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.
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.
To display these photographs, I can also use the idea of burning the edges of the paper to create an intense contrast between the muted tones of the photograph and the intense black of the burnt edges.
Alternatively, I could incorporate juxtaposing textures in my display by using real bubble wrap over sections of the photograph. I can also use this idea as a form of physical editing rather than editing my images purely using photoshop.
Comparison between Darian Mederos’ work and my own
“Portrait of Camilla” – Darian Mederos (2020)
My work
My work is similar to the work of Darian Mederos in the sense that bubble wrap is used to create a sense of enigma, as the face is not fully revealed or has a slight blur. Cooler tones with muted colours can also be seen within both images as well as the use of slightly harsher shadows and highlights. There is also a sense of depth of field in both photos as particular sections of the image are in focus. For example in Mederos’ work, the bubble wrap is in focus which blurs out the entire face, whereas in my work the holes in the bubble wrap allows for areas of the face to be in focus.
However there is also prominent differences between the photographs, such as my photo being a close up images rather than a full portrait. Furthermore, the bubble wrap in my work has been ripped, so sections of the face can be seen in focus, in contrast to Mederos’ work in which the whole face is blurred. An obvious difference between my work and the artists work is that Darian Mederos’ work is a painting, however I am using his work for inspiration rather than to recreate exactly.
Overall, I believe I successfully created my own work with the influnce of Darian Mederos as my inspiration for the theme of Anthropocene. I thought Mederos’ work represents Anthropocene in a unique and subtle way although it can carry a deeper meaning.
I began with altering the brightness and contrast of the image, I increased the brightness and lowered the contrast of the image to make the tones more subdued.
I then altered the curves of the photograph to further mute the tones and increase the overall brightness of the image without getting rid of the distinct shadows and highlights.
I lowered the exposure and increased the offset of the photograph to add brightness to the photo, but also keep the contrast of shadows and highlights.
Next, I added a slightly blue hue to the image as some of Mederos’ work have a cooler tone, which I thought would suit the theme of Anthropocene more than a warmer tone as it creates a more chilling atmosphere to the image.
Finally, I added a cooling filter to enhance the darker tones of the image and further the slightly menacing feeling to the image in order to keep to the theme of Anthropocene and create a deeper message and undertone.
What: Soil pollution: The most common type of pollution caused by household waste, industrial waste and agriculture. Knowing the causes of pollution on earth will require us to be a better guardian of the world that we are living on. #
Why: On this shoot i decided to focus on the domestic waste left behind because i want to make people aware of the waste that they leave and is contantly causing damage in our planet.
When: Like Troy Paiva, I chose to do this shoot in the evening. Troy Paiva takes pictures around the evening, using openings of a few minutes to catch the discernible time entry on a lonely edge.
Where: I chose to shoot in a place that is derelict and that represents the things that have been left behind because they no longer have or can find any utility.
Contact Sheets
MyFirstSelection
Comparison
Troy Paiva
Carmen Kirchner
Both of the images let you guess that they are taken in the evening because the colours effect are more efficient on the image and there’s use of flash. The lights are obviously artificial lights since they are colours effects. I decided to use strong colours (blue / red) while Troy Paiva use lighter colours (pink / purple) which have less impact on objects. In Troy Paiva’s photography purple is the dominant colour and in mine is red. The tones are almost the same in both of them we can dark parts around the objects that’s what makes them stand out however mine shadows are darkest than in Paiva’s image. The lightest parts are on the objects. This contrast creates a mysterious atmosphere on both of them. We can see on both of the images different geometric shapes like the tv, table and some organic shapes like the curtain, the waste… The object that can be found in the two photos is the old tv who is not from this generation however Troy Paiva’s tv looks more old and damaged. On the image of Troy Paiva the photo is taken from further away so the Tv is in foreground on the middle and the lights are exposed on the background this creates a lot of space on the image while I decided to zoom in so that the TV is not the main object on the foreground but also the waste and the lights are on the objects as my image is taken from very close and the objects are stacked on top of each other there is no space.
What: This shoot represents the view of abandoned places how they are merge with nature, and how nature can always find the way to fight and continue growing . When: I decided to do the shoot in the middle of the day to full appreciate nature in all its glory. Why: As in my last shoot, Im trying to make aware of the damage we are doing to the planet and especially show how nature is wise and we dont know how to respect it.
Contact Sheets
FirstSelection
Comparison
Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre
Carmen Kirchner
Both of the images are taken from the outside so there’s use of natural lights, the light is soft. The main thing on the two images are the buildings covered in green, the nature that continues to grow on these buildings. The shapes are not the same, Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre have geometric shapes on their image since the building is a repetitive pattern of rectangles mine on the other hand there more organic shapes since the rocks on the building are curvy. However in my picture, the contrast between the lights and the shadow on the building create straight edged so geometric shapes. In Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre’s image we can see shade in the building which creates depth and creates more space. There’s also negative space above the building since the photographers decided to take picture of the sky as well on the contrary of my picture in which we do not find a lot of negative space. On both of the images we can find to types of texture one soft (plants) and the other as strong as a rock we can recognize these textures by the soft lines on the plants while the buildings and the stones have stronger lines. The colour pallets are roughly the same we find grey, different types of green, blue, brown, yellow…
I believe the images highlighted in red are my least successful images as the shutter speed was set too slow, making the images more blurry than intended, this makes them unsuccessful as the original artwork by Darian Mederos focuses on depth of field rather than movement.
I think the images highlighted in green are my strongest images as they are more accurate recreations of Darian Mederos’ work. I also feel like they represent his focus on depth of field more, as some aspects of the images are more blurred than others.
In addition, the contrast of different race adds another factor of human relationships both uniting and separating due to the harm to environment that we all play a part in, no matter who we are or what we believe. At some point, all humans have contributed to the production or purchase of plastic, which eliminates the segregation of who is to blame for the destruction of our planet, as we have all played a part. It can also be seen as a call to action for humans to band together in order to restore nature and live harmoniously.
To edit these images I will enhance the muted tones in my photographs, in a similar way to the artwork by Mederos, and also darken the tones in order to provide a deeper, menacing message in relation to the theme of Anthropocene.
Camera and light settings
For this photoshoot, I used harsh studio lighting to achieve the contrasting shadows and highlights in the images. I set the lighting to a slightly warmer tone to recreate the muted tones and colours that can be seen similarly in Darian Mederos’ work.
For the first few images in this photoshoot, the shutter speed was too slow for my desired outcome of the images, I predict the shutter speed was around 1/30 as slight movements made aspects of the image blurry. Once I had realised this, I altered the shutter speed to a faster setting of 1/1000, so the movements in the photographs wouldn’t come out blurry. I set the ISO to 50, and I set the aperture to a lower setting of around f/11 in so I could capture a slightly more narrow depth of field to juxtapose the aspects of the image that were in focus, compared to those that were slightly out of focus.
