After looking through my images, I picked out a few that I knew would work with my idea of juxtaposing nature and manmade/industrial landscapes and began experimenting via editing.

First Experiment:

I began experimenting by decreasing the saturation of any greenery in order to make the industrial/human impact stand out within each photo, increasing the saturation on something [like a car] to help exaggerate the impact, similar to how Felicity Hammonds uses colour to dramatize her work, adding to it’s dystopian-esque nature.

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Second Experiment:

This time, I decided to switch it around and increase the saturation of the rural aspects in each image to make them stand out more. Immediately I realized I preferred this much more compared to my first experiment.

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Photo-Shoots

Photo-shoot 1	For my first photoshoot, I decided to use my idea of comparing old photos to new photos of Jersey. So I picked some older pictures from different websites and then when to the same places trying to get the same angle so that I could try and show how the island has changed over the years and how it’s been modernised.
Photo-shoot 2	For my second photoshoot, I wanted to use different coloured lighting and different for of disposable waste that could be found on the island, mainly on beaches, this includes masks, water bottles and empty medicine containers.

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I chose to do my first photoshoot because I liked the idea of showing how our island has changed over the years and to see how it’s been modernised and affected by the increase in population. For the older photos, I used Francis Firth’s website and his collection of old jersey images.

Old Photos of Jersey – Francis Frith

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I chose to do my second photoshoot because I liked how Troy Paiva used LEDs to light up his photos. Still, I also took inspiration from Steven Gallagher and Naomi White and their photos/collections on plastic bags, so I decided to base my photoshoots on different plastic items that are commonly found on beaches and discarded in forests and woods, most of them being single-use plastic which causes a lot of damage to the environment.

Contact Sheets

This is one of my contact sheets for my first photoshoot, it includes an overlook of town, the Royal Yacht and Mont Orgueil castle. For the photo of St Helier, I went up to the top of Fort Regent car park as it gave me the leverage to get a similar angle and a clear photo that included a lot of the new builds and even buildings that are being built this year. The photo of the royal yacht I took photos with and without the new extension, as the older photo only has the original building.

These are the four older images I am using to create my sequences to show how the island has changed and been adapted for the population, also how it has been modernised and built up.

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These are my contact sheets for my second photoshoot which consists of different plastics and waste commonly found on beaches and around the islands as they have not been disposed of properly or recycled. To create these images I used two different lighting techniques, for the first one I used tissue paper and a torch which gave me a bright colour and washed into a more faded version depending on where the light was placed. For the second technique, I used different coloured glow sticks which helped me get more vibrant colours which could easily be put together so that one side of the object was different to the other. I preferred using the glow sticks as I was able to be more creative with the colours and positions of the objects which gives me a more diverse range of photos.

Below I have started focusing on looking through all of my images and making decisions on whether or not they will be used in my project, I have created and explained a visual system that will help me make better decisions about my photographs, the colours and ratings also help compare the usefulness of my images.

Colour Coding System:

• Purple- images with high relevance and high quality
• Green- images with high relevance to my project but have low quality
• Yellow- images that didn’t turn out as well as expected but could still be used
• Red- images that will not be being used in my project

Furthermore, the star rating system helps when judging one photograph in comparison with another, weighing up how aesthetic these images are and not just about how relate to my project. I think that these systems combine help with editing as well, as I don’t need to look through all of my photographs before editing.

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I have created this selection of 6 photographs as I think they are the best from the shoots and have a lot of potential within my project, I think its important to include examples of some of my best work with some of my work which could do with a lot of improving in order to keep learning what works and what doesn’t in photography. Furthermore, I think these images work well as a set, of course they were taken at the same locations but they all link to my theme of consumption.

Here I have included some examples of my best and worst images from my second photoshoot, I have used the same system as before however I don’t have as many images to give examples on. I think that the number of potential final images in this photoshoot was far less but they will still be used in my final piece. Furthermore, these images link to my theme of overpopulation and these are photographs are of good quality.

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Image Sub-selection

Below I have included some of my best images so far, this is before editing and is part of my sub selection process and they have the most potential to be used in my project. I think this is an important part of the process before editing and it allows for a faster editing process as the focus is already on the better images.

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I imported these photos of my 2st photoshoot on to Adobe Lightroom where I was able to view them and decide whether they were successful photos or not, I am glad with how a few of these photos have turned out while working in the style of Naomi White taking inspiration from her ‘Plastic Currents’ photoshoot.

During this photoshoot, I used an infinity curve and lightbox to create a bright, plain white background in my photos similar to Naomi Whites work and this has allowed me to be able to experiment with f-stop and ISO while in brighter lighting to capture the colour of the plastic bags. These photos also turned out to look similar to Jellyfish, this is very effective and in style with the theme of ‘Anthropocene’ as plastic pollution is a heavy part of contribution towards it so this raises the issue of how plastic is dangerous towards sea life.

More information on dangers of plastic pollution to sea life.

Least successful photos –

These are the photos which I have picked in Adobe Lightroom to be the least successful from my 2nd photoshoot, this is because the lighting would sometimes cast a yellow tone over and the picture would also be out of frame and focus. This happened due to the lightbox which I was using being quite small so the black/darker marks on the sides of the photos are created because of this which can be seen in photos 7-12 and 19-24 and this can contrast against the white heavily and make the photo/colour of the plastic bags appear to be quite dim in colour.

From photos 36 onwards, I experimented with using the infinity curve in class, but because this wasn’t as bright due to the lighting the photos and colours weren’t as bright as I had liked them to be and faded into one another which made them get lost in each other along with the finer details such as the creases on the plastic bags, I also didn’t like the angles which I had taken the photos from.

If I were to do this photoshoot again, I would make sure that I have a bigger lightbox so that there is more surface area which would make the pictures easier to frame and take and when using the infinity curve to have a source of light such as a lamp which would make the photos brighter to make the colours of the plastic bags more effective and vibrant.

Most successful photos –

These are the photos which I have selected in Adobe Lightroom to be my most successful from my 2nd photoshoot because I think that they are able to represent the effect of Glaciers/Icebergs well with the shapes that I have created and photographed. This is because of the way the plastic bag can fold on itself which can make it look like the top of an iceberg, like in number 7 or 1, or the underneath of a glacier such as 2 and 6. I am really happy with how these have turned out and will only edit them slightly with cropping, light and exposure then experiment in Adobe Photoshop with layering them on top of each other to make them look even more abstract and similar to glaciers/icebergs.

I think that these photos also came out quite well because they are able to share similarities to jellyfishes, which can fit quite well within the theme of ‘Anthropocene’ because they are an animal which will suffer due to plastic pollution because of it. This means that I have the beauty in these photos while also showing the dangers that they have to the wild life. I really like number 9 and 12, which shares a really close resemblance towards a jellyfish who may be moving around in the sea whereas photos 10 and 11 may look like ones who have been washed up on the beach from the sea and have died. I will edit these slightly in Lightroom but will also experiment with various ways of manipulating them through layering with the other photos above.

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Here are some facts about Jellyfish and Glaciers/Icebergs.

For my second photoshoot at AAL’s recycling facility at La Collette i focused more on the materials rather than the machinery however i did manage to capture a few images of machinery at work. Due to the time of day i attended the facility most workers had finished for the day which was a benefit as i did not have to worry about people obstructing the rest of the image. Additionally, the wash plant had been working all day which meant that all of the material storage areas were very full which was an added bonus to my photoshoot.

First I went through all pictures from my second photoshoot and used the flags to filter the images into group that would and wouldn’t be used.

Next I rated each image 3, 4 or 5 stars and only used the images rated 5 stars to ensure i had the best photos possible.

Lastly, i colour coded the images. The green images are the ones that i believe are the nest from the entire shoot and the red images are my secondary photos that i could use if i need to.

Final Images

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Photo Gallery

Evaluation

Overall i feel this photoshoot went well however i do feel that the first photoshoot was of higher quality. I think that this is because of the time difference. On my first shoot i had plenty of time to really think about my photos and set myself up in positions that would help the outcome look professional whereas the site was closing soon after i arrived on the second shoot therefore i had to rush. Additionally, the weather was not as nice on the second shoot therefore the lighting was not what it could have been.

4 best shots I will use and why –

Photo 1 – I have chosen this photo because I think that it only needs a little bit of editing with the lighting and some slight cropping so that it can be experimented with through manipulation in photoshop. I also like how the red and the purple work well together through creating a subtle glow which highlights the creases around the flashlight.

Photo 2 – I have chosen this photo because I think that the amount of creases which have been created can create a beautiful ‘crystal’ effect with a few adjustments to the lighting and contrasts in editing.


Photo 3 – I have chosen this photograph to move further with in editing on Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop because I really like how the two plastics bags have merged together to create a fade to purple in the middle, creating a branched effect in between which I think can resemble a crystal or marble through the folding and creases of the bag.

Photo 4 – I have chosen this photo to bring into Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop for further editing because I like the tunnel effect which has been created due to the light and I think that with slight adjustments to the lighting, to make it a little less overexposed it can make the effect of the tunnel really distinct as if you are following a path in a cave, which I really like.

Idea 1 – Old tv

My first idea is to use photoshop to edit an old tv I found behind Holme Grown. This tv was in front of the greenhouses so I took photos of it with the overgrown greenhouses in the background. My idea is to edit something on to the screen, such as tv static or an old news show. This tv will represent older times, where agriculture was the biggest industry in Jersey. I did not think of this idea at the time I was there so I didn’t take photos with this idea in mind, however I could go back with my camera and take photos from better angles or move the tv if I feel like I need to. I could also include news headlines from Jersey about plans to build new buildings such as the new hospital. This will contrast the old overrun greenhouses with the urbanisation of Jersey.

Idea 2

My second idea is to present the change in Jersey’s industry, going from an agricultural island to an urban island. I will show how we are in between those two at the moment, and how urbanisation will effect us later on in life. To show urbanisation I will present photos of Ronez Quarry, building works around Jersey and graffiti. To show the fall of agriculture in Jersey I will present photos of an abandoned garden centre, abandoned farm warehouses and abandoned landscapes of greenhouses, which would have used to be full of workers.

Idea 3

My third idea is to print some of my photos and create a photomontage by cutting and sticking parts of my photos together to create a representation of Anthropocene. I will use both industrial photos and abandoned agriculture in this photomontage.

Artist reference

I will compare my work with Edward Burtynsky’s photos that he took of tires. I have already started this with my artist references and image analysis of this work.

Firstly, I exported all my images to Lightroom and put them in specific collections to make it easier to locate the right photos. I first started my editing on Lightroom by adjusting tools such as contrast, texture and exposure.

Edit 1:

This image is the first image I edited on Lightroom. Firstly, I chose to change the colour to black and white because of the effect of the contrast between the green and grey. I then played about with all the different tools and decided how I am going to present this image with the final outcome of treatment looking like this.

Edit 2:

For my second edit I chose one of my favourite images I took whilst out on my photoshoot. I chose this one because I like the way the colour of the sky and water tanks contrast a similar sort of colour. Also, I think that the fuel truck helps portray the idea of Anthropocene showing the use of natural resources next to industrial structures.

I decided not to change this edit from colour to black and white because of the effects all the colours have on each other which I think helps this image look good.

Instead I chose to decrease the exposure, highlights and whites to make the image seem more darker. I increased the contrast, shadows, blacks and texture to try and make the image seem much more detailed and good quality.

Edit 3:

Another one of my edits is taken of the same tanks as the previous image but from a lower and closer angle to the tanks. I like the angle of this image because it makes the tanks seem as they are bigger than natural materials and landscape.

This image is displayed in black and white and has a low exposure to create more darkness throughout the image. I made the texture on this image quite high because high texture images suit the theme of black and white by expressing it’s details.

The use of high contrast on this edit makes the water tanks standout more in the image by shadowing other details and objects in the bottom half of the image.

Lightroom experiments:

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I am going to be going up to Sorel Point to take pictures of Rosnez quarry- illustrating humans affect on the coastal landscape. I will have straight on images of the new hillside as well as using the rule of thirds to frame the equipment, sea and landscape. I will be taking inspiration from George Marazakis for this piece.

George Marazakis– I will be focusing on Georges collection of images titled “A cure for Anthropocene” in which George addresses the critical issue of climate degradation, which he hopes his series can shed light on the possibilities of finding a ‘cure’. He describes humans effects on earth as an “autoimmune disease attacking its own body”.

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Image Analysis

For my inspiration I mainly looked at this photo form George taken half way down a large quarry. Its a simple straight on shot most likely aimed to show/exaggerate the vast size and scale of the quarry and the effect it has had on the landscape. It was taken on a cloudy/ overcast day which makes it more impactful by making it look darker and vilified. The bright colour of the water collected at the bottom gives a good contrast to the bleak colours found in the rest of the image and is useful to give an idea of the scale of the quarry. and the overall effect on the earth.

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Contact Sheet

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Editing Experimentation

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Final Idea

After being inspired to shoot a quarry upon looking over my final images I didn’t feel like they fully portrayed the idea of Anthropocene as it was obviously a much smaller quarry; so after levelling these 3 images I decided to add in windows behind shapes in each image. I used these windows to place a photo of some industrial waste to try and showcase how large industrial operations such as mineral mining in quarry’s affect the world by what they leave behind.

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Evaluation

Overall I think that this piece came out better than expected as I was originally just planning to present the raw photos, but once I saw that they weren’t really portraying the idea of “Anthropocene” and humans impact on the earth and its effect on the natural landscape so I added the “windows” into some of the waste that gets left behind on these large industrial operations.

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