Anthropocene describes the time when humans have had a substantial impact on our planet, explaining in periods of time when human activity have had influences on the climate and environment.

Some people think the impact made by humans is in close relation to climate change. However a key factor of Anthropocene, is showing awareness of the current state of the planet and how our reactions are influenced by this.

We think of Anthropocene linking to us globally, meaning the planet is one big system that surrounds us in different ways, such as in ecosystems, urban/ industrial or geological/ naturally. Photographers have captured this in abstract ways showing unique compositions and forms, that are found naturally or in the industry, but also showing a close relation to science. This could mean how the industry is slowly impacting the environment through pollution, and we see this everyday. Also, we can see this by looking at what the environment used to look like before compared to how it looks now.

How and why are photographers exploring this concept?

Photographers explore this concept through the use of visual imagery capturing from aerial views. This way photographers can capture a view in the air by giving a unique perspective on the landscape, showing both beautiful and toxic sites. Photographers find this an interesting concept to explore as they too are investigating the human influence on earth. What they capture is a message to us as the viewer because we can see destruction happening to the planet.

Photoshoot 1:

The land and us is an exhibition located at Capital house, and is a collaboration between ArtHouse Jersey, artists: Alexander Mourant, Remi Graves, Alice Burnhope, Hannah Fletcher and Sam Carvosso, as well as local organisations such as EYECAN Jersey, Dementia Jersey, Youthful Minds and L’Office du Jèrriais.

The Exhibition’s focus is on the need to reconnect with jersey’s natural word and consists of photography, poetry, sculptures, art and textiles.

Photos from the exhibition

Overall I enjoyed the exhibition and liked the sculptures they had as I thought that they were very creative and the detail was interesting. I also liked the way they included Jèrriais at the exhibition as it is a good way to help preserve the language.

Mood board

What is Anthropocene ?

Anthropocene is the impact humans have had on the world these are things such as pollution and overpopulation and using up the worlds resources until there is very little left for everyone else. People have been so emerged in social media.

What inspired Anthropocene ?

Anthropocene was believed to have started in the 18th century at the start of Britain’s industrial Revolution which created the first fossil fuel economy. Burning the organic carbon in fossil fuels enabled large scale production and drove the growth of mines, factories and mills.

What’s the importance of Anthropocene ?

Humans have become the most influential species on the planet, causing significant global warming and other changes to land the environment and water, and overall effecting the atmosphere .

Image Analysis

This lines in this image from where the truck has dug paths in the soil act as leading lines to point your eye in the direction of the focal point being the truck in the middle of the image. The lighting in this image has a lot of shadow from the sunlight from the end of the tunnel which creates contrast between the areas in the tunnel that have no sunlight reflecting on them and the areas in the tunnel that do have sunlight reflecting on them. The lighting on the truck also makes the focal point stand out more and directs your eye more clearer to the truck. This image shows the damage being done to the world and how humans are draining the world of its recourses and if the world runs out of its recourses then there will be no more in the future when the worlds population will have increased more leading to bigger and more complicated problems. The composition of this image is balanced between the shadows and the lighting coming from the entrance of the tunnel. The background in this image is large scale which almost shows just how big of an impact humans have had on the world and just how large the problems that we have caused have become and how much larger they will get if something is not done about the pollution of the world.

What I’m going to do for my Anthropocene Photoshoot ?

I’m going to do my Anthropocene Photoshoot on light pollution and how the amount of light that is admitted has an effect on the atmosphere. My Photoshoot is going to be on the light from buildings and from streetlights and I’m also going to use artificial lights like torches to help give more light to my photo. I’m going to use a tripod to get clear pictures and so that I can get the angles for the photos right for example if I’m photographing a multi layered car park and the lighting from it is only reflecting in one area the camera will need to be still to try and get that photo right. I’m also going to get images of buildings with lights reflecting from them and the different lights that they admit into the atmosphere. I’m going to go all around town and around the waterfront to get these images as the most amount of light pollution will be around town and amongst the buildings and the businesses that are around town. Another idea I had was to take pictures of cars when they are driving to photograph the headlights and the brake lights to show how much light they admit at night and the amount of gas emissions that come out of the exhaust.

Anthropocene is a type of photography where the idea of climate change and the effects that the human race, have had on the world due to negative habits, are shown through the use of photos.

The Anthropocene defines earth’s most recent geologic time period as being human – influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes have now been altered by humans.

These human actions cause, among other consequences, changes in the water cycle, imbalances and destructions in the marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the increase of extreme meteorological phenomena, the acidification of the oceans or the disappearance of the forests.

Anthropocene photographers focus on issues that are noticed all through the world such as ;

• Climate change
• Pollution (plastics and non-recyclable materials )
• Over crowding and over population
• Global warming

The Anthropocene photos taken by these photographers, are usually very moving and frankly quite unnerving because of the raw unfiltered reality that is shown through them. They usually include quite disturbing images, while not usually graphic the connotations that come through the photos can struck fear into anyone and really show the harsh reality we live in.

While people may view that these photos are solving the problems that we face I believe that all they do is spread awareness, yes that can play a massive part in solving these problems but in the long run, it does nothing. While these photographers are raving about the problems throughout the world, they still have shows and exhibitions to show their work and would be using non-recyclable materials to hang and showcase their work so in the long run, they feed the problem more then solve it.

For my first few photo shoots, I will be focusing on more of the pollution and overcrowding issues since they are the most relatable here in Jersey.

For the first photo shoot I can focus on litter and pollution on beaches and since there are a few beaches near town, the pollution can get really bad during certain times of the week.

For the second photo shoot I can focus on overcrowding throughout central St Helier during busy weekends. Since the population numbers in Jersey are quite large for the size of the small island, it would be easy to capture the busyness and crowding throughout day to day life.