I conducted a small final photoshoot using the studio as a finishing response to water pollution in relation to microplastics and the consequences of plastic ending up in he ocean each day.

I looked through each image however some were very similar. I flagged the ones with the best composition and had the most focus on them. I wanted to use cling film and coloured gels to create an illusion of a beach, small and choppy waves created by plastic to symbolise how the ocean is filled with plastic, so much so that its impossible to see it with the naked eye. I also layered this over other rubbish made from cardboard and foil to give the illusion that this was being carried by the sea waiting to be consumed by an unknowing animal as this is something that happens everyday.

MY EDITS:

For these last two images, I chose to use filters used in roll-up cigarettes as smoking is a general and regular thing that millions of people across the world do multiple times a day, a huge factor towards air pollution that is normalised and thrown on the ground almost anywhere. I felt it was important to show this in the ‘sea’ because it is something that is so disregarded and contributes to waste and pollution in so many different forms.

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology which causes computers and machines to simulate human intelligence by making decisions, learning and reasoning as well as creativity through image generation and processing.

It works by using learning algorithms to process and understand huge amounts of data and uses forward and backward chaining to come up with conclusions to answers.

Experimenting with AI on my Anthropocene photos

Neural Filters

Generative Fill

Making the photo I took look more Anthropocene like

Generative photo expansion

Image Generation

Below are the photos artificial intelligence came up with when I used the prompt Anthropocene in adobe Firefly.

It is interesting to see how Artificial Intelligence understands the topic anthropocene.

Anthropocene

For Anthropocene, I have gone with this photo because it represents the nature in the photo but also shows the destruction and human killings including the smoke entering the atmosphere in the background at the top of the energy station.

Topographic

Landscape

Throughout my projects I was inspired by various photographers such as Robert Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher, as well as my own original ideas. Their styles of work and ideas contributed to the final outcomes of my images such as the way I have presented them.

Just like Adams, I wanted to capture immense detail and tonal ranges through the use of monochrome photography in order to emphasise interesting forms and evoke a sense of drama and importance. I have barely used any colour in my project because I believe that colour can be distracting and hinder the way we see photographs.

I want people to be able to see what I saw in person without being overwhelmed by the different colours that draw their attention away from the beautiful details of the landscape and forms within the images. However, I do believe colour can lift images and make them more interesting but it must be used appropriately, such as bringing out more contrast.

Throughout this project I have experimented with new techniques like AI and colour bracketing to make my work more diverse. I wanted to respond to Anthropocene in a more modern way which links back to it’s meaning.

I had chosen to focus on Cloud Studies as my response to Anthropocene because of it’s strong link to the topic and because of my own passion and interest in clouds. I planned to capture contrails and planes because of their man-made origin and immense contribution to Global Warming. I also wanted to take photos of cloudy skies since contrails can result to this weather.

Outcome 1- Typology

Outcome 2- This equals That (juxtapositions)

Outcome 3-

Outcome 4-

Outcome 5-

Evaluation and critique-

Overall, my favourite outcome I significantly produced is my typology. This links to Anthropocene as it is representing the issues within human activity and what the consequences are. Although it isn’t showing exactly the consequences. It is reminding people to be more thoughtful within their every day basis uses aka petrol. I likw how my artist reference did s similar thing and I put them in black and white

Virtual Gallery

Contact Sheet of Industrialisation and Litter photos

The images that are highlighted green and blue are the images I have chosen to edit, because they display the theme of Anthropocene in the best way, and they relate to my chosen artists in the best way. They also have the best composition and lighting. The images that I have highlighted purple are the images I have chosen to use for my panorama, because I have panned across the landscape taking photos.

Edits

Industrialisation

For this photoshoot I visited a construction site near St John, Fort Regent and La Hougbie.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this so the lighting would be better and the image more clear.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this so the colours would be more vibrant, especially the yellow and green.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the lighting is better.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so the tower was more visible and the lighting and sky was better.

How do these Images Relate to the Theme of Anthropocene

These images relate to the theme of Anthropocene, because they are of larger buildings and things that are used to build these buildings. I wanted to include the items used to build these, so that I could present the different materials that need to be used to build these. The images of these buildings relate to the theme of Anthropocene, because they often result in deforestation, habitat loss, and the extraction of freshwater from the environment, which can decrease biodiversity and alter species ranges and interactions.

Fort Regent

I went up to Fort Regent, so that I could get a higher up (almost birds-eye view) for these photos, because Edward Burtynsky tended to take photos from higher up, or a birds-eye view.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so the lighting and landscape was more appealing.

I took these two images from further back, but then decided I needed a better view of the landscape, so I moved further forward and placed the lens of the camera between the gate openings.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so the lighting and landscape is more appealing.

Exploring Older Industrial sites

La Hougbie

I visited La Hougbie, because I was interested in the change in Industrialisation, because Industrialisation has grew and changed drastically.

Katie and me first looked noticed how much smaller different Industrialisation sites were. They also used less materials that are man-made and instead used resources they could find in their natural environment.

I edited this photo by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this so the vibrancy of the colours were more vibrant.

We then decided to have a look inside, and realised just small it was, as it kept getting smaller and smaller.

I edited this photo by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this so the colours were more vibrant.

We explored this hut, which was made of naturally found resources in the environment, instead of man-made resources.

We then had a look at the more modern side of industrialisation. These modern buildings and cars present the theme of Anthropocene, because these buildings often result in deforestation, habitat loss, and the extraction of freshwater from the environment, which can decrease biodiversity and alter species ranges and interactions.

I edited these images by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so that the landscape was more vibrant.

Panorama

I used these images to create a panorama photo. I scanned from right to left of the landscape taking photos. This image shows industrialisation within a natural landscape, because of the huge tower on the other side of the water.

I created this image, by selecting my chosen images on Lightroom and then clicking photo merge and then panorama. Finally, I cut all the jagged edges off.

I also decided to experiment with less of a natural landscape for my Panorama. I used the three photos below to create my panorama.

I then repeated the same process and cut off the jagged edges.

Final Panorama Image

How Industrialisation Relates to the theme of Anthropocene

Urbanisation often results in deforestation, habitat loss, and the extraction of freshwater from the environment, which can decrease biodiversity and alter species ranges and interactions. Urbanisation has also caused lots of air and water pollution, due to waste disposal problems, high energy consumption etc. as well as insufficient water availability.

How does this photo shoot relate to Edward Burtynsky?

This photoshoot relates to Edward Burtynsky, because he also took images of industrialisation, but mainly from a birdseye angle, which is why I wanted to experiment taking photos from fort regent, from above town, looking down onto it, so some of my images would compare to his.

Top 9 Final Industrialisation photos

Litter

For this photoshoot I visited Harve de Pas beach and searched for rubbish left on the beach. I took photos of it all and then picked it up and put it in my plastic bag, so I could help the environment, and so I could use the discarded plastic for my response to Barry Rosenthal.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the littered coke can stuck out more and so the white surface it was sat on was a truer white, rather than a very light grey colour.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the image was brighter and more visible for the viewer.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the red litter was much more vibrant, as well as the seaweed around it, which could be a habitat for many sea animals.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the blue litter was much more vibrant, as well as the seaweed around it, which could be a habitat for many sea animals.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so that the image has more colour and so there was less exposure, so the clear litter was much more visible.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks, so that the green litter stands out more against the seaweed, which could be a habitat for many sea life creatures, such as crabs etc.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so the coloured rope, which I think was discarded from fishing, would stand out more against the natural environment.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so the purple twirl wrappers are more prominent against the natural environment.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so the red litter is more vibrant against the natural environment.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so the clear bottle cap is more visible against the sand, because they are very similar colours.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so that the green plastic bag would be more vibrant.

I edited these images by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so that the colours in the plastic bottle would be more vibrant and so the sand all inside the bottle could be seen more clearly.

I edited these images by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks, so that the white colour is more vibrant against the sand colour.

How does littering relate to the theme of Anthropocene

Littering causes thing, such as water pollution, which depletes aquatic ecosystems and triggers unbridled proliferation of phytoplankton in lakes. It also causes many animals to die, which could cause extinction, which can decrease biodiversity and alter species ranges and interactions. Litter can also kill land animals, if they try to eat the litter and choke, or eat it successfully, because it is non bio-degradable, or if they get caught in the litter and cant escape.

How does this photoshoot relate to Edward Burtynsky?

This photoshoot relates to Edward Burtynsky, because he also took pictures of litter/ dumping grounds from a birds eye view, which is what I have tried to do while finding rubbish from the beach. However, he took images of lots of rubbish together together on a much larger scale, which was not possible for me to do.

Top 9 Final Litter images

My best edited photos

These are my best photos because they capture the theme of Anthropocene the best and they showcase what her work is about. I think the contrast between the coloured plastic object and the black background makes these images very strong and makes the plastic object stand out. The colour in these images also makes these photos strong as they draw your eye into the photo.

Photoshoot edits –

Before:

Edit settings:

Using photoshop I further edited my work:

Using opacity I was able to perfectly line up my images to how they would have been taken back then in the 1940s.

After lining the image up, I re-added its full opacity, I began cutting out my image in a sort of ‘scrapbook cut-out’ aesthetic.

Final Result:

Using a brush to merge out the opacity the image came out as this…

By merging these images, I have created a view into the past through an opacity fade. This shows how much Anthropocene has altered the landscape around us from its appearance in the past.

Before:

Edit settings:

Using photoshop I further edited my work:

Being much trickier to line up since the rock face has changed so much overtime, I repeated my method of using the occupation images opacity to overly it onto my modern picture. Despite proving to be a challenge this can also be said to show the effects of Anthropocene as the power of that field gun could be said to shape the side of the rock with its powerful kickback.

Final result:

In comparison between these 2 images the effects of Anthropocene are clear to see with the breakdown of the rock face and the extension to la Collete.

Before:

Edit settings:

Using the same Settings for the image, I did this as the image I wanted to photoshop is just a slight variation to the one before.

Using photoshop I further edited my work:

Overlying the Image I repeated my methods off adding the historical image to where I believed it would be positioned back then.

By lining the image, I can get a frame of reference to see how I want it to be positioned, and have it Ready so I am able to cut it out to scale.

When the opacity is removed you can really get a good look at how the images line up. By cutting the image out, I am able to create my desired aesthetic for the image of it appearing almost as a ghostly cut-out from the past.

Edit settings:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using photoshop I further edited my work:

Due to angles being hard to recreate I use objects within both images that are appropriately sized for me to use to reference the positioning of my historical photo overlay.

By resizing the image, I am able to capture more of the original image in a larger size, making the contents more clear.

Final result:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using photoshop I further edited my work:

With the environment being hard to map, My photoshopping off the historical image would prove difficult. This however can be said to show the effect of Anthropocene and how far it has changed from then till now. With the contrast of visual content from Germans in the 1940s to French tourists in the present it creates a interesting visual example of Anthropocene.

Wanting to remove the excess space from the top of the image I added some German airplanes, to add more character to its context.

Using photoshop, I was able to remove unwanted details such as a wall of the current Corbiere Phare.

Final result:

Although the amounts of planes is exaggerated to what would actually fly over Jersey, I think it makes for a good filler for the blank space within the sky of this image.

Further experimentation –

Montage –

Edit 1 –

Using images from The German Bundeswehr Photo archive of the channel islands I further experimented with my work, with inspiration from war collages.

Importing images of modern machines of war into war it creates an interesting look into the effects of Anthropocene in warfare.

By adding photos, of Current US Soldiers compared to the Germans from the 1940s, this image is a collage to show the huge advancements made in technologies from powerhouses from their time.

Final result:

Edit 2 –

For my second edit I thought id explore the effects of Anthropocene in the war in Ukraine to show similarities and differences they conflict has with the First world war, with my images of trenches.

Using the objection selection tool on Photoshop, I cut out a soldier from the first world war to show much these images comparison despite their changes over time in uniforms, country and technology, the element of War remains the same.

Edit 3 –

Through the comparison of technology we can see the difference from then till now.

I really like how this edit came out, and I think it really shows the comparison of technology from the past to present and how it is incorporated to warfare. Within the modern day, we can see how technology replaces many jobs from the past. It quite an interesting look into the binary-opposite of Nature vs machines.

Edit 4 –

In this edit, I aimed to show the difference explosive technology between conflicts in History.

Shown through the comparison of firepower, the change in size of how they function varies largely, whilst their purpose remains the same.

Edit 5 –

Through this image, the idea is to show the personal inflections of war, such as separation.

Overall I like how this came out, and think it creates lot to talk about within the contents of the image. In relation to Anthropocene it contains a call-back to Jerseys past through the inclusion of the German officer, stationed here on the island back into the 1940s.

Edit 6 –

Wit these images, I wanted to show how the Germans, apart of the Nazi’s Third Reich, wanted to dominate the world. With their violent weaponry shown through these local images, I will add them together to create an interesting collage.

Editing in an Image of a globe, its colours did not match the surrounding images, to correct this I altered them by removing the saturation, adding grain and making it a yellowish hue.

By adding a drop shadow it makes the globe pop out a lot more, and blends in well with the smoke effects from the Guns firing.

I like how this came out with the positioning of the Germans looking towards the centre, I believe it creates an interesting conversation point on what it could be interpreted to mean.

For my first image, I adjusted the temperature to exaggerate the different shades within it. I knew this would be useful as all of my images are going to be in black and white, so by doing this I am preventing my outcomes from looking bland and lifeless. I also increased the exposure to add more brightness into the photo, and the contrast to extenuate the lights and the darks. I also increased the texture in all of my images as it adds a grainy affect, which is significant for me because it helps my images take on a more historic effect.

For my second image I decided to decrease the exposure rather than increase. I did this because the lighting when I took the original photo was very bright, which took away from the features in it. By decreasing the exposure I was able to bring out the main subject rather than the background. However, I increased the highlights as it was able to bring some life back into the photo, while also helping create a bigger contrast. Again, I increased the dehaze to bring out all of the different textures in the image. Finally, I decreased the blacks as this also helps exaggerate a contrast between the different tones, which linked back to my artist inspiration.

For this image, I decreased the temperature rather than increasing, this is because it helped exaggerate the black and white rather than decrease the overall mood. By doing this, my photo was able to fit in perfectly with the rest of them as originally it naturally had a brighter aesthetic. I decreased the whites because it made the image look over-exposed, and increased the texture and clarity to match my other outcomes too.

Similarly to my last image, this photo was originally over-exposed. Therefore, I decreased the exposure to neutralize the different shades. By increasing the highlights, shadows and whites I could create a natural looking contrast, which helped my main subject easily become more eye-catching to the viewer. In this image I kept the temperature and tint neutral because I did not want to change the colours in the image too much.

In my fifth image, I decreased the temperature because this image had a wider variety of different colours compared to my other image. This way, I was able to bring down those colours to help this image fit in with the others. I slightly increased the exposure but not too much because there was a lot more sky incorporated in this photo than the others. Although, I increased the highlights because it created a successful contrast between the white building in the background and the dark roof of the petrol station.

This is the last image I edited, and I increased the temperature by a significant amount because originally this image had minimal colour and appeared more dull than the others. There was very little contrast throughout the image before editing, therefore I increased the highlights, shadows and texture to bring some life into the outcome. Also by increasing the dehaze, it helped add a more ancient feel to the outcome, as well as showing resemblance between my outcome and my artist inspiration’s.

Extra edits: