My photos are in order of my favourite images and final results from the typography and Anthropocene topic. For all the images in the galleries I made, I added perspective to each and distorted them to make them the right shape for the perspective. This made sure that all the images where correctly placed against the walls where they are on the side or at an angle. I added drop shadows to make it look like they are mounted against the wall for a more realistic look. I used different galleries for each theme. Where I have more final images than the other I used a more strategic gallery where I can fit more images into it, for example typography has the most final images so I went with a more spacious and complex design that has the most area to put images so I could fit all my chosen images in. However, my Anthropocene gallery is square shaped as I did not have many final images so I went with a gallery that would be easy to fill without it looking underwhelming compared to my typography gallery.
For these images I experimented on I used the same technique for them all. I started off by using the magnetic lasso tool on photoshop and outlining the section I wanted to put a filter on. after I outlined the section I selected the filter I wanted. For this I used a variety of different ones I used ‘Strong’ which is a black and white filter for all my black and white images as I found it was the most prominent and I liked how strong the blacks and whites were. I used ‘Blue Mood’ for a blue-purple sky, and ‘Split Tone’ for the yellow-green sky.
Firstly flagged my favourite images and narrowed it down from 73 to 15 images.
I then went through my flagged images and edited my favourite ones from that selection.
In this image it is of a snake covering plastic. The snake represents nature and wildlife while the plastic and hand represent humans doing damage to the world due to plastic pollution. For this image I turned highlights and whites and turned down shadows and blacks as the original picture looked dull with no vibrancy and colour, (which could have worked well for the topic) but I decided to make it lighter and more vibrant. I also turned up the texture and clarity slightly so you could see the shapes and patterns properly and more clearly. this also contributed to the pop of colour in the image.
This image is of a snake wrapped around a plastic bottle. I think this image shows Anthropocene and typography as it represents life (the snake) and how it is wrapped around a plastic bottle which shows how plastic is polluting the world and the human hand to symbolise its humans doing it. I chose to put the image in black and white as I didn’t originally like the colour contrast of the snake, hand and bottle all mixed together and I preferred the way it looked in black and white. I turned the contrast and clarity up to get sharper point in the photo and really define all the features in this image.
This image is of a dog looking at treats through a plastic bag. I took this image of the dog looking into the treat bag to show that humans look after these animals and they rely on humans for food and care. I think this relates to the Anthropocene topic indirectly because it shows the care for animals instead of if they had improper care, were stray, being hunted or if their environment was destroyed. For this image I added an effect where the outside of the image is highlighted and glowing. I also turned the highlights down a lot and turned the black tone up to make the image darker so the effect stands out more.
This image goes with the other dog image where this time the dog isn’t looking at the plastic bag and is looking into the camera. I made this image black and white because I like the way the dog is smiling into the camera, the black and white contrasts with this and I like how it came out.
During this project i spent a lot of time experimenting with collashing images and creating concepts with my photography, I began with a set images created in the studio using prop rubbish and lighting influenced with coloured gels.
I then narrowed my selection down too a set of 8 images that would be the base for my collages and editorial creations
using Photoshop I combined these images
using the eyes from a separate image I layered them on top and used the blur and smudge tools in photoshop to create a ‘dream like’ or ‘distorted’ appearance to the image.
Intentions
This photo is intended to challenge people about the destruction of the planet via plastic, litter and pollution, with the women in the background appearing incarcerated by different forms of plastic, this is suppose to demonstrate the debilitating effect plastic will have on people’s everyday lives and appeal to humans innate need for self preservation.
in every image in the background all eyes are covered, this was intentional- this is intended to represent how blind society has become to the harmful things we consider ‘social norms’ e.g, single use plastics and thoughtless littering
the eyes in the foreground are intentionally much brighter that the rest of the image, this is suppose to infer opening our eyes towards a brighter future and the need for people to become more aware of the effect they have on their surroundings.
Experimenting with AI
creating this image allowed me to experiment with and create with AI for the first time, i knew i wanted to use this original photo of the model in this particular image because it shows the model attempting to free herself from the materials and metaphorical blindness to the destruction around her. with that in mind i wanted what she revealed to have significance and this is where AI became relavent
using the photo generating tool in photoshop i placed a selection of rubbish, dying wildlife and underwater imagery to the background of the image.
this was intended to create the effect she has freed herself from her ignorance and is consumed and surrounded by the effects of her actions on the world around her, i wanted to create a drowning analogy because of my belief that we as humanity are drowning in our past mistakes.
Brainstorming Presentation
I knew I wanted to create a presentation that would feel impactful, and threw inspiration from my peers and mentors i decided i would create a 3D sculpture with my images
this is my very fundamental plan for my 3D creation, with images placed on foam backing and with a mix of structural supports and masking/double sided tape i was able to create a sculptor in its likeness
project #2
for my second protect I wanted to focus on the beauty of nature in a less editorial style with inspiration drawn from Ansel Addams.
in order to create the images i had in mind i went for many walks carrying my camera with me and taking photos of all i found intriguing or beautiful.
I developed 4 images that i found most intriguing
and I arranged them at A3 size on a large piece of foam board
I printed this image at A5 and placed it in the center on a raised platform- i did this not only to keep the 3D element to my photography presentation but this image shows an entirely different size of beauty that can be captured, it contradicts the rawness of nature with the intensity of manmade infrastructure and sources pollution, i find placing this at the center of a representation of our natural world symbolic.
George Marazakis photos have a lot of meaning behind them which forces you too look deeper into the photo. For this photoshoot I want to use the softer light and it to be cloudy as I think this creates a really interesting scene, setting a unique mood.
I want to take photos of the headlands in this way showing the cliff paths and formations of the headland. This links closely to Anthropocene because they have always been around.
Places to Photoshoot:
Sorrel Point Cliff paths- capturing the headland from afar, including the paths and hills. This will show interesting formation of the headland.
Sand dunes- capture the paths with the rock formations and uneven ground.
Anthropocene is a geological period where human activity impacts the earth and the environment. Photographers explore Anthropocene for many reasons however the main reason is to spread awareness of how much humans affect the world negatively. In my opinion the most effective photos which catch the viewers eyes to spread awareness are close up images of the issue, for example a close up photograph of the litter on the streets or a close up of factories causing pollution. Anthropocene images can be pleasing and nice looking however they can also be ugly, despite these photos being beautiful they do mainly have a ugly meaning behind them, like this image on the right, viewers may see this photograph at first and think that it is a beautiful landscape however the image is trying to show the factories causing air pollution. This image below gets straight to the point and I think it is the most effective form to spread awareness as it is such a disturbing photo.
The four causes of Anthropocene
Signs of the Anthropocene – Agriculture, Urbanization, Deforestation and pollution have made significant changes on Earth. All four of these activities have created noticeable changes in the planets natural activity for example: increased species extinction rates, changed conditions of the environment and atmosphere and a drastic impact to the land and water systems.
Agriculture – Agriculture is farming but more specifically the Agriculture is the main source of pollution in many different countries and agriculture also plays a part in climate change through green house gas emissions.
Pollution – Pollution is when harmful chemicals or rubbish get into the air, ocean or the land/ ground, pollution can make people sick and it also damages nature drastically. Common sources of pollution are: factories, cars and littering. Anthropocene Photography can help spread awareness of this issue and influence others to reduce pollution and keep our environment safe and clean.
Urbanization – Urbanization is the process of more people moving to cities and towns which cause the town or city to grow bigger. Urbanization normally happens because people are looking for jobs and better living conditions . When cities expand more buildings are built, more roads and more traffic which also causes pollution.
Deforestation – Deforestation is the cutting down of trees in forests to use for other things, like farming or building. Deforestation can lead to: loss of animal habitats, unclean air and drastic changes in the climate. Whilst deforestation can provide good resources and space for people, it also harms the environment and reduces biodiversity.
Here I went to a jersey exhibition to have a look at some of the creations made, there were very unusual masterpieces that have deep meaning to them that not everyone would understand. For example the picture of the rocks with moss on them seem very weird and unpleasant to present, however it could have a meaning to it that shows why the earth is important to preserve, and destroying the planet is only harming us as humans. This exhibition was meant to represent the world and how different people can view it. There have been many different exhibitions in jersey that represent different things for example there was one that was in a dark room with lights reflecting onto a piece of metal with different patterns, for example there were patterns with different tribe figures to show ancient history, it was really interesting to look at as it helps to picture the worlds history in a less boring way than reading a book. This exhibition was really aimed at showing the world and earth and how it can be portrayed differently. In most of the pictures shown above show an element of grass of some type weather its real or imbedded onto a fabric it all has one representation of something.
Here I cropped one of the photos that i had taken in the exhibition so that none of the background would effect the details in the photograph. This photograph could look really confusing to the eye however it could represent many different things, for example this could be a photograph taken in the olden days where people used to fish for food with their hands, in the photo its looks as if the man is reaching down for something in the sea, this could also show many other things, maybe he had dropped something into the sea and now is looking for it with his hand but the most logical answer for me is that he wants to grab some food possibly to feed his family as that was one main meal people used to eat before, fish was very common and still is now however we do catch fishes very differently now, for example people ted to go the the shops to buy fishes that are ready to be cooked or we have fisher men who catch fish with a fishing rod which seems to be a lot easier you use that trying t grab it with your hands. Another thing that shows that this picture may be quite old , is the outfit that the man is wearing in the photograph, this isn’t an outfit that you would tend to still see as it looks very old fashioned, certain people may wear this outfit depending on their jobs. I have seen a few people wearing this outfit that were working in a restaurant as waiters. but that has a completely different meaning as to why they wear those outfits.
This photo is really creative as it shows a picture of the sea on a small tv that is sat on some dirt which is mean to represent the sand, this is really creative as it would be hard to do a representation of a beach and this provides a clear image of the beach, one thing that would have made it look better would have been if the dirt was just places in one pile as the beach isn’t necessarily seen as perfect, sometimes the sand isn’t soft and “perfect”, and this image doesn’t portray the reality of the beach. This can give off a different view of the worlds, almost s if the wold is seen as perfect when in reality the world is a mess, there ae many problems such as global warming.
