An environmental portrait puts the focus on the subject and background in one frame. In every shot, a photographer provides context to the subject I’m photographing. Each light, location, background, camera angle, composition give points of interest to the natural story of the environment.
Throughout this project my main aim for my images was to explore the environmental consequences of the construction industry and how it may effect the future generations if it is not changed somehow, during my research i was astonished with the actual impact construction waste and extreme over construction has on our planet and day to day life. According to new research by construction blog Bimhow, the construction sector contributes to 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes, These statistic are huge and i believe they should be really brought to the table when talking about climate change and the way humans are impacting the world, This really fuelled by intentions when taking these photos since being a teenager in jersey the overexploitation of construction jersey is greatly impacting the islands future with property value sky rocketing, this means children and young adults on the island will find it extremely hard to ever have a future one day without having a large amount of money.
For my photoshoot I went to a construction site on Wellington road in St Saviour as I had permission to walk around with a member of the management system who agreed with the research I was doing and showed me many stages of the construction and different forms of wastage throughout, from air pollution to wastage of materials such as wood and plastic i cant begin to imagine the sheer amount of waste that occurs across the world let alone one site.
My images are all in black and white since I believe that its displays the message that it is almost as if humans will de evolve if something isn’t done to save our planet. Although the style of my photos are Anthropocene, I did not want to have any people in my images since i thought it may take away from the dramatic affect of the shoot and will leave an image in the viewers head that the fact there is no people around may be the case if the environment isn’t saved sooner.
Throughout the shoot I used high shutter speed to captures has much detail and to not allow a lot of light in as a i like to have a dark gloomy style to my images.
Overall i think my photoshoot was a great success and i believe i managed to capture some great shots for the ideas I wanted to share.
My artist reference was Alessandro Zanoni who i believe has amazing Anthropocene style images such as the one above, he uses excellent style of editing which i took inspiration from when taking and editing my images.
As you can see in the images above i used black and white images since i loved the way his images make you feel which i don’t think would have the same effect if they were in colour which fits well with the theme of Anthropocene since it gives the sense that humanity is slowly de evolving due to greed and the consequences of destroying the planet. I also wanted to try use shadows to add depth to my image, taking inspiration from quite a few of his photos.
I also liked how he used quite abandoned/half built structures since it shows the waste of construction recourse which is greatly impacting our environment, which is my main point im trying to share with my photos.
I wanted to try using photoshop to manipulate and edit my images into something new however i believe that with this piece of work it took away the from the dramatic feel of the piece which was my main goal when editing these photos.
Overall i believe i prefer the images as they are since that was my vision when making my action plan.
as i believe keeping the images simple will help convey the message i would like to share easier.
For my photoshoot, I went to a local building site as i believe, especially in Jersey, the building of properties greatly effects the environment and life within the area.
I was not able to take as many images as i would’ve liked to since i had limited time and did not want to disrupt people who were working but I believe the images i captures gives the viewer a real sense of the scale of architecture in jersey and how constant construction may affect the future of its islanders.
My action plan is to go to a building site too take a look at the wastage of material and other aspects that may affect the environment, and to take images that give the viewer an inside perspective of what overpopulation and over construction has on the environment
I would like to get pictures of the different types of wastage from wooden panels to metal wires and so on.
I am a big fan of Alessandro Zanonis work and i believe his work with Anthropocene greatly inspires me and fuels my idea of photographing the over construction in todays cities. His use of quite eerie areas and landscapes which adds a dramatic tone to all his his images.
After attending the Liceo Artistico and the graphic design degree at European Design Institute in Milan, He began his profession working on printing, publishing, web and interaction design. in the second part of 2016, He was in China for two artist residencies where he made extensive reports on the city of Wuhan, on the development of the cities of Inner Mongolia and the slow disappearing of some urban villages in Shenzhen and Shanghai.
