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For my Anthropocene project I was inspired by Dafna Talmor’s work called ‘constructed landscapes’ and so I created edits similar to hers. She deconstructs her own landscape photographs by cutting them up and recombining multiple negatives in order to create a new composition.

The main difference is that she used photographic film to capture her images and then edits them by hand (probably using a knife to cut them). She places them carefully to create a new landscape and also leaves negative space in between them to make the place in the image look familiar at first but then unrecognisable. I took my photographs on a digital camera and simply edited them on photoshop using the lasso tool to make the cuts more natural like hers.

When Talmor creates a collage like this, she shoots all her images in the same place but from different angles. I, however, used pictures that were all taken on different days, in a different location each time and of different things.

DIFFERENCES Dafna Talmor	SIMILARITIES both	DIFFERENCES me
sand dunes	outside	grass
film	environment	scaffoldings
scalpel used	black lines/space	industrial
non digital	cut through the middle	black and white
white line	two connected cuts at the top ish	3 different images
hand made	colour	photoshop
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Editing photo 3 –

Experiment 1)

For this edit, I began by creating a base to use further, like I have done previously because I think that it helps me to know what I am doing and see how I have edited a picture and what I can do to expand on it further. I started off by bringing the photo into photoshop where I adjusted the contrast and brightness as I wanted to show the fluidity and vibrancy of these 2 coloured plastic bags and how well they work together. I also wanted to try and control the corner where the flashlight was a little too bright in colour so I changed the Vibrancy and colour which brought the brightness of it down but also the picture so to equal this again to bring back the pop of colour in-between I used the hue and saturation tool which allowed me to edit the colours and how bright they were through the saturation for red, hue for blue and lightness overall. To push the colours that extra bit further in showing their colours I adjusted the brightness ands contrast again as well.

I really like how this edit turned out because I like the purple hue which has created a subtle effect in the photo between the mixing of the two plastic bags as it makes them look as if they are one and provides fluidity throughout the photo for this effect. If I were to do this edit again, I think that I would crop the photo slightly so that the corners on either side don’t have huge blocks of colour.

Experiment 2)

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For this edit, I began by turning it into black and white on photoshop as a basis then I used the different colour mixers to be able to balance it out through adjusting them slightly which means that the colours which may still be prominent such as red or blue mainly can be controlled and become darker if I bring the filter down or brighter to create a contrast if I brought them up. After this, I decided that if I cropped the photo I would be able to create a greater focus point for the photo which I wanted to do previously. I decided that the best place to crop would be the middle part because that is where the branch between the two plastic bags is the main part of the photo and I like how the middle is darker than the rest of the photo but also still be able to show the creases pf the plastic bags. If I were to edit this again, I would add a little more highlight into the photo through the contrast and brightness because I think that this would help the structure of the plastic bags be clearer to see and to give them more depth.

Editing photo 4 –

Experiment 1)

This is how I edited this photo to provide me with a basis for future editing as I really liked how this turned out, even if it is a little darker on the outside, unlike Rolfsen’s work who’s is much lighter, because it creates a highlight in the middle which pulls your attention in instead as the purple and pink tones are eye-catching due to how bright they are.

Experiment 2)

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I really liked the way these 3 edits in photoshop have turned out with changing the colour of them because it makes them look different and very unique each time. My most successful edit out of these 3 I think is the 1st one, this is because of the way there are many different tones/shades of orange inside of one photo which helps to add a layer of dimension towards it because it creates a pathway throughout the photo which looks like it is leading towards towards the entrance. I really like this because it can also make it look as if this pathway has caught fire as the orange can resemble flames and as they turn darker the fire is getting more and more intense which can also sow how wildlife is also being impacted with the contribution of fires and how it can destroy natural habitats such as forests. The photo which I think is the least successful out of these is the 2nd because of how the light and exposure has overexposed in the middle while editing and has become too dark on the top/bottom, if I were to fix this I would make sure that the vibrancy of the colours is shown throughout the photo making adjustments where it may be needed to fix and prevent this issue from happening again. I do like how there is a divide in the colours of red and blue which can be used to symbolise the dangers of plastic pollution during the ‘Anthropocene’ similar to Vilde Rolfsen’s work where she uses 2 different colours to captivate and signify this.

Different types of experimentation –

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For these edits, I wanted to experiment with all the photos I have edited so far through the use of the multi/double exposure technique. I really enjoyed using this technique as I was able to reflect back on the different photos which I have produced so far and see where there may be strong/weak points in them.

My favourite edit is the double exposure 1 because I like how I have used the bright colours behind the white of a photo because it resembles Vilde Rolfsen’s work where a few may have colours which aren’t as bright due to having either a white plastic bag over the top which can mute the colours slightly or going through photoshop and adding that white filter on top. I also like how the white highlights from the photo on top make the photo create the effect of it looking similar to a rose with the darker part being a stem underneath and the petals falling around it.

My least favourite edit the multi-exposure and this is because I think that it looks quite messy and unorganised because you aren’t able to see all of the different layers which I have introduced in the photo clearly and the some of the colours overlap creating darker parts such as in the top left corner which I don’t like, However, I do like the use of the colours at the bottom which I have used as they have merged together and made a few earthy tones come through such as green and blues, even a slight hint of purple as well. If I were to do this one again, I would make sure to make the opacity of the layers more dominant so that they are able to be seen so that they don’t mix into the plastic and start to get lost and look as if they are apart of the creases.

I really liked experimenting with the technique of layering in my work because it creates a 3D effect as if you are looking beneath you where there are different platforms which look as if they are not going to and and I think the darker shadows which contrast well against the bright colours of red, blues, pinks and purples help to create this illusion towards the photograph. If I were to experiment with this technique again I would want to introduce using a mix of 2 photos which work well together because I think that it could make them contrast well against each other (depending on the colours of each photo) which could create a layered effect that shows 2 different ways how the theme of ‘Anthropocene’ is impacting the world through the beauty of plastic bags which is what Vilde Rolfsen does as well.

The Anthropocene is a new, present day epoch, in which scientists say we have significantly altered the Earth through human activity. These changes include global warming, habitat loss, changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, oceans and soil, and animal extinctions.

Modern Anthropocene art centres on the recognition that we have entered into the “Anthropocene”—a new geologic era marked by the impact of human activity on the earth. Working in a variety of modes, ranging from practical demonstrations and shading into other current tendencies like social practice, relational aesthetics and environmental activism. Anthropocene art expresses the hope that art can point the way to a more ecologically sustainable future or spread awareness about political and environmental issues such as climate change, urbanisation and wealth divides.

MY IDEA OF ANTHROPOCENE

I have been heavily inspired by the New Topographics movement of the 1970s where stark images of mundane but oddly fascinating topography was a reflection of the increasingly suburbanised world, and a reaction to the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated the natural and the elemental. I would like to capture places reclaimed by nature like derelict buildings that have become overgrown and abandoned to show that mankind erodes nature to make room for a more industrial world.

I want to concentrate on urbanisation and how the human nature seems to be dominating, destructive force on the world. I want to make the point of the loneliness of humans in the world as we are destroying and disregarding all that is around us in search for the next brand new, mass-produced fixation. I would like to do this by photographing abandoned, derelict buildings to show the discarding nature of human adaptation as there is always something newer and better than the last.

For this piece I looked at Laura Romero and Emily Allchurch’s work, to cover the development of urban areas, as well as the identity of them. I used photos from Jersey as well as Brighton.

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Laura Roemero

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Image analysis

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From looking through her work and reading her bio’s I can see how she uses her photography to study the identity of the world around her and in doing so she also finds her. She also uses it to document and interoperate how things change around her such as the buildings. This is something I think I can also show, through the use of abstract, constructed landscapes such as city’s. In this image she has edited together a collection of photos of buildings from her city, as well as changing the colours of them to make them black and white to contrast the brightly coloured buildings to keep it interesting- and also keeping it geometrical / symmetrical.

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Emily Allchurch

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Series Analysis

Emily’s series ‘Towers of Babel’ is a project in which she attempts to portray city’s in a single photo, showcasing the different history, development and viewpoints within. While not a photographer, Emily creates her work based off of a collection of images which she recreates as one. Her work features old and new architectural styles, which is something I am attempting to include in my final piece too. Throughout this series she really highlights how how the scenery around us is becoming a constructed landscape, a concrete jungle.

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The Myth of The Tower of Babel

Emily’s title for her series “Towers of Babel” isn’t just a random name she thought was fitting- it actually refers to ‘The Myth of Babel’ which theorises the origins of multiple languages. It mentions how blasphemed by building the tower of babel to avoid a second flood, and so God created multiple languages so that humans were bound to different linguistic groups and couldn’t understand each other. I think that this is almost a metaphor for how some of the worlds richest people live high up in expensive skyscrapers above the normal people and are so different that we could almost speak different languages- in the form of our lifestyles. This is something Emily captures very well in her series as she includes various different types of buildings from different “classes” of life

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Contact Sheet

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Idea

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Final Piece & Process

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Evaluation & Comparison

I feel like this piece definitely displays various different architectural styles from different time periods, such as the Chinese/gothic/indo-saracenic style of the Royal Pavillion pictured in the centre, as well as the ultra modern skyscrapers of the London skyline– and some brutalist styled flat blocks. In this piece I have combined Laura Romero’s style of stitching together different building styles as well as Emily Allchurch’s theme of combining buildings from different times in history- all to create a sense of how an areas identity can develop over time.

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Once I had a group of edits that I felt content with, I decided to bring them into photoshop and experiment on them by using the ‘patch’ tool and the ‘polygonal lasso’ tool in order to create constructive landscapes out of my 4 different images. I was inspired by Dafna Talmor’s work and decided that I wanted to do something similar with my own images which led to me using a lot of straight/jagged lines to try and create constructive landscapes with unrecognisable origins, similar as to what Talmor does with her work.

Experiment 1: ‘Patch tool’

I found working with the patch tool interesting as it would bring out new colours from within each image, giving the new edit a new life due to how different it was from the original. However, I also found that it was difficult to control as it would lighten and darken certain aspects of the edit when I didn’t want it to, sometimes making the edit seem messy or blotchy. Despite this, some of the results I achieved were still satisfactory as the lack of control made room for some interesting edits in terms of composition and tones, however, they weren’t what I was aiming to create.

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Experiment 2: ‘Jigsaw’

Although this process was much more time consuming compared to using the patch tool, I found that it was worth the time as I thought the results looked more complete and professional compared to my first experiment as I had more control over what I was doing. I find the jagged edges bring the different parts of the image together in order to create an interesting composition/layout and the colours [or lack thereof] compliment each other well, drawing attention towards the lighter and darker areas in the images rather than allowing all the colours to fuse together like my first experiment did.

Overall, I found that my second experiment looked best and I decided that I was going to use those edits for my final piece and scrap my first experiment.

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For my first final piece, I have created an image that is very similar to Hilla Bechers work by presenting my images in the same way. I chose to do work inspired by Hilla Becher because I really like the way she lays out her images and presents them on a plain sheet of paper with multiple angles/ different structures because it gives a full response towards the idea of Anthropocene. My image was done slightly different by each photo being taken further away from the main focus (being the water tank).

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Process of creating image:

To begin with this image process I started by arranging all my 9 images I need and placed them all in a blank photoshop document and made sure I had the right images so I can complete this piece successfully.

After that, I needed to line the images up in 3×3 square/rectangle and change all the images to black and white to create a nice contrast between the images and background.

I was going to keep this as a final image but then experimented to see if a borderline around each image looked better. However, Hilla Becher doesn’t use an outline on her images, so I tried to see if it would be more effective. Also, Hilla usually colours her background either grey or white so I thought to be different and try out black and in my opinion it looks better.

Personally, I believe the use of the ‘Strokes’ (outlines) make the image look more quality. This is because of the contrast between the images and the black background give off a great effect.

After finishing this piece I thought to experiment different colour backgrounds to see if it improves the piece. I changed the background to grey and white to see if it would make the images stand out more but I don’t think it looked any better.

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Image comparison:

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As you can see, my images are taken in landscape and have distance between each, however Hilla Bechers images are taken in portrait and are taken of the same structure from different angles. The use of the white background on Hillas image contrasts a nice effect towards the structure. Also, Hillas image has 15 images within it, with mine only having 9 creating a 3×3 rectangle. My main focus in my image are the water tanks, which as you go down the image the closer you get to them. However, Hillas are all taken from the same distance away from the main focus but from different sides and angles.

PHOTOSHOOT #1

For this photoshoot i experimented with my images one by one because I wanted to present these ones as a whole to really bring the focus on the architecture. I also put all of them in black and white to replicate my artist reference Hilla and Bernd Becher’s work.

EXPERIMENTATION #1

For this photo i not only lowered the saturation but also the exposure. The black and white effect creates a dark atmosphere which i think highlights the harm mankind are doing to the environment.

EXPERIMENTATION #2

I did the same for this image except added highlights to capture the clouds in the sky as it heightens the tower making it appear as if it is looming over the camera.

EXPERIMENTATION #3

For my last photo, I turned down the exposure and saturation to create a chaotic atmosphere and show that power stations essentially symbolize destruction. I lowered the highlights to make the sky one colour and blend in with the gradient of the tower.

PHOTOSHOOT #2

Unlike my first photoshoot ideas, for this one I wanted to showcase mine in three different layouts, presenting a different emotion in each collection.

EXPERIMENTATION #1

I found four of my photos that had distinctive square or rectangle shapes and grouped them together to create an abstract display in reference to one of my case studies, Paul Talling, who presents some of his works in layouts according to shape on his website. I had to edit and adjust some of the photos so that they weren’t off balance, for example the one above which was slightly tilted.

I also experimented with the same set of photos in black and white, but preferred the original layout as it had more bold and defined shapes plus the black and white made the images look devoid of emotion when that is the opposite of my goal for this theme.

EXPERIMENTATION #2

For my second experimentation, i took photos of parts of the hotel i felt were in the worst state which to me were the most interesting photos because they told a story. On Lightroom i edited them by turning down the saturation and lowering the temperature to give the images a faded blue undertone.

EXPERIMENTATION #3

For my last experimentation of this photoshoot i took photos of vandalism and graffiti to try and replicate Paul Talling’s work as he has many projects centered around street art & graffiti. I experimented with a few different sets of images before choosing the one I felt looked the best. These photos were originally in colour but i switched them to black and white because I felt in colour they clashed and looked messy.

I decided to make a zine in order to display my final images from my Anthropocene project. I used Adobe InDesign software to create the layout and sizes for my images. My zine will have 16 pages that will display my photos which will in turn show a story of Anthropocene in jersey.

I began with a blank template with 16 pages where i went on to place my best images from both of my La Collette photoshoots.

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My Zine first attempt

This was my first attempt of creating my zine in Adobe InDesign. During this zine i have selected all my best images from both my La Collette photoshoots. However I felt that the sequence of the images were not very good. this is because i would have the same page layout multiple times in a row as well as using poor images for the front and back cover of the Zine. For these reasons I rearranged the images and pages into a way where the pictures compliment each other better and the covers look more professional.

Final Zine

I feel that this zine is a lot better than my first attempt. This is because firstly I have added a more bold prominent title that can be seen better on the black and white background. Additionally the new black and white front and back covers give the zine more more aesthetic. The variety of page layouts throughout the book have made the zine much nicer to view rather than having loads of full page images all together.

Introduction

Below I have included some screenshots and descriptions of how I have edited my images in Lightroom Classic, I have also created a ‘before and after’ gallery below for the monochromatic and colour editing. This makes it easier, along with the explanations, to understand the editing process and how it makes the photographs more aesthetic.

Monochromatic Editing

Process: I have edited this range of images below in order to link back to my Frank Gohlke and this helps me link to his industrial work. During the editing process I firstly altered the photographs so that they had no saturation and vibrancy, then to add definition to the images I created increased the texture, clarity and dehaze. The final part of the editing process was to change the exposure and contrast so features such as the clouds in the sky and other lines within the images would be more present.

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Intentions: In addition to changing these features, the whites and blacks setting came in very helpful as it meant the engravings in the metals became as more prominent part of the edited images. I didn’t think any of these images needed cropping as I think keeping in some of the surroundings means that the photographs look more like some of my selected artists work, making the next comparing and contrasting part of my project easier.

Colour Editing

Explanation/ process: Despite a large part of my project being centred around monochromatic work, I have still included some examples of editing in colour. The process of editing these photos included more adjustments such as cropping, realignment and exposure rather than features such as exposure. Some of these images only needed subtle changes, such as a change in saturation, but including evidence they have been edited means they have a higher chance of being used as some of my final images.

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Outcomes: Above I have just slightly edited these images to enhance them, some of these images don’t look drastically changed, however I think this is a positive as it means me original work was good. For example, I have only changed the exposure, clarity and saturation for most of these images. For the last two images I only changed the tone of the image so that it might now appear to have been taken earlier on in the evening when the sun was higher in the sky. Alternatively, I’ve found that putting down the exposure on some of these photographs meant that they became too saturated, so to fix this issue I had to make some of the images more dull.

Best Edits

Here are some of my best edited images, this process was made easier as these original images were of a high quality compared to the rest of edits, meaning the angles at which they were taken and the lighting (exposure) didn’t need greatly changed.

This photograph is one of my strongest throughout both of my photoshoots, it only required little editing with the exposure being increased by a small amount and the saturation being increased as well. I think that this original image is strong because of the composition and lighting so not many adjustments were required. Having the camera on manual meant that I could change the lighting as the sun was setting, considering this was taken as dusk.

I think this is one of my most successful edits as it very drastic, with the first photograph being full of saturation and the second being full of contrast, both of these images are strong, However, the second links to the work of Frank Gohlke and therefore integrates into my project more, the main changes with this example is the vibrancy, exposure and clarity, as I’ve found the clarity greatly affects monochromatic photos.

I have chosen to edit this photograph in a monochromatic way as aspects of the image such as the glass of the incinerator have been extenuated and now appear more noticeable. This is important as it makes the image more aesthetic and less dull, altering the contrast makes the image more dramatic and links to the topic of romanticism and Ansel Adams.

This image is one filled with buildings and structures which are part of Jersey’s reclaimed land. Making this photograph monochromatic meant that the structures have more contrast between them, as the exposure and shadows settings helped to distinguish between each building, I have tried to create as much contrast within the sky so that this part of the image isn’t lost, as its important when juxtaposing natural and manmade features of the image.

This photograph wasn’t noticeably edited as I thought just changing the image from more of a blue tone to more of a yellow gave the image more vibrancy and a better and different kind of saturation. Furthermore, I altered the exposure by decreasing it so that the focal point of the photograph, the incinerator, would be more recognised.

My Edits:

Although these aren’t my final edits, I still want to evaluate what I’ve done up to this point before I change these photos further and end up with a completely different set of images.

Comparing My Work to Felicity Hammond:

Hammond’s work is carefully made in order to portray how fascinated she is by “political contradictions within the urban landscape“. She tends to tint the shadows and highlights in her work, in this photo in particular she tints them blue and a greenish-yellow, which makes her work seem more dramatic, building a post-apocalyptic-esque scene which further emphasising how she feels about the environment. This is similar to what I did to my images as I used different tints in order to emphasize certain aspects of each image. In this image, I tinted the shadows a strong blue to draw more attention towards the ocean and used some green highlights to create an almost dusty visual as I attempted to depict a polluted scene.

Our work also shares some differences such as how Hammond built her photo, giving her full control of everything in her image which is well presented due to her experience as both a photographer and an installation artist. This helps give her photo a unique and rare touch as it looks like a dystopian environment but still includes aspects of urban environments. My image on the other hand, was a photo that I carefully took when outside, unlike Hammond, I didn’t collage my photo or add anything to it in order to create my own world, instead I decided to keep the image the way it was.