After editing my best photos on Lightroom, I took photos from both shoot 1 and shoot 2 into photoshop to create more interesting and unique edits. These edits included merging different images together to create photomontages, adding a lot of colour to the images to fit the images of Troy Paiva one of the photographers I studied, changing the colours of foliage to fit another one of the photographers I studied, Richard Mosse and creating other unique effects. The images shown are a before and after view of the editing.

Photoshoot Edits

Richard Mosse inspired edits

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I created the effect of these images on photoshop by changing the Hue/Saturation of the yellows and greens in the image by going to image – adjustments – Hue/Saturation. I believe this image reflects images created by the photographer Richard Mosse and creates a very unique effect. The images on the left are before editing and the images on the right are after editing. Above is the fixtures on the Hue/Saturation setting to create this effect on the images.

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Troy Paiva inspired edits

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I created these edits by first using the object selection tool to select all of the foliage and grass in the image, I then made everything selected a new layer. I then made the original layer black and white and edited the different colours to create a very bland effect of the human made buildings. I then edited the Hue/Saturation on the new layer to add more life to the natural landscape. Above shows the different setting I used to create these effects, below shows a before and after of the edits.

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Other edits

I created these edits using the remainder of my best images I hadn’t used already from both photoshoots as well as using some parts of images I have already used. I focused on creating photomontages by using different parts of multiple images and creating one final edit with all of them using photoshop. I didn’t take much inspiration from other photographers to create these edits although some inspiration was used.

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Using these 3 images above I was able to create the edit below. I did this by using the polygonal lasso tool in photoshop to select what parts of the side photos I wanted to paste into the middle image, then I created a second layer of the bottom half of the image so whatever I pasted looked like it was going behind the new layer for a more natural look. I then placed the parts of the side images where I wanted them and made them black and white. I then made the grass more colourful using the Hue/Saturation tool and this was the final product.

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Using these 2 images above I created the edit below. I did this by creating a layer over the landscape and sea of the image on the left. Then I took a section of the image on the right using the polygonal lasso tool and pasting lots of that section together to create a skyscraper looking image, I then added that to the back of the image on the right to create lots of buildings on the horizon. Finally I used the Hue/Saturation tool to make the landscape look more colourful and stand out among the rest of the image.

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Review of edits

Overall, I am very happy with my final edits. The edits created which are inspired by the artists I studied greatly compare to them in everything from looks, lighting and the colours seen in the images. They also fit into the theme of Anthropocene very well in my opinion. My other edits, where I created photo-montage type images, I am also very happy with. My aim with them was to create unique and cool images which is exactly how I believe they turned out. These edits also fit into the theme of Anthropocene very well also. To improve my artist inspired work, I would have during different times of the day, such as early morning or at night-time. Doing this would have given my a wider range of images to edit. To improve my other edits, I would have taken more photographs of tall buildings, building sites and natural landscapes in order to be able to create more montages with buildings and landscapes like the two above.

photoshoot plan

Statement of intent: I am going to take a mixture of urban and rural landscapes, with the key feature of destruction, whether that be already within the image, or manually destructed using photoshop or cutting and sticking techniques.

photoshoot 1: Plemont bay

I am going to take photos of natural beauty, focusing on the rock formations, waterfalls, patterns in the sand etc. I will then use inspiration from Charlotta’s work to layer the images and show the natural beauties that we are all collectively destroying. As well as this I will choose one or two of my best landscape photos to create the crumpled paper effect done by Ingrid Weyland.

photoshoot 2: Bouley bay

I am going to try and find access into the abandoned hotel called ‘waters edge hotel’ down at Bouley Bay. I have chosen this spot because this place has been left abandoned and alone for around 5-6 years. Therefore you can see nature trying to fight back to us humans, leaving the hotel decaying and overtime becoming dilapidated and broken.

photoshoot 3: walk

I am going to walk around St Clements and take pictures that show destruction, I will walk along the coast, all the way along to La Collete in the hope that I manage to find a building sight or destryoed urbanisation.

Image selection process

Firstly, I uploaded all 700 of the images from 3 different shoots to the Media drive that I managed to take during my photoshoots at Bouley bay, Plemont bay and various different places.

I then used ‘shift x’ to hide the images that weren’t so good and ‘shift p’ to flag the images that had potential. I was then still left with 200 photos at this point.

from 200 photos I then reduced them to 78 photos but still needing to reduce the photographs by quite a significant amount

Here I am starting to select which images I am going to use as my final images by colour coding them with green.

Now that I have reduced the images from 700 to 15, I am going to begin to experiment with lighting and photoshop in correlation to my chosen photographers.

George Marazakis

Greek photographer, George Marazakis, takes the Anthropocene as both concept and title for a series that looks at a new epoch engendered by the greed of mankind. George Marazakis born in 1976 in Crete Island Greece where he lives with his wife and their son. He studied Mechanical Engineering and works for the Greek Ministry of Justice. He produced his photographs behind he idea that after 12,000 years of stable climate, the current geological period—Holocene—is ending, humanity’s effect on Earth has been so catastrophic that it has caused a new epoch to begin.

“an external observer could describe it as an autoimmune disease attacking its own body.”

this quote symbolises the earth as our body, and that we are actively attacking our own chances of survival, ultimately ending in devastation.

This photograph of George’s really interests me for many different reasons. The main connotations that I perceive from this image is that the man made cross in this image represents that anything humankind touch or tamper with, will never be the same as it was before. George highlights the ideas that we are destroying our earth automatically without thinking about the consequences. The cross, dug out in a serene and beautiful landscape, is showing that we always have some impact on our earth. As well as this, the cloudy, stormy looking background shows the idea of global warming and pollution, again, caused by us human. The low saturation and dullness of this image is almost suggesting that the more we tamper with our planet it slowly ‘fades to grey’ and almost dies. It also provides us with an ominous feeling, the photography people usually see idolises landscapes, upping the saturation and making it look almost dreamlike. However this looks more like it comes out of a horror movie or nightmare. George is originally from Crete Greece, however his image challenge the stereotypes of sunny colourful Greece. I chose to study George because his landscapes are truly mesmerizing, but highlight the idea that change is coming faster than we think. the images he takes are almost surreal and tell a different story in each one.

Andrew Moore

American photographer Andrew Moore (born 1957) is widely acclaimed for his photographic series, usually taken over many years, which record the effect of time on the natural and built landscape. These series include work made in Cuba, Russia, Bosnia, Times Square, Detroit, The Great Plains, and most recently, the American South.

Moore’s photographs are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Library of Congress amongst many other institutions. He has received a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2014, and has as well been award grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the J M Kaplan Fund.

Andrews work

in this specific section of photographs, Andrew Moore photographs the effect of time on the natural and built landscape, his images highlight the dilapidated and ominous parts of Detroit. he shows the impact of nature on man made buildings and objects, also showing how nature can destroy places over time. Time is one of the biggest destroyers of urban landscapes, for example things like rust, decay and mould. nature is trying its hardest to fight back for their space by slowly taking down man made objects, just like how earth was designed to be. His images relate to the topic of Anthropocene because he is showing the impact of human actions on nature, more and more places are becoming abandoned due to the fast destruction of buildings cause by nature and time. I chose this artist because I have a particular interest in old and abandoned places, I find tranquillity in places that have once been loved. In my opinion, a abandoned building tells a much bigger story than a building that is still running. It makes you question why it was left, who stayed here and many other things.

particular image that interests me is:

This photographs has a lot of character, it is almost quite sad as this place seemed to formally be someone’s home, but it has been destroyed over time. The piano is the centre focus of the image. A piano is known to be an expensive, well kept and precious item, but it has slowly been destroyed by nature and us. The lighting in the image is natural light coming through the windows of the room, this lighting exposes the fact that there are no man made lights in this place anymore after being abandoned. This photo was taken as a wide landscape shot, the photographers does this to show the sheer size of the destruction in this building, the image is calm yet chaotic in a way. There is a lot going on in this image, from broken windows, collapsed walls, and graffiti toa huge layer of dust. however, the piano being in the centre of the image, solitary, connotes to the idea that nature is working alone with no help anymore. due to the fact that us humans are not nurturing it anymore. the warm hue of the image indicates the natural sunlight coming into the room, but also symbolises the idea that this place used to be cared for and a place of comfort. The textures in this image are all very harsh and sharp instead of soft and dreamy, showing the harsh reality of time and nature breaking down our buildings.

Charlotta María Hauksdóttir’

Charlotta María Hauksdóttir is an Icelandic artist based in California, working primarily in photography. Residing in the USA for over 20 years, she still draws inspiration from her home country Iceland. Created from the perspective of her experience with epilepsy, her work centers around the unique connection one has to places and moments in time, and how memories embody and elevate those connections. 

Hauksdóttir received a BA in Photography from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, Italy, in 1997 and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2004. She also holds a Diploma in Creative and Critical Thinking from the Iceland Academy of the Arts.

Her work has been exhibited around the world, with solo exhibitions in the USA, Russia, and Iceland including numerous group shows and photography festivals. Her photographs have been published in several magazines and books, as well as a monograph “A Sense of Place – Imprints of Iceland” by Daylight Books that can be found in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, SFMOMA, and Princeton among others. Hauksdóttir’s work is also part of numerous private and public collections such as Stanford Health Care and Reykjavik Museum of Photography.

Charlotta’s work

Charlotta’s work focuses on rural landscapes, specifically nature that provides the theme of awe and terror. Charlotta uses the technique of overlapping layers of fragmented landscapes , printed words and fingerprint patterns. Her work explores a new perspective on her personal memories and the collective impact that we have on the environment. She uses the globally recognised finger print to signify the human presence on earth. she states that ‘It speaks to our impact on nature and nature’s impact on us.’ she also uses snippets of text about global warming and the effects humanity have on nature, this is a subtle but clever way to get show the message behind the photographs. Global warming has become and increasingly important subject over the past 10 years and charlotta shows this throughout her images in many different ways. she photographs different natural landscapes that are almost mesmerising, but cuts them up to show how we destroy the earth constantly. I chose Charlotta as an ispiration for my project due to the fact that I am very interested in the idea behind the images, how they have been torn appart to symbolise human impact, and how the images almost create an illusion and draw you to look into them.

I was particularly drawn to this image of Charlottas. Her use of text and different textures of nature shows the beauty of the world and what we are rapidly destroying. The text used in this image is a piece about global warming. Global warming is a key feature of Anthropocene due to the fact that global warming is caused by humankind. Her use of different coloured and textured stones, rock and gravel give the image a pure feeling of nature and the natural, untouched beauties of earth. The layering also has connotations of big rock formations that you see on big cliffs that have been eroded by water and waves. the exposure used in these images is quite high, leaving the images bright and cheerful, this symbolises the way charlotta views nature. The temperature of this image has a cool hue, giving connotations of sadness. Charlottas images were taken in Iceland, a place that is heavily effected by global warming and climate change. This image is almost like a call for help, she shows the erth and nature but never really anything with snow or the weather that is normally expected in iceland. This is a particularly personal study for charlotta, because she is from Iceland and her home is rapidly being destroyed.

Dictionary definition : The Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems

The topic of Anthropocene has become more and more relevant as the world became more populated, polluted and urbanised. Collectively, we have impacted earth in ways that are inevitable, but irreversible. The rise in temperature and sea levels is due to increase in use of greenhouse gasses, rising into the atmosphere and warming the planet. By doing this, the temperatures rise, sea levels rise, ice caps melt and animals lose their natural habitats. We are rapidly destroying the earth due to greed, for example making money by cutting down trees, again leaving animals homeless, and destroying the levels of oxygen that our planet has naturally sourced. The overpopulation in many countries is causing the need for more and more housing, therefore to make room in these overpopulated areas, we are having to invade earths natural beauties to make room for us. overtime, this process will become catastrophic to the earth, many species will become extinct, maybe even ours. many photographers are focusing on this topic a lot more than usual, exposing the damage we are causing and protesting for change. In my study of Anthropocene, I want to highlight earths natural beauties that May not still exist in the future due to the need to build more houses, and want to show the destruction and ignorance that humans have towards nature. I also want to show how nature fights back against our actions, by trying to rot, erode, overgrow and dilapidate man made objects, but also how we as humans, destroy and waste our own creations.

chosen photographers:

I have decided to produce my Photography exam using landscape photos, with inspiration from Charlotta Maria Hauksdottir’ and ingrid weyland.

As I wanted to concentrate on urbanisation and destruction. I decided I was going 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. To gain a variety of images I also plan to walk around St Helier, St Clements and St Johns to get pictures of a New Topographic style.

PHOTOSHOOT #1 PLAN

I plan to photograph a hotel which has been closed down since 2013, I am planning to go on a light, sunny day to get sharp contrasts in my images so there is an exaggeration on shadows and damage of windows etc.

PHOTOSHOOT #2 PLAN

I plan to walk around St Helier, St Clements and St Johns- I have a few places of interest planned such as abandoned greenhouses, a derelict park which has some fire damage along with some residential areas which may be interesting to photograph.

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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
		digital

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.