What is anthropocene?

The Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth until now. It affects Earth’s geology, landscape, limnology, ecosystems and climate. 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.

In simple terms, it is how human activity impacts the earth.

Mood Board:

The word Anthropocene comes from the Greek terms for human (‘anthropo’) and new (‘cene’), but its definition is controversial. It was coined in the 1980s, then popularised in 2000 by atmospheric chemist Paul J Crutzen and diatom researcher Eugene F Stoermer. The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old while humans have been here for a much smaller scale, yet irreversible influence has taken place on biodiversity and nature, fundamentally altering the Earth’s physical, chemical and biological code. In the last 60 years, the Great Acceleration has began. This is a term used for the increasing rate at which human impacts are unfolding at an unprecedented scale and speed, causing the globe to deteriorate and become more modified, spiralling downwards. Being the most influential species of the planet, human behaviour has created a snowball effect of significant impacts not only for other ecosystems or species but ourselves too. Just a few of these are:

• Extinction
• Habitat destruction
• An increase in extremeness and frequency of severe weather conditions e.g earthquakes, tornados and storms
• Carbon dioxide emissions
• Global warming
• Ocean acidification

To accelerated and irreversible global warming, the Anthropocene may coincide with the rise of the modern environmental movement, as a new geological age that has displaced the Holocene of the last 10,000 to 12,000 years. Human beings have become an emerging geological force that affects the future of the Earth.
The dramatic changes in the correspondence of humans and the environment. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, the late 1940s and early 1950s, the strong impact of Contemporary Society, the rise of capitalism, the colonization of the world, and the era of fossil fuels. The geologist, Thomas Jenkyn spoke of anthropozoic rocks, the geologist Pavlov used it to refer to a new geological period in which humanity was the main cause of planetary geological change, later Paul Crutzen (Nobel Prize in Chemistry) gave popularity to the term Anthropocene.

Just over twenty years ago, scientists introduced a term to denote a new geological epoch in which human activity has had a marked impact on the global climate: the Anthropocene. Since that time, the concept of the Anthropocene has been exposed to a wider public audience through expanding environmental studies and scholarship, increasing coverage in the popular press, widespread and fervent activism, and a variety of artistic responses. Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene is the first major exhibition to examine the Anthropocene through the lens of contemporary photography. Comprised of 45 photo-based artists working in a variety of artistic methods from studios and sites across the globe, Second Nature explores the complexities of this proposed new age.

Since it’s emergence, the term Anthropocene been adopted by disciplines outside of the sciences including philosophy, economics, sociology, geography, and anthropology, effectively linking the Anthropocene to nearly every aspect of post-industrial life. Organized around four thematic sections, “Reconfiguring Nature,” “Toxic Sublime,” “Inhumane Geographies,” and “Envisioning Tomorrow,” the exhibition proposes that the Anthropocene is not one singular narrative, but rather a diverse and complex web of relationships between and among humanity, industry, and ecology.

Ultimately, the theme of Anthropocene also links to the project of Poaches hunting down elephants and killing them as easy access to their tusks. Elephant’s tusks are burnt for the pure purpose of Ivory, which comes from the tusks and is considered very valuable. Because of the high price of ivory, poachers illegally sell their tusks. Tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year for their tusks, and as a result, elephant populations have declined rapidly.

Photoshoot 1:

I took 273 photos all around Harvey Des Par, I plan to eliminate and then edit these, and take more photos in other places. After I went through with them I was left with 72 images.

These were my favourites out of this shoot.

Photoshoot 2:

I took around 82 photos and wen through and selected 26 that are the best, and my favourite to then edit.

Evaluation

The main idea to this photoshoot was to get photos from all different landscapes in the island showing our nature, like beaches, harbours, woods, railway, and cliff paths. Then you had to edit you photos inspired by Ansel Adams and other Case studies picked. A very important factor was contrast and them being grey and white. I liked my photos i enjoyed taking photos of landscapes (not as much as portraits) but found it not very free, like not many things i could do with my photos, i love some edited ones like my last virtual gallery and first one was some of my favourites, and going around jersey to take photos was gorgeous. I like all my photos and think if you looked and mine and Ansel Adams they are similar and well edited and just generally well taken in the first place, if I was to criticize them I would say it isn’t my best work as i feel they aren’t exciting and don’t stand out enough and didn’t do enough photoshoots in the first place, so ended up with not enough final pieces, I also didn’t find editing it very fun and feel like it doesn’t show my best work as they aren’t edited in the absolute best way and are still showing, all too similar of colours and not enough contrast and scale of 1-10 of shades. I think from this I could only improve and if the topic was more open to how you wanted to edit it I would have had more fun with it, but I do think my photos are good and show very well what we were meant to be and I would definitely like them if they were in a gallery. I do believe I tried hard with this topic and still came out with good outcomes that relate well to Ansel Adams and show some good work and improvement and skill of the topic.

One of my Case studies was Ansel Adams, my photos aren’t exactly similar settings to his as we don’t have places like that in jersey but I took photos in outdoor landscapes and edited them in similar ways to him.

These are images that Ansel Adams took that I used as inspiration, because they show very clearly what Ansel Adams was trying to achieve with contrast, even when in black and white.

These are a few of my images that I think are similar.

I picked these images to compare as they have similarities to Ansel Adams, not only did I do my best trying to get similar locations, like the rocks, and having a similar sunshine, in one of the picks, the main similarity though is that they are all coloured black and white, and the contrast, Adam Ansel would take a photo and look at what he wanted to see so all he had to do was change the sheet to red to bring out a different, effect and show the world what you couldn’t see just looking at the mountains, and it would change the whole photo when making one part black and another part white but with also 8 other shades in-between.

I did another artist study on a photographer names fay Goodwin, I mainly used photos of hers as inspo but kept along the lines of Ansel editing because I found her photos were more similar to my locations I had in jersey.

Her images;

My images with similar settings;

Robert Adams

“I think if you placed me almost anywhere and gave me a camera you could return the next day to find me photographing. It helps me, more than anything I know, to find home.”

ROBERT ADAMS

Adams was born in 1937 in New Jersey and was then raised in Denver, Colorado, where many of his photographed were taken. Then in 1947 they moved to Madison, Wisconsin for five years, where he contracted polio at age 12 in 1949 in his back, left arm, and hand but was able to recover. Other photos were also taken in California and Oregon as he moved to Southern California in 1956 to attend the University of Redlands where he majored in English literature and went on to achieve a Ph.D. Throughout his childhood, Adams would often accompany his father on walks and hikes through the woods on Sunday afternoons which may be where his love for landscapes was found. In 1963 they moved back to Colorado, and Adams began teaching English at Colorado College and In 1963, Adams bought a 35 mm camera and began to take pictures mostly of nature and architecture.

His interest in photography derived from the work of photographers such as Timothy O’Sullivan, William Henry Jackson, and Carleton Watkins. Their work, together with that of Lewis Hine, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams (no relation).

“What I hope to document, though not at the expense of surface detail, is the form that underlies this apparent chaos.”

Adam takes his photos in order to show the changes wrought by humans upon nature. his photos can very often come across as boring and dull but his aim is to show that and show the natural world in a realistic way. the use of using black and white in almost all of his photos also adds to this idea.

In this photo you can see rows and rows of houses. each structure looks almost identical which can make the image come across as boring and repetitive. Without all the buildings, the scenery would most likely be a long stretch on a field creating a very pretty landscape. however, Adams has photographed this to show how that has been ruined by human structures. The use of black and white in the image makes it more unappealing to see the rows of structures. if the image was in colour then it may not carry the same message as people may enjoy looking at it more. Adams has taken this image from a high point above which works really well as you can get a good look at a lot of structures that carry on for miles.

WHAT IS ANTHROPOCENE?

Anthropocene is a term that describes the recent evolution of the earth, and how it is changing through the influences of humans. It is clear, through overwhelming global evidence, that humans have become the most influential factor that is affecting the earth’s systems, environment, processes and biodiversity. Most of these impacts on Earth are long-lasting or potentially irreversible. Pollution is a key marker of the Anthropocene. Earth is now full of plastic – millions of tons are produced every year. As plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it ends up littering soils and ocean beds, which harms animals and habitats.

The genre I have chosen to focus on for this topic is landscapes, because I think it links really well with Anthropocene as I can clearly show evidence of it through my landscape images.

MOODBOARD

EXAMPLES OF ANTHROPOCENE

• Global warming
• Rapid population growth/ overpopulation
• Carbon dioxide emissions
• Ocean acidification
• Habitat destruction
• Extinction of animals and life
• Pollution

HISTORY OF ANTHROPOCENE

The Earth’s history is divided into a series of different, small time periods, this is referred to as the ‘geologic time scale’. These divisions are called eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. However, the Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time which is 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. 

Lots of people have debated on when the Anthropocene period actually started. One popular theory is that it began at the start of the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, when human activity had a great impact on carbon and methane in Earth’s atmosphere. Others think that the beginning of the Anthropocene should be 1945, when humans tested the first atomic bomb and then dropped atomic bombs on Japan. This resulted in radioactive particles being detected in soil samples all around the world.

In my opinion, I think photos that focus on Anthropocene can be seen as quite beautiful and moving, whilst still having a powerful message behind them about our environment. However, some photos, for example pollution and habitat destruction, can be seen as disturbing and scary for people. Photographers like to focus on these kind of images as it spreads awareness about the destruction humans are causing to the Earth, and can lead to encouraging people to help solve these issues more day by day. I don’t think that these photographers are solving these problems, but they are trying to help people see the destruction that humans have caused from a different, more realistic, perspective.

What is Anthropocene?

Anthropocene is the Human effect onto Earths topography, in photography, it covers a variety of images containing human impact to the earths geology, landscape, limnology, ecosystems and climate. With the use of photography, we as a society can observe how the implications of our lives into Earth can change it over time. With photography being around since the early 19th century, observations can be made on how over time, places change in shape, size and appearance.

Evident in Jersey, with the developments of new housing, financial buildings and overall re-urbanisation in places like St Helier we can see from Jerseys past to now, the changes put in place and how the effects of alienisation and disassociation can generate from what things where like and how they appeared compared to modern day.

Mood board –

Mind map –

Location photos –

(Val de la mare)

(Queens Valley)

(Airport)

(Town)

(Historical sights)

Corbiere

Elizabeth Castle

(Abandoned areas)

(Quarrys)

(Harbour)

Contact Sheets

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AEB/HDR merge – I set my cameras settings to Auto Exposure Bracketing to take this photo, and merged them together in Lightroom to make a HDR photo.

Panorama – I experimented with making two panoramas out of six landscape photos by merging them in Lightroom, I decided that I preferred the second panorama, which will be the one I am going to edit.

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Edits

Edit 1

In black and white:

Before and After

Edit 2

Before and After

Edit 3

Before and After

Edit 4

Before and After

Edit 5

Edit 6

Before and After

Edit 7 & 8

Before and After

Photoshoot 1:

This photoshoot was done as a class during our lesson time. the location was harve de pas swimming pool and round to La Collette. I think these locations were good as it gave you different variations of building types and sceneries. For example, the reached the modern built apartments which contrasted to the older buildings that stood behind them. I was able to capture a photo where this contrast was shown. further round, you reached the industrial areas where I was able to take photos of Jerseys incinerator and waste buildings. I think thus part of the photoshoot turned out nice as I loved the reflection the clouds had on the windows of the building creating a warm tone to the image and showing the beauty of the sky. overall, in this photoshoot, I think the time of day and weather worked really well. the position of clouds really helped bring across the romanticism theme as in some photos they come across as quite stormy and a darker grey.

My favourite photos from my shoot (colour and black and white)

One thing that I would change next time would be to aim on not getting people in my images. from the ones I didn’t show above, I captured a few good photos but there was presence of other people stood in it which brought the photo down and I chose not to use it. however there were a few photos where having people worked, for example the father and daughter stood on the top by the railings. Another weakness of my shoot was the blurriness of some of the images. I think I should’ve took more time to stop and capture images as you can tell I might’ve been in the middle of moving when taking photos which decreases the quality by a large amount.

The photo above is one of my favourites, though it can look like simple photo of 3 buildings, it is showing the contrast between all 3 styles. the left building is very obviously the newest building out of the three. The modern structured style with the smooth brick work and use of black white and grey makes this building stand out and noticeable by the viewer. The building in the background is the tallest and furthest away. its presence behind the newer building makes it clear to the viewer that it is older and in not as good of a condition. the building on the right may not be clear if its older than the back building or not however the decorations of the exterior could remind someone of an older home.

Mood board

New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape

The New Topographics photographers were Robert Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, Nicholas Nixon, John Schott, Stephen Shore, and Henry Wessel Jr. They decided to not focus on the pristine features of sceneries like national parks, instead, they focusses on suburban places such as freeways, gas stations, industrial parks, and tract homes.

What was it a reaction to?

The New Topographics was a reaction to both a reflection of the increasingly suburbanised world around them, and a reaction to the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated the natural and the elemental. Overall, it was the opposite of what Ansel Adams and Edward Weston had created which was landscape photography focussed solely on nature where no people/man-made structures were present. It emphasized the relationship between man and nature by brining them together to show manmade landscape with the addition of nature. Many of these photos are in black and white and are of urban areas. One characteristic of many photos is to be empty. using black and white really works with this idea since the simplicity of the shades are simple and there isn’t an over contrast of colours involved making the image feel hollow. this will then be accompanied by nature in some way

The New Topographics was inspired and taken by the expedition called “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape,” which was mounted in 1975 by William Jenkins. It then became popular and signalled a radical shift away from the traditional depictions of landscape.

In this photo, you can see its a good example of an empty feeling photo. The clouds are very faint making the sky blank with one shade of lighter grey. i think this works well as taking a shoot when the weather is looking more like a storm would further fill up the image taking away the emptiness and adding more aspects into the image. the image is an example of a desolate street without the presence of human life, this allows the viewer to simply focus on the manmade houses which in this case would be the large house which takes up a large portion of the image.

The naturalistic part of the image would include the grass, fields and trees in the background and finally the large mountain in the background.