards such as the PDN’s Objects of Desire Award, holds an MFA in Photography and Related Media from SVA in New York, and has participated in exhibitions throughout North America and Europe, as well as having her work published in The Brooklyn Rail, Fayn and Uncertain States. Naomi White is currently the Chair of Photography at the New York Film Academy in Burbank, California.

https://www.naomiwhite.com/about

Examples of Naomi White’s work

Naomi White | Engulfed, Plastic Currents (2012) | Available for Sale | Artsy
From “Plastic Currents” Series – Naomi White (2012)
Naomi White | Shipwrecked V (2017) | Available for Sale | Artsy
“Shipwrecked V” – Naomi White (2017)
Naomi White | Argument with a surface VI (2018) | Available for Sale | Artsy
“Arguments with a surface VI” – Naomi White (2018)

Analysis of Naomi White’s work

Naomi White @ artavita
From “Plastic Currents” Series – Naomi White (2012)

This image by Naomi White is part of her series which she developed in 2012, named “Plastic Currents”. The image depicts a plastic bag, lit with intense, harsh studio lighting in order to provide an almost abstract affect. This series was part of a movement created to raise awareness for sea pollution and the overall harm that humans have created to the planet.

The lighting in this image is extremely harsh, creating very intense highlights and shadows that are projected throughout the curves and folds in the bag. The lightest areas of the image can be seen around the edges of the plastic bag, which creates a jarring juxtaposition between the light and dark tones. The lighting is artificial and has been created using studio lighting, presumably projecting from underneath the object as the raised sections of the image are in darkness.

There is no use of line in this image, although the object that is being photographed, there is no form of repetition. On the other hand there could be said to be an outline to the object, as the bag has been crumpled and the outlining of the bag has various points of light and dark shading.

There is no form of repetition within this image as the focus of the project is to raise awareness of sea pollution, rather than creating abstract patterns.

Although the object is man-made, the shape of the object is still some-what organic and curved as the photograph has been taken of the bag out of it’s natural state in which it was first made.

The depth of field is impossible to state as the background is compiled of simple empty, negative space. The only representation of positive space is the bag itself, though it still has very little detail and only consists of folds and juxtaposing shadows and highlights.

The texture of the image is contrasting, as the rippled folds in the bag create a slightly rougher texture when compared to the flattened sections of the bag which display a smooth texture. However the representation of texture is not the main focus of this image.

There is a range of tones from dark to light within this image. The darkest areas can be seen mainly towards the centre of the bag, however they do begin to form strands of darkness as the viewers eyes cast away from the centre of the bag. The lightest areas can be seen around the edges of the bag, where the plastic material is less concentrated and therefor can let in more light.

There is a rather uniformed colour palette within this image, as it consists of whites, blues and blacks. the colours are saturated in some areas of the image as the man-made plastic has an artificial blue tone to it. The dominating colour in this photograph is blue, but this is juxtaposed with the dazzling white background and the intense black shadows. If the image were in black and white it would become more abstract as the plastic material could not be detected and the viewer may mistake it for another material such as paper. This would mean the aim of the project would not come across quite as prominent as the audience would struggle to work out the type of material being photographed.

There is a very simple composition to this photograph, although it does not purposely follow the rule of thirds. The focal point of the back is found mostly within the middle third of the image, with the remaining thirds being filled with negative and empty space. The image is rather unbalanced as the majority of the positive space is concentrated into the centre of the image.

Controlled Conditions, Uncategorized

Anthropocene: Introduction and Ideas

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Anthropocene: The unofficial current geological age, the period during which human activity has been the major influence on the climate and the environment.

Humans as a whole impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Even the basic things like plastic use/waste can impact the environment majorly. These changes have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water which are global problems.

Examples Of Anthropocene in Photography:

Anthropocene, the human epoch in the words and photos of Edward Burtynsky - LifeGate
George Marazakis Photographs The Anthropocene - IGNANT
Anthropocene Archives | 1854 Photography

Ideas

Case Studies

Yao Lu

https://www.brucesilverstein.com/artists/yao-lu/biography

Yao Lu focuses on his concern about the changes of the environment and the consequences of modernisation in china leading to rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. Also showing the difference between past and present through using aspects of the traditional Chinese style of painting to create similar images. Lu creates his photomontages in circular, fan-shaped and scroll-like frames.

At first glance they look very harmonious with the old traditional buildings and small figures walking in nature, but the beautiful mountain scenes are actually dump sites which have scaled out of proportion.

His photographs serve as a warning to the viewer about the consequences of large-scale transformations for the society.

Examples Of His Work:

Yao Lu - Ancient Springtime Fey, 2006 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Ancient Springtime Fey, 2006
Yao Lu - Fishing Boats Berthed by the Mount Yu, 2008 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Fishing Boats Berthed by the Mount Yu, 2008
Yao Lu - Early Spring on Lake Dong Ting, 2008 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Early Spring on Lake Dong Ting, 2008
Yao Lu - View of the Autumn Mountains in the Distance, 2008 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
View of the Autumn Mountains in the Distance, 2008
Yao Lu - Dwelling in the Mount Fuchun, 2008 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Dwelling in the Mount Fuchun, 2008
Yao Lu - Autumn Mist in the Mountain with Winding Streams, 2007 | Bruce Silverstein Gallery
Autumn Mist in the Mountain with Winding Streams, 2007

Yao Lus’ images are based on landscapes in China which he recreates with waste scenes and landscapes to make a final composition of a very scenic, calm and peaceful atmosphere. It clearly shows the impact of waste on the environment and tells the story itself with the precision of composition, line, density and its framing, which are all the elements in painting.

When taking my own photos and creating my final images I will take similar landscapes but with cliffs/coastlines incorporated with piles of waste in dump sites, to get the same effect of the calm peaceful scene, which when you look closer you notice the dumpsites.

Vilde Rolfsen

Plastic Bag Landscapes series includes structures, formed by discarded bags found on Oslo’s streets, being transformed by light to make shapes resembling snow scapes or icy caverns. The plastic bags used for the project are all sourced from the street.

“I want people to stop and think about the plastic cups lying around and blowing away. No one cares, because it’s normal’.

When taking images for this series Vilde Rolfsen wanted to take ordinary objects out of their usual context and place them into an artificial environment to create awareness around the issue of plastic waste to the land and oceans, more specifically the use of plastic bags. Rolfsen also hopes her work will remind people to think more about their own consumption patterns.

https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3675/plastic-bag-landscapes-by-vilde-rolfsen

Examples from Plastic Bag Landscapes:

Plastic Bag Landscapes
Plastic Bag Landscapes
Plastic Bag Landscapes

Vilde Rolfsens’ images where she takes ugly plastic bags and turns them into beautiful images creates an atmospheric impact as they have a lot of movement in them and look very much like the water/sea.

I will take plastic bags and other waste and photograph them with different coloured lights to get the same wave/movement effect. I also want to attempt to make them look like the sea or different landscapes rather than just different coloured plastic bags.

I would also merge the two photographers ideas together and make a landscape with the plastic bag as the sea or even clouds/wind.

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Resource

anthropocene case study + comparison

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JEREMY CARROLL

Jeremy Carroll is a London – based artist and photographer who aims to raise awareness of the Earth’s growing plastic pollution problem by photographing his subject with various plastic objects such as fishing nets, ropes and plastic bags. His 2017 exhibition ‘Entanglement‘ depicts human beings caught up in the waste which is commonly found in seawater and along beaches. With the way things are going, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Carroll’s approach to this pressing international issue is to allow his human subjects to take the place of the various marine life which is constantly being affected by the plastic in the world’s oceans, such as turtles, dolphins, and sharks. By doing this, he hopes that more people around the world will be convinced to reduce their intake of single – use plastics and switch to more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives.

NAOMI WHITE

Naomi White is an intersectional feminist, artist, and educator, working on ideas at the intersection of political ecology and photography. Focusing on the transformative power of photography to affect desire and change, much of her work questions how we can shift our focus away from the current racist, capitalist model of domination to one of equity and collective voice, for the sake of all people, animals and the planet. Her work has been shown throughout North America and Europe, and is held in both public and private collections. White’s work draws from a diverse background in art history and film, investigating themes of identity construction in our camera-bound world, focusing on how photography affects materials, memory, and culture. 

ARTIST COMPARISON

ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions

anthropocene introduction

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What is Anthropocene?

The Anthropocene epoch is an unofficial unit of geological time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate and ecosystems. The word comes from the Greek terms for human and new. 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.

Anthropocene in photography

Anthropocene in photography is a very powerful way of showing the world how we, as humans have changed the Earth and how our actions are impacting the world everyday. This is usually shown in a negative perspective. In photography this can be shown through; landscape, abstract and portrait photography. To tackle this topic we could capture pictures of man made objects such as plastics (e.g. shopping bags, bottles, online shopping packaging) to create awareness of how much plastic and packaging is used where it isn’t necessary and its affect on the planet. In addition to that, if people see the affects on the planet in a more visual way rather than reading about it people may give it more thought as seeing it first hand could have a much greater impact.

Examples of Anthropocene in photography

Landscape approach to Anthropocene

Object approach to Anthropocene

Portraiture approach to Anthropocene

Abstract approach to Anthropocene

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Resource

what is anthropocene?

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The Anthropocene defines Earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropocentric, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydro-logic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans. The word combines the root “anthropo“, meaning “human” with the root “-cene“, the standard suffix for “epoch” in geologic time. 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.

ANTHROPOCENE IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Many photographers around the world have used Anthropocene as a stimulus and a trigger point for various projects, which for the most part aim to create and spread awareness on several issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, poverty, urbanisation, overpopulation, and open cast mining.

‘ Burtynsky’s latest exhibition, The Anthropocene Project, is directly influenced by the proposed new geologic era ‘Anthropocene’ – introduced in 2000 by chemist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Jozef Crutzen, to represent a formal recognition and acknowledgement of the “human signature” on the planet. Experts argue that the end of the current epoch has been marked by striking acceleration since the mid-20th century of carbon dioxide emissions and rising sea levels, the mass extinction of global species, and the transformation of land by deforestation and development. Burtynsky hopes to demonstrate this. “Scientists do a pretty terrible job of telling stories, whereas artists have the ability to take the world and make it accessible for everyone,” says the 63-year-old. “We are having a greater impact on the planet than all the natural systems combined. I’m trying to let people know that.” ‘

ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions, Independent

Anthropocene Introduction and statistics

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What is Anthropocene?

The Anthropocene Epoch is a unit of geologic time used to describe the period of time in which human beings began to make a significant, negative impact on the earth’s climate and ecosystems.

Anthropocene in photography is a form of activism that photographers have used in order to raise awareness of how us humans are impacting the planet. This type of photography is shown in all forms of landscape, portraiture and abstraction.

Examples of Anthropocene –

Landscape Anthropocene

Bobby Peru's Room” 8×10 Print | Lost America
“Bobby Peru’s Room, Abandoned motel, Mount Montgomery, Nevada” – Troy Paiva (2013)

Abstract Anthropocene

Mandy Barker | Lost At Sea (2016) | Available for Sale | Artsy
“Lost At Sea” – Mandy Barker (2016)

Portrait Anthropocene

Memories, 2019
“Memories” – Darian Mederos (2019)

Anthropocene inspired mood board

Plastic waste statistics

For my Anthropocene themed photoshoots, I want to focus on the aspect of plastic waste as I feel like plastic pollution is an instant thought when it comes to the topic of Anthropocene. Plastic pollution also has a direct link with both air pollution and sea pollution, which makes it one of the most threatening methods of destruction to both humanity and our environment

Nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year, this almost equals the combined weight of the total human population. Ocean life suffers immensely due to this, which is proven by the fact that 73% of all litter on beaches worldwide is plastic, which has caused the tragic statistic of 1 million marine animals dying due to plastic pollution every year.

Although masses of plastics are produced globally on a daily bases, only a tiny portion of this is recycled, further generating plastic waste. The disregard for recycling plastic has lead to the suggested statistic that there will be 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic garbage discarded on land and in bodies of water by 2040.

Plastic Waste Statistics: A Deep-Dive

Controlled Conditions

CONTROLLED CONDITIONS- Anthropocene Experimenting & Developing

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When it comes to editing, I wanted to try a few things. My raw images are quite bland, and I wanted to make my images pop a little more.

I chose on of my favourite ‘Bed’ images to experiment on first.

I started by turning the image fully black and white- this was to make the background monotone for the waste to stick out. Then, using a history brush tool, (brings back the original state which would be colour) I recoloured the waste.

This was the outcome. I think it looked quite cool and at the same time looked normal. The background was already quite monotone but making it fully black and white made it stand out that little more. I liked it alot but i wanted to experiment some more.

To do so, I decided to completely change the colour hue. I eventually chose the hue that resulted in turquoise and purple- it made the setup look more unnatural. I like this because the way we are polluting the ocean is unnatural in itself.

I continued and did this to a few other images that I liked and this was the oucome.

Looking at them altogether made me realise that the colours look a little too similar- I like it a lot but I just wanted to try different hues in the different photographs.

I also like this outcome but it just comes to putting these images together and finding out which sequence and colours look best when presented.

Controlled Conditions

CONTROLLED CONDITIONS- Anthropocene Selection

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To begin, I chose 3 images from each shoot- the ones I believe were the most successful and the ones I would like to work with.

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  • 3

I chose these 3 from my bathtub shoot. Image 1 was originally larger but I chose to crop it down as there was too much unnecessary space, therefore taking the focus away from the message. Image 2 is more of a low view in the tub- the taps aren’t on show and all you can see is the drain. I liked this image due to the simplicity and it may make viewers look and think about what it is- however I did use flash, creating this lit texture in the tub which I personally dont think looks good. Image 3 is my favourite out of the three images. The taps create good contrast and I like the diagonal angle as well as the curve in the tub, creating a modern style and interesting composition.

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  • 2
  • 3

These 3 photographs are all quite similar however I like the angle of image 1 and 3. Like in my bathtub photos, I like how they are taken at an angle. In image 2, the angle is straightforward, there are a few things that look ‘in the way’ such as the plant and wardrobe and it looks uneven. When taken at an angle, you cant tell.

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  • 3

My plate images are my favorite ones, I love the lighting and how the plastic reflects it. Image 1 was taken before I added cutlery. I have a glass dining table so when I tried to take images of the plate on the table it looked tacky, so I used my floor- although image one visually meets the aesthetic, viewers may not be able to know what they are looking at- so out of these images I like 3 the most. The cutlery is clear and on the plate as well as the waste. In image 2 the light is a tab bright and the fork is not fully in view.

Controlled Conditions

CONTROLLED CONDITIONS- Anthropocene Shoot 1 & 2

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For the photographs above, I filled my bathtub with a few inches of cold water and dumped some trash that I had collected onto it. This included Plastic bags, wrappers, cans and bottles. I realised that there wasn’t a load and taking pictures of the whole tub didn’t quite reach the ‘exaggeration’ I was hoping for so I bunched it all together and took close-up photographs to make it look fuller. These contact sheets are to show my most relevant photographs.

For my bed photoshoot, I kept the trash mostly in the same place, only testing different angles and viewpoints so that i would have a variety to choose from. My main idea was to keep these images quite simple, this is because further on I would like to edit them using photoshop and eventually put them together as a final result and I don’t want it to be too crowded.

Using just plastic bottles and cans on my plate, I thought this would be a great addition to my ‘what if it was me?’ idea. Not only are we polluting the ocean, this affects many food chains within it.